Film INDEX
Dead by Dawn A series of all-night showcases, screening the finest in independent genre cinema, short films and animations, alongside some higher profile new international releases and some classics from the vaults of horror cinema. This year’s selection includes The Puppet Monster Massacre, Nightmare Factory and new release Cabin in the Woods.See preview, page 75. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 29 Mar—Sun 1 Apr. Delicacy (La Délicatesse) (12A) ●●●●● (David Foenkinos/Stéphane Foenkinos, France, 2011) Audrey Tautou, François Damiens, Bruno Todeschini. 108min. See review, page 68. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Devil Inside (18) ●●●●● (William Brent Bell, USA, 2012) Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Suzan Crowley. 85min. Skimpy, poorly shot and incoherent, this low-budget ‘found footage’ horror flick fails on nearly every point. General release. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (U) ●●●●● (David Bowers, US, 2011) Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris. Anaemic sequel to last year’s adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s best- selling books. Glasgow Film Theatre. Dirty Dancing (15) ●●●●● (Emile Ardolino, US, 1987) Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach. 100min. Sure it’s full of stereotyping and bad dialogue, but decades on Dirty Dancing still has the ability to send a generation of women all gooey. Sloans, Glasgow.
✽✽ The Divide (18) ●●●●● (Xavier Gens, USA/Germany/Canada, 2011)
Lauren German, Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Biehn. 112min. See review, page 69. Part of Dundead. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Dooman River (tbc) (Lu Zhang, France/South Korea, 2010) Jian Cui, Lan Yin, Jin-Long Lin. 90min. A young Chinese boy befriends an illegal North Korean immigrant. Presented by GRAMNet and BEMIS. CCA, Glasgow. Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (12) (Rouben Mamoulian, US, 1932) Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell Hobbes, Edgar Norton, Tempe Pigott. 98min. Classic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella. Followed by a discussion. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Dracula (12A) ●●●●● (Terence Fisher, UK, 1958) Peter Cushing,
Christopher Lee, Michael Gough. 82min. The film that set the Hammer standard and revitalised the vampire count. Lee’s Dracula is very much the seductive aristocrat, whose influence overshadows the entire film. Part of Dundead. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee.
✽✽ Dundead (Thu 5–Sun 8 Apr.) The second year of Dundee’s horror film
festival includes genre classics plus preview screenings of Norwegian thriller Babycall and Indonesian martial art feast The Raid. See preview, page 75. DCA, Dundee,
✽✽ 18 Years Later (Diciotto Anni Dopo) (15) (Edoardo Leo, Italy,
2010) Marco Bonini, Edoardo Leo, Sabrina Impacciatore. 100min. Two brothers are reunited by tragedy in this decade-long labour of love from début director Leo. Part of the Italian Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre. Elfie Hopkins (tbc) (Ryan Andrews, UK, 2012) Ray Winstone, Steven Mackintosh, Jamie Winstone. Junior detective thriller starring father and daughter Winstones. Selected release from Fri 20 Apr. Elles (18) (Malgorzata Szumowska, France/Poland/Germany, 2011) Juliette Binoche, Joanna Kulig, Anaïs Demoustier. 99min. Drama about young female students who turn to prostitution to fund their studies. Glasgow Film Theatre. The Elvis Presley Film Society (PG) (Various, US, Various) A screening of a handful of The King’s 30-plus films, including 1969 revenge western Charro!, concert footage from a 1976 live show, and 2005 documentary The Memphis Flash. O’Neill’s, Glasgow. 72 THE LIST 29 Mar–26 Apr 2012
Italian Film Festival The Italian Film Festival returns in 2012 to four cinemas across Scotland: the Filmhouse, the GFT, the DCA and the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness. Highlights in the programme include smart and seductive road movie 18 Years Later; Antonioni’s artfully menacing drama The Red Desert; and Elio Petri’s Kafka-esque Oscar-winner, Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion. For full listings visit list.co.uk ■ Various venues across Scotland, Fri 13–Thu 26 Apr, italianfilmfestival.org.uk
