Film INDEX
Life is Beautiful (PG) ●●●●● (Roberto Benigni, Italy, 1998) Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi. 116min. A comedy about the Holocaust? Surely not. Well, that’s what Italian writer-director-star Benigni has done in fashioning a poignant comic fable about the resilience of the human spirit and the power of the imagination. A humane and moving film. Sloans, Glasgow. London International Animation Festival Screening (U) (Various) 66min. A programme of short animation for all the family. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Mammuth (PG) ●●●●● (Gustave de Kervern, Benoît Delépine, France, 2010) Gérard Depardieu, Yolande Moreau, Isabelle Adjani. 92min. Sporting flowing hair and an ample belly, Depardieu seems to be enjoying himself enormously as the boorish Serge who discovers that his pension is in doubt. On a road trip to collect affidavits testifying that his claim is genuine, he pieces together the value of his past in a film that nicely balances melancholy with mischief. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. March of the Penguins (U) ●●●●● (Luc Jacquet, France, 2005) 85min. Delightful if fairly routine (in a Discovery Channel kind of way) documentary which follows the Emperor Penguins’ annual attempt to bring new life into the freezing climbs of Antarctica. Morgan Freeman’s rich, cheesy voiceover makes the film. Part of Environmental Dialogues season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Messenger (15) ●●●●● (Oren Moverman, US, 2009) Ben Foster, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker. 113min. Injured US Army Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Foster) is reassigned to inform relatives that their loved one has been killed on duty. The film falls apart dramatically in the second half and this meditation on ethics and grief never really fulfils its early promise. Glasgow Film Theatre; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Mother’s Day (18) ●●●●● (Darren Lynn Bousman, US, 2010) Deborah Ann Woll, Shawn Ashmore and Lisa Marcos. 112min. This home invasion drama is propelled by an intense leading performance by De Mornay. Her three sons have just botched a heist and invaded the house of suburbanites hosting a party. With her prim and proper mom-knows-best homilies, De Mornay ably makes Mother’s Day a cut above the average horror. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Mother Fish (15) (Khoa Do, Australia, 2010) Kathy Nguyen, Sheena Pham, Hieu Phan. 92min. Based on real events of 1980, this film tells the story of four Vietnamese refugees making the hazardous journey across the sea to Australia in the aftermath of the Vietnam war. Introduced by Gary Christie of the Scottish Refugee Council. Part of Journeys of Courage season. Part of Journeys of Courage season. Glasgow Film Theatre. NT Live: The Cherry Orchard (E) (Howard Davies, UK, 2011) Zoë Wanamaker, James Laurenson, Claudie Blakley. This live broadcast (via satellite) of Chekhov’s classic play stars Wanamaker as Madame Ranyevskaya. Glasgow Film Theatre; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. La Peau Douce (Silken Skin) (PG) ●●●●● (Francois Truffaut, France/Portugal, 1964) Jean Desailly, Francoise Dorlean, Nelly Benedetti. 117min. Truffaut’s effortless 1964 petit bourgeois romantic drama restored and reissued as a disillusioned middle-aged intellectual attempts to turn a casual affair with an air hostess into the love of his life. Failure consequently leads to a crime of passion, in this wry study of the disruptions of modern urban living. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2D (12A) ●●●●● (Rob Marshall, US, 2011) Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane. 141min. Depp revives the dashing Captain Sparrow for a fourth time as he embarks upon a quest for the elusive fountain of youth. See review at List.co.uk. General release. 68 THE LIST 23 Jun–21 Jul 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D (12A) ●●●●● (Rob Marshall, US, 2011) Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane. 141min. See above. General release. Point Blank (A Bout Portant) (15) ●●●●● (Fred Cavayé, France, 2010) Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Elene Anaya. 84min. Trainee nurse Samuel (Lellouche) saves the life of career criminal Sartet (Zem). Soon, ruthless henchmen have kidnapped Samuel’s wife. If he wants to see her again he has to break Sartet out of hospital and evade half the cops and criminals in Paris. Point Blank maintains a pulse-racing momentum with chases, narrow escapes, twists and betrayals. Selected release. Potiche (15) ●●●●● (François Ozon, France, 2010) Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini. 103min. When Robert (Luchini) is taken ill, Suzanne (Deneuve ) steps in to take charge of the family business, rediscovering her power and potential. Featuring hidden depths and unexpected layers, nothing is quite as you might have expected in this irresistible Cinderella story. Selected release. The Princess Bride (PG) ●●●●● (Rob Reiner, US, 1987) Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal. 99min. Princess Buttercup is chosen by the nasty Prince Humperdinck to be his bride but her heart belongs to the farm boy Westley. William Goldman’s heavily ironic fairy tale is given a spirited treatment by the director of Stand By Me and an enthusiastic troupe. Sloans, Glasgow.
