Film Index PROFILE
MARTIN COMPSTON Born 8 May 1984, Greenock, Scotland
Background The son of a welder father and office manager mother, aged 16, Compston signed as a professional footballer with his home town club Morton FC. Whilst still at school however, he had auditioned at an open casting for Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen and he was cast in the lead role of a youngster caught up in a criminal underworld. Compston swapped football for acting and appeared in three seasons of the Scottish television drama Monarch of the Glen. He was directed by Loach again in the portmanteau film Tickets, and he has since contributed acclaimed performances to other independent features, including Andrea Arnold’s Red Road and Dito Montiel’s A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Currently He stars in the claustrophobic new British thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed alongside Gemma Arterton and Eddie Marsan, and he is currently filming another UK feature, the prison drama Ghost.
On playing Danny in The Disappearance of Alice Creed ‘Danny is like the femme fatale of the piece. He’s very manipulative, but he doesn’t think things through. He lies so much that he himself doesn’t know what the truth is. He lives on his feet. It’s a really exciting part to play as an actor – you almost don’t know yourself what you are going to do.’
On nude scenes ‘I’m not that fazed by doing a nude scene on film. I’ve just done a shower scene with five other guys for Ghost. For the first 20 seconds it’s awkward. After that, who cares? As long as the set is warm.’ Interesting fact Whilst shooting Neil Marshall’s Doomsday in South Africa, Compston took the opportunity to go cage-diving with great white sharks. (Tom Dawson) ■ The Disappearance of Alice Creed, selected release from Fri 30 Apr. See review, page 42.
46 THE LIST 29 Apr–13 May 2010
latter’s ‘what if?’ novel. General release. Ghost World (15) ●●●●● (Terry Zwigoff, US, 2001) Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi. 111min. Daniel Clowes adapts his own cult comic. Glasgow Film Theatre. Girl By The Lake (15) (Andrea Molaioli, Italy, 2007) Valeria Golino, Omero Antonutti, Fabrizio Gifuni. 95min. A sleepy provincial town is shocked by the murder of a young woman in this terse murder mystery. Starring a powerful lead performance as Inspector Giovani Sanzio from Toni The Consequences Of Love Servillo. Part of Nordic Noir season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (18) ●●●●● (Niels Arden Oplev, Sweden, 2009) Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Peter Haber. 152min. When investigative journalist Mikhael Blomkvist (Nyqvist) is called upon by an ageing Swedish industrialist to investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of his beloved great niece, his careful investigations get nowhere until a mysterious gothic Pippi Longstocking (Rapace) intervenes. The first of Stieg Laarson’s deservedly successful millennium thrillers receives a faithful but laborious film treatment. Part of Nordic Noir season. Selected release. Give Me Your Hand (Donne-moi la Main) (15) ●●●●● (Pascal-Alex Vincent, France, 2008) Alexandre Carril, Victor Carril, Anaïs Demoustier. 80min. Twin brothers hitch-hike to the funeral of the mother they never knew and learn a thing or two about brotherly love and independence along the way. Glasgow Film Theatre. Grindhouse (18) ●●●●● (Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez/Eli Roth/Edgar Wright/Rob Zombie, US, 2007) Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Kurt Russell. 191min. Tarantino and Rodriguez’s salute to the 1970s exploitation movie focuses on an ex-stripper with a grenade launcher- equipped machine gun leg, who meets and greets a troop of flesh eating mutating zombies. Taking a step down in tone, Tarantino’s Death Proof traces two groups of women tied together only by the presence of a lunatic ex-Hollywood stuntman. Complete with the original imaginary trailers, this ‘double feature’ offers the Grindhouse package up on one deliciously cultish plate. Part of FAB Fest. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. High Lane (18) (Abel Ferry, France, 2009) Fanny Valette, Johan Libereau, Raphael Lenglet. 90min. French survivalist horror film about a group of adventurous friends who head into the wilderness only to encounter a homicidal mountain man. Part of FAB Fest. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (U) ●●●●● (Kenny Ortega, US, 2008) Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale. 111min. This time high school seniors Troy (Efron) and Gabriella (Hudgens) prepare for separation before they head off to different colleges by staging an elaborate spring musical. Every bit as nauseating as it sounds (unless you are a child under its shamanistic powers), HSM 3 does, however, take advantage of the big screen format with some impressive ensemble music and dance numbers. Empire, Clydebank. Hot Tub Time Machine (15) ●●●●● (Steve Pink, US, 2010) John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson. 99min. See review, page 43. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. House Full (12A) (Sajid Khan, India, 2010) Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Deepika Padukone. 