The Emperor and the White Snake (12A) (Siu-Tung Ching, China, 2011) Jet Li, Shengyi Huang, Raymond Lam. 100min. Martial arts fantasy film based on an ancient Chinese legend. Selected release from Fri 30 Mar. The Emperor’s Nightingale (Cisaruv Slavík) (12A) (Jirí Trnka, Milos Makovec, Czechoslovakia, 1949) Helena Patockova, Jaromir Sobotoa, Detsky pevecky sbor Jana Kuhna. 72min. Hans Christian Andersen’s tale is brought to life by Trnka’s puppetry. A nightingale teaches an emperor to revolt against the status quo. Part of the Jiri Trnka season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (15) ●●●●● (Michel Gondry, US, 2004) Kate Winslet, Jim Carey, Tom Wilkinson, Kirstin Dunst. 108min. A wildly imaginative flight of fantasy based around the gloriously barmy conceit that Carrey’s lovelorn loser, Joel Barish, is having the painful memories of his ex-girlfriend (Winslet) surgically removed. Followed by a discussion on issues raised by the film. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. eXistenZ (15) (David Cronenberg, US, 1999) Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm. 97min. Futuristic thriller about the fight between two video games companies, and the ‘realists’ that seek to prevent them from ‘deforming’ reality. Followed by a discussion on human-machine interaction. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Filarmonica Della Scala 30th Anniversary (E) (Italy, 2012) Great symphonic music by Brahms and Mozart, conducted by Christopher Eschenbach and beamed live in HD from Italy’s La Scala. Selected screenings on Sun 1 Apr. Film Socialisme (PG) ●●●●● (Jean- Luc Godard, Switzerland/France, 2010) Catherine Tanvier, Christian Sinniger, Jean- Marc Stehlé. Still mad and provocative after all these years, legendary French filmmaker and polemicist Jean-Luc Godard’s new feature is set on a garish cruise ship that’s travelling around the Mediterranean (with Patti Smith among its guests). There’s no narrative to speak of: this is part treatise on the state of the European Union, part philosophical debate, part aesthetic experiment and part journal on the decline of European civilization. CCA, Glasgow. Five Children and It (U) (John Stephenson, UK, 2004) Kenneth Branagh, Zoe Wanamaker, Freddie Highmore, Jessica
Claridge, Eddie Izzard (voice). 89min. Charming adaptation of E Nesbit’s classic children’s book, set during WWI when a bunch of city kids are bundled off to stay with their Uncle Albert (Branagh), where they discover a mysterious creature living nearby. Glasgow Film Theatre.
✽✽ The Fog (15) (John Carpenter, US, 1980) Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh. 89min. Horror classic set in a California seaside town on the centenary of the wrecking of a ship. Part of Dundead. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. Frankenstein (PG) (James Whale, US, 1931) Boris Karloff. 71min. Whale’s wonderfully camp version of the horror myth takes liberties with its source material but is probably better known than Mary Shelley’s novel. Featuring a discussion on issues raised by the film. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Future Shorts (E) (Various) 90min. An international showcase of the finest short films from around the world. This month’s selection includes Amy Grappell’s polyamoury doc Quadrangle, Sam Taylor Wood’s young punk love story Love You More, and Spike Jonze & Simon Cahn’s stop motion animation Mourir auprès de toi (To Die By Your Side). CCA, Glasgow. Gattaca (15) ●●●●● (Andrew Niccol, US, 1997) Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law. 106min. In the future, ‘naturally’ born Vincent (Hawke) forms a pact with the genetically-enhanced but crippled Jerome (Law) to use his genetic identity in an attempt to become an astronaut. Followed by a discussion on issues raised by the film. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (12A) ●●●●● (Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor, US/UAE, 2011) Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba. 95min. Bizarrely entertaining but otherwise unenjoyable comic-horror sequel. macrobert, Stirling. Gone (tbc) (Heitor Dhalia, US, 2012) Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter, Wes Bentley. 94min. Abduction/serial killer thriller as Seyfried tries to convince the police her kidnapper has returned and nabbed her sister. General release from Fri 20 Apr. The Good Soldier Svejk – Eps I, II, III (Dobry Voják Svejk) (15) (Carl Lamac, Czechoslovakia, 1926) Karl Noll, Antonie Nedosinská, Carl Lamac. 88min. This adaptation of Jaroslav Hasek’s novel is
