IOIEIVII fiLM
COM 0‘! County Kilburn *‘k‘kt Foul-mouthered pub life comedy
COunty Kilburn is set in one of tie 63 Irish pubs Situated in the square mile of Kilburn, London, and is a highly amusing and f0u| mouthed examination of the everyday quirkiness of pub life. Barman Mickey (Ciaran hrlc'menamin) has to deal With all the eccentric pub regulars after the publican suffers a heart attack. The end result is a film which mixes the gentle oddness of Ba/lykissange/ With the stylised humour of Trainspotting. A great, eclectic soundtrack and some sparky dialogue make County Ki/biirn a real boot, and an impressive debut for new di *ctor Elliot Hegarty.
(DOug Joli tone)
County rrn, Cameo l, 77Aug, 70.30pm, Cameo 2, 26 Aug, 7pm, [7 ([450).
DRAMA
Hidden