125min. Romantic comedy about the world’s unluckiest man. Selected release. How to Train Your Dragon (PG) ●●●●● (Dean DeBlois/Chris Sanders, US, 2010) Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera. 97min. Commendable new DreamWorks animation set in the mythical world of Vikings and dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell. Hiccup, a Viking teenager, befriends a dragon. Selected release. Hubble 3D (U) (Toni Meyers, Canada, 2010) 44min. Leonardo Di Caprio narrates the latest 3D IMAX space adventure. IMAX Theatre, Glasgow. I Am Love (15) ●●●●● (Luca Guadagnino, Italy, 2009) Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini. 120min. A birthday celebration of an ageing Italian industrialist triggers a series of events. Selected release. I Love you Phillip Morris (15) ●●●●● (Glenn Ficarra/John Requa, US, 2009) Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann. 97min. Demented comedy based on a true story from writers of Bad Santa Ficarra and Requa about a gay con man, his prison squeeze and his inexhaustible appetite for scheming. By far the best work leads Carrey and McGregor have done for years. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh. Eagles Over London (15) ●●●●● (Enzo G Castellari, Italy/France/Spain, 1969) Frederick Stafford, Van Johnson, Francisco Rabal. 112min. This Second World War action-thriller sees the British High Command infiltrated by German spies and in a sticky fix. This is an over-the-top saga featuring recreations of the evacuation of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain. Part of Italian Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Edinburgh Napier University (15) (UK, 2010) 120min. Honours year films from Edinburgh Napier undergraduate students. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. 8th Wonderland (18) (Nicolas Alberny & Jean Mach, France, 2008) Matthew Geczy, Robert William Bradford, Alain Azerot. 93min. The titular world is a virtual country on the internet in which inhabitants votes for a motion by referendum, then takes it upon themselves to apply it to the real world. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Ekam – Son of Soil (12A) (Mandeep, India, 2010) Babbu Maan. 157min. At his father’s wishes, the dashing Ekam (Maan) must return from Australia to India, in this family-orientated Bollywood. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. The End (18) ●●●●● (Jeremy Thomas, Canada, 2007) Jeremy Thomas, Ella May, Katie Webber. 108min. Horror from new Canadian talent centring upon the shocking premonitions of psychic Joseph Rickman (Thomas) and detective Clara Wilkie’s struggles to catch a neighbourhood culprit. Part of FAB Fest. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Erasing David (E) ●●●●● (David Bond, UK, 2009) David Bond, Frank M Ahearn, Duncan Mee. 90min. A fascinating concept for a documentary as filmmaker David Bond hires two private detectives to track himself and attempts to ‘disappear’. Cameo, Edinburgh. ET (U) ●●●●● (Steven Spielberg, USA, 1982) Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace-Stone, Robert MacNaughton. 120min. Steven Spielberg’s classic about a group of Earth children who help a stranded alien botanist return home. Sloan’s, Glasgow. Extract (15) ●●●●● (Mike Judge, US, 2009) Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig. 92min. Judge attempts a satire of middle management in which Arrested Development’s Bateman is distracted from a lucrative takeover bid by his druggie bartender (Ben Affleck) to hire a gigolo to seduce his wife Suzie (Wiig) in some convoluted venal plotting. General release. Faceless Killers (18) (Hettie Macdonald, UK, 2010) Kenneth Branagh, Jeany Spark, Asher Ali. 90min. Kurt Wallander investigates the brutal murder of an elderly couple in this TV adaptation. Part of Nordic Noir season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Fantastic Mr Fox (PG) ●●●●● (Wes Anderson, USA, 2009) Voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Adrien Brody. 88min. Anderson’s inspired choice of stop- motion animation pays off in this beautiful and idiosyncratic adaptation of the well- loved children’s tale. While kids may enjoy it, Anderson’s typically arch humour is aimed more at their parents, who will also be impressed by the star-studded voice cast – Bill Murray as a badger lawyer anyone?. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow; Odeon Wester Hailes, Edinburgh.
✽✽ The First Movie (12A) ●●●●● (Mark Cousins, UK, 2009) 76min. See
feature, page 41. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Four Lions (15) ●●●●● (Christopher Morris, UK, 2010)
Benedict Cumberbatch, Alex MacQueen, Julia Davis. 101min. See review, page 43. General release from Fri 7 May. Furry Vengeance (PG) ●●●●● (Roger Kumble, US/United Arab Emirates, 2010) Brendan Fraser, Brooke Shields, Ken Jeong. 91min. See Also Released, page 44. General release. Gentlemen Broncos (15) ●●●●● (Jared Hess, US, 2009) Michael Angarano, Jennifer Coolidge, Jemaine Clement. 85min. See Also Released, page 44. Cameo, Edinburgh. The Ghost (15) ●●●●● (Roman Polanski, UK, 2010) Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall. 127min. Adaptation by Polanski and Harris of the John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate magnificent 1962 psycho-thriller starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and the mighty Angela Lansbury (at the top of their collective games), re-emerges on a lovely new digital print. Discover, rediscover and wonder at the political and paranoid delights within. ■ GFT, Glasgow from Sun 9-Wed 12 May.