brought to life with puppet and hand-cut animation inspired by the work of Josef Lada. Part of the Jiri Trnka season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Gorbaciof (15) (Stefano Incerti, Italy, 2010) Toni Servillo, Mi Yang, Geppy Gleijeses. 85min. A prison cashier steals money to help out the father of his beau in this almost-wordless comedy. Part of the Italian Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre. The Gospel of Us (tbc) (Dave McKean, UK, 2012) Michael Sheen, John-Paul Macleod, Hywel Simons. Sheen stars as a Christ-like figure in this Passion story set in Port Talbot, Wales. Selected release from Fri 13 Apr. La Grande Illusion (PG) (Jean Renoir, France, 1937) Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresney, Erich von Stroheim, Marcel Dalio. 117min. Renoir’s classic prison camp escape story is secretly an ironic social analysis highlighting class differentiation. Followed by a discussion led by a representative of the Humanist Society of Scotland. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Glasgow Film Theatre. Grave Encounters (15) (The Vicious Brothers, Canada, 2011) Sean Rogerson, Juan Riedinger, Ashleigh Gryzko. 92min. A ghost-hunting reality show crew gets stuck in an abandoned insane asylum. You can guess what happens next. General release from Fri 20 Apr. Hari Kiri (tbc) (Takashi Miike, 2011) Kôji Yakusho, Naoto Takenaka, Hikari Mitsushima. 126min. Takeshi Miike- directed period samurai drama about revenge, honour and disgrace. Selected release from Fri 20 Apr. Harvey (U) (Henry Koster, US, 1950) James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake. 104min. Elwood P Dowd (Stewart) is a nice, pleasant man who just happens to have an invisible friend resembling a six foot rabbit. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Le Havre (PG) ●●●●● (Aki Kaurismaki, Finland/France/Germany,
2011) Andre Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean- Pierre Darroussin, Jean-Pierre Leaud. 93min. See review, page 70. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre.
✽✽ Headhunters (Hodejegerne) (15) ●●●●● (Morten Tydlum,
Norway, 2011) Askel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund. 101min. See review, page 68, and profile, page 65. DCA, Dundee; Glasgow Film Theatre. Hop (U) ●●●●● (Tim Hill, US, 2011) Voices of Russell Brand, James Marsden, Hugh Laurie. Animated riff on the Easter Bunny myth in which the deliverer of eggs is hit by a car not long before the big day. Glasgow Film Theatre. Hors-jeu (E) (Thomas Risch, Jerome Mignard, France, 2011) 90min. Documentary about the 2011 footballing Homeless World Cup, which took place in Paris. Followed by a Q&A with the film’s directors, the president of the Homeless World Cup Foundation and a former player and now team staff member. Institut Français d’Ecosse, Edinburgh. The Hunger Games (PG) ●●●●● (Gary Ross, US, 2012) Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth. 142min. An adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian thriller of a novel that successfully transcends its teen-fiction origins. General release. Hunky Dory (15) ●●●●● (Marc Evans, UK, 2011) Minnie Driver, Aneurin Barnard, Danielle Branch. 109min. Funny and gently moving tale set in 70s Wales, about a free- spirited drama teacher (Driver) determined to put on a musical version of The Tempest. macrobert, Stirling. I Know Where I’m Going! (U) (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, UK, 1945) Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey, Finlay Currie, Pamela Brown, Nancy Price. 91min. An intriguing comedy romance with dark undertones, in which the young, confident Ms Hiller falls for Livesey’s sexy young naval officer. The choice of current exhibitor at the Ingleby Alex Finlay, who introduces the film. Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh.