list.co.uk/film Arika12 Episode 1
Experimental arts company Arika have dispensed with their INSTAL and Kill Your Timid Notion festivals this year, opting instead to do a series of three themed ‘episodes’. The first of these, subtitled A Film is a Statement, is about ideology and the moving image: filmmakers Hartmut Bitomsky and Jean-Marie Straub and feminist philosopher Nina Power will be present to introduce and discuss screenings, while films such as media imagery film-essay Argument and the previously suppressed Kino Beleske and will be shown. There will also be a live film performance from The Museum of Non-Participation, a project examining the refusal to participate in state politics in Karachi. ■ CCA, Glasgow, Thu 19–Sun 22 Jan.
Hippodrome, Bo’ness. Romantics Anonymous (Les émotifs anonymes) (12A) ●●●●● (Jean-Pierre Améris, France/Belgium, 2010) Benoît Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré, Lorella Cravotta. 80min. Jean-René (Poelvoorde) is a pathologically shy chocolate factory owner, while Angelique (Carré) is a pathologically anxious chocolatiere; how will they even start a conversation, let alone reveal their feelings to each other? Despite likeable performances and some amusing moments, this is far more saccharine than bittersweet. macrobert, Stirling. Royal Opera House: It Trittico (E) (UK, 2012) Eva-Maria Westbroek. 180min. The Royal Opera’s first complete presentation of Puccini’s *Il Trittico* since 1965. Selected live screenings in Thu 2 Feb. The Rum Diary (15) ●●●●● (Bruce Robinson, US, 2011) Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart. 119min. Depp leads as a bored young journalist in the much- anticipated but disappointing adaptation of Hunter S Thompson’s hedonistic novel. macrobert, Stirling.
✽✽ Shame (18) ●●●●● (Steve McQueen, UK, 2011) Michael
Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, Hannah Ware. 100min. Tue 10 Jan screening at Glasgow Film Theatre is followed by a Q&A via satellite with Steve McQueen, Michael Fassbender and writer Abi Morgan. See McQueen interview, page 63, and review, page 64. Selected release. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (12A) ●●●●● (Guy Ritchie, US, 2011) Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Jared Harris. 129min. Holmes and Watson face their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty. General release. Singin’ in the Rain (U) ●●●●● (Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen, US, 1950) Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse. 102min. Hollywood undergoes the transition from the silent era to the talkies and reputations rise and fall. Absolutely wonderful musical entertainment, with the slickest of snappy dialogue, enduringly catchy numbers, a cast of genuine charisma, and an engaging picture of the industry in transition into the bargain. Quite splendid. Eastwood Park Theatre, Glasgow; Cameo, Edinburgh. The Sitter (15) ●●●●● (David Gordon Green, US, 2011) Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor, Sam Rockwell. 81min. A suspended college
student is coaxed into babysitting next door’s children and is totally unprepared for what’s to come. See review, page 66. Selected release from Fri 20 Jan. Snowtown (18) (Justin Kurzel, Australia, 2011) Lucas Pittaway, Bob Adriaens, Louise Harris. 119min. In this true story, 16-year-old Jamie falls under the influence of his mum’s boyfriend, who just happens to be notorious serial killer John Bunting. Dundead double bill with City of the Living Dead. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. The Steamie (PG) (Haldane Duncan, UK, 1988) Eileen McCallum, Dorothy Paul, Katy Murphy. 72min. Tony Roper’s classic Scottish comedy follows four Glasgow women on Hogmanay, 1953 as they ‘wash out the old’ before ‘ringing in the new’. Introduced by Neil Symington from Strathclyde University. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Suddenly, Last Summer (15) ●●●●● (Jospeh L Mankiewicz, US, 1959) Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift. 114min. Catherine (Taylor) is dramatically traumatised after witnessing the death of her cousin in Spain. The cousin’s Mother (Hepburn) can’t stand to hear the facts of the boy’s death and instead insists that the wittering Catherine be labotomised. Luckily, the obliging brain surgeon Dr Cukrowicz (Clift) is only interested in uncovering guilty family secrets. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) (15) (Jan Svankmajer, Czech Republic/Slovakia/Japan, 2010) Václav Helsus, Klára Issová, Zuzana Krónerová. 109min. A man dreams of his perfect woman but can’t remember her name when he awakens. He approaches a therapist to help unlock the secrets of his subconscious. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Tatsumi (15) (Eric Khoo, Singapore, 2011) Voices of Tetsuya Bessho, Motoko Gollent, Yoshihiro Tatsumi. 94min. A film based on the life and short stories of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, renowned for his gekiga style of manga. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Tempest (PG) ●●●●● (Julie Taymor, UK, 2011) Helen Mirren, Alan Cumming, Felicity Jones. 110min. With an all-star cast, stunning Oscar-nominated costumes by Sandy Powell and lashings of CGI, Taymor’s gender-bending adaptation (starring Mirren as ‘Prospera’) sounds