✽✽ The Princess of Montpensier (18) ●●●●● (Bertrand Tavernier, France/Germany, 2010) Mélanie Thierry,
Magic Cinema
Lambert Wilson, Grégoire Leprince- Ringuet. 139min. See review, page 62. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Psycho (18) ●●●●● (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1960) Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin. 108min. Digital reissue of Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal 1960 exercise in terror. Accept no imitations and witness the birth of the modern slasher/horror film. Part of Bernard Herrmann season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Pushing the Elephant (15) (Beth Davenport, Elizabeth Mandel, US, 2010) 91min. In 1998 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rose was separated from her five-year-old child. Twelve years later they are reunited in the United States and try to come to terms with the past and their uncertain future. This screening will be followed by a panel discussion with local filmmakers and festival organisers on activist documentaries and human rights film festivals. Part of Journeys of Courage season. Glasgow Film Theatre. Queen Margaret University (15) (Various, UK, 2011) 135min. Selection of short films and documentaries from graduate students from Queen Margaret University. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Ready (12A) (Anees Bazmee, India, 2011) Salman Khan, Asin, Deepika Padukon. 143min. Bollywood comedy about an orphan girl and her uncles who are trying their best to persuade her to settle down. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow. Red Hill (15) ●●●●● (Patrick Hughes, Australia, 2010) Ryan Kwanten, Steve Bisley, Tom E Lewis. 95min. With its tale of a convict on the loose and a rookie cop on his first day on the job, Red Hill is hardly
Is it the magic of cinema or the cinema of magic? Filmhouse has joined forces with the MagicFest to present a short season of films about the business of magic. Gillian Armstrong’s Death Defying Acts (pictured) and Neil Burger’s The Illusionist deal with the mechanics of the art while Sylvain Chomet’s Edinburgh-set animation The Illusionist (not to be confused with Burger’s film) is a warm-hearted paean to a lost age. ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 1–Sun 3 Jul.
original. Yet what it lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in bravado and tension. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (15) ●●●●● (Jim Sharman, UK, 1975) Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meat Loaf. 100min. The cult film to end all others, this rock spoof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies, and packs them in at late shows everywhere. The film has its moments, and Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Frank N Furter. Grosvenor, Glasgow. The Round Up (15) ●●●●● (Roselyne Bosch, France, 2010) Jean Reno, Mélanie Laurent, Gad Elmaleh. 115min. Based on true events from the summer of 1942, the films tells the story of French police who acted as Nazi accomplices and rounded up Jews living in Paris, sending 13,000 to Auschwitz to die. Glasgow Film Theatre; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Route Irish (15) ●●●●● (Ken Loach, UK/France/Italy/Belgium/Spain, 2010) Mark Womack, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop. 108min. Dark tale of a British soldier’s descent into brutality after his tour of duty in Iraq. Womack’s portrayal of a broken man simmering with pain, rage and combat stress, hellbent on finding the truth no matter what is a devastating one but he is let down slightly by some less than compelling performances around him. By asking some tough questions about morality during wartime and with their hearts and minds solidly in place, it’s hard not to back Loach and (writer) Paul Laverty to the hilt. Macrobert, Stirling. A Screaming Man (Un Homme Qui Crie) (PG) ●●●●● (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France/Belgium/Chad, 2010) Youssouf Djaoro, Dioucounda Koma, Emile Abossolo M’bo. 92min. Former swimming champion Adam (Djaoro) works as a pool attendant in a luxury hotel. When he’s demoted, his son Abdel (Koma) gets his former job and Adam becomes racked with bitterness. This is a sobering reminder of how far-reaching the effects of war are. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. The Secret of Moonacre (U) ●●●●● (Gabor Csupo, Hungary/UK/France, 2009) Ioan Gruffudd, Dakota Blue Richards, Natascha McElhone. 103min. When 13-year-old orphan Maria (Richards) uses an inherited book to enter a magical kingdom she becomes involved in an eco-mythical plot to destroy Moonacre Valley. Decent if slightly over egged adaptation of The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. Glasgow Film Theatre. Senna (12A) ●●●●● (Asif Kapadia, UK/France/US, 2010) 106min. Recently voted the greatest driver of all time and winner of 41 Grand Prix and three drivers’ championships, Brazilian Ayrton Senna was the last F1 driver to die behind the wheel. Exploring his life from 1984 to his death ten years later, this documentary incorporates previously unseen Formula One footage of the almost mythical man. See review at List.co.uk. General release.
✽✽ A Separation (PG) ●●●●● (Asghar Farhadi, Iran, 2011) Peyman
Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat. 123min. See profile, page 59 and review, page 61. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Silent Movie Classics (U) (Various) 90min. Silent shorts from the likes of Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy, screened in the atmospheric surroundings of the world’s oldest surviving music hall. Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, Glasgow. South (U) ●●●●● (Frank Hurley, UK, 1919) 81min. Fascinating footage filmed during Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated expedition. What starts off as a great adventure becomes a fight for survival against the harsh elements when Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, becomes stuck in the ice. This performance is followed by a 30-minute talk by artist Layla Curtis, who accompanied the British Antarctic Survey to Antarctica. Part of Environmental Dialogues season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.