lively enough, but it flounders in ugly visuals and pretension. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh. The Thing (15) ●●●●● (Matthijs van Heijningen Jr, US/Canada, 2011) Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen. 102min. In this prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic (see below), Norwegian researchers in Antarctica discover a bloodthirsty alien which imitates human life-forms. Derivative and shapeless, with slack dialogue, vacuous characters and a less-than-impressive Thing, this is not so much homage as rip-off. Selected release. The Thing (18) ●●●●● (John Carpenter, US, 1982) Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, David Clennon. 108min. Carpenter’s excellent 1982 monster flick revived in glorious 70mm projection. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. This Our Still Life (U) (Andrew Kötting, UK, 2011) 57min. Kötting directs the follow up to his 1996 doc Gallivant, taking up once again with his grandmother and daughter, who has learning difficulties. Features short feature Hoi-Polloi. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Touch of Evil (12) (Orson Welles, US, 1958) 95min. In a sleazy border town, the murder of a Mexican bigwig causes friction between corrupt local detective Hank Quinlan (Welles himself) and upright Mexican narcotics agent Vargas (Heston). Amidst a gallery of Wellesian grotesques and expressionist camerawork the dialogue between truth and justice becomes progressively more garbled. Cameo, Edinburgh. A Town Called Panic (PG) ●●●●● (Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Belgium/Luxembourg/France, 2009) Voices of Stéphane Aubier, Jeanne Balibar, Bruce Ellison. 75min. Gloriously silly if somewhat relentlessly frantic spin-off of the Belgian series of the same name following best friends Cowboy, Indian and Horse on a series of ridiculous adventures including an encounter with a giant robot penguin and a voyage to the centre of the earth. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow. Trespass (15) ●●●●● (Joel Schumacher, US, 2011) Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Ben Mendelsohn. 90min. Kidnap thriller starring Kidman and Cage as a privileged husband and wife held to ransom by a gang who wield the power of a dark secret over the couple. macrobert, Stirling. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (12A) (Bill Condon, US, 2011) Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Nikki Reed. 115min. Domestic bliss remains elusive for Bella Swan and Edward Cullen as a wolf pack and a vampire coven close in on their unborn child. General release. Underworld Awakening (12A) (Måns Mårlind/Björn Stein, US, 2012) Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy, India Eisley. When humans uncover the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans, Vampire warrior Selene leads the resistance against humankind. General release from Fri 20 Jan. A Useful Life (tbc) (Federico Veiroj, Uruguay/Spain, 2010) Jorge Jellinek, Manuel Martinez Carril, Paola Venditto. 70min. After working in a cinema for 25 years, a man’s livelihood is turned upside down when his place of employment closes down and he must adjust to his new life. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Vampyr (PG) (Carl Dreyer, Germany, 1932) Julian West, Henriette Gerard, Jan Hieronimko. 82min. Dreyer’s version of Carmilla is one of the most poetic pieces of vampire cinema in film history. Beautifully photographed with a dream-like mood and logic, it uses the camera often from a subjective viewpoint, thereby becoming one of the first psychological horror films. With live soundtrack by Steven Severin – see Realist, page 5. Cameo, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. W.E. (15) ●●●●● (Madonna, UK, 2011) Abbie Cornish, James D’Arcy, Andrea Riseborough. 115min. Madonna’s second film as director focuses on the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson and parallels the
INDEX Film
story with a contemporary tryst between a married woman a Russian security guard. See review, paga 65. General release from Fri 20 Jan. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (U) (Nick Park/Steve Box, UK, 2005) Voices of Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter. 85min. The feature-length debut for Park’s plasticine master and mutt Wallace & Gromit, is, to coin a phrase, a grand day out, offering knowing fun for all the family. Discovery Family Film Club screening. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death (PG) (Nick Park, UK, 2008) Voices of Peter Sallis, Sally Lindsay, Melissa Collier. 30min. The claymation heroes ride again as Wallace opens a bakery but is soon distracted from both the baking and a murder mystery by matters of the heart. Discovery Family Film Club double bill with The Itch of the Golden Nit. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee.
✽✽ Waltz With Bashir (18) ●●●●● (Ari Folman, Israel/Germany/France,
2008) Voices of Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ari Folman. 90min. This animated feature about war, selective amnesia and the hideous genocide committed by Christian militiamen on Palestinian refugee camps in Sabra and Shatila during the 1982 Lebanese War is more optimistic than it sounds. Eliciting rare and painful truths, Folman’s illustrated memoir makes for a brave, damning and riveting piece of cinema. See caption, page 69. Part of Manipulate Visual Theatre Festival.. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh.
✽✽ War Horse ●●●●● (12A) (Steven Spielberg, US, 2011) Jeremy Irvine,
Emily Watson, David Thewlis. 146min. See review, page 64. General release from Fri 13 Jan. We Have a Pope (PG) ●●●●● (Nanni Moretti, Italy/France, 2011) Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa. 102min. Cardinal Melville (Piccoli) has been elected pope, but on the point of his first appearance to the faithful he panics and flees, so the Vatican calls in atheist psychoanalyst Brezzi (Moretti) to talk to the troubled pontiff. Attractively shot and full of amusing touches, Moretti’s film is surprisingly moving and downbeat. Cameo, Edinburgh; macrobert, Stirling. We Need to Talk About Kevin (15) ●●●●● (Lynne Ramsay, UK/US, 2011) Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly, Ezra Miller. 112min. Smart, thought-provoking adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel about the guilt of a mother whose teenage son went on a school killing spree. Swinton is well cast as the steely, stoical Eva, writing letters to her absent husband as she attempts to understand her monstrous offspring. macrobert, Stirling. The Well Digger’s Daughter (La fille du puisatier) (12A) ●●●●● (Daniel Auteuil, France, 2011) Daniel Auteuil, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Nicolas Duvauchelle. 107min. In this remake of Pagnol’s 1940 melodrama, Patricia (Frisbey), daughter of Provençal well- digger Pascal (Auteuil), falls for a dashing pilot (Duvauchelle) although her father has other plans. Despite his acclaimed performances in Claude Berri’s 1980s Pagnol adaptations, Auteuil plays it safe in his polished but unadventurous directorial debut. Cameo, Edinburgh; The Hippodrome, Bo’ness.
✽✽ Wo sui si qu (Though I am Gone) (E) (Jie Hu, China, 2008)
66min. Documentary telling the disturbing true story of a teacher beaten to death by her own students during the violence of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. See caption, page 43. Part of Takeaway China. Gilmorehill Centre, Glasgow. Wuthering Heights (15) ●●●●● (Andrea Arnold, UK, 2011) Kaya Scodelario, James Howson, Nichola Burley. 129min. The director of Red Road and Fish Tank is seemingly more concerned with paying homage to Robert Bresson here than with telling a winning story, and while her big, bold move is to make Heathcliff black, she fails to do anything interesting with it. The Hippodrome, Bo’ness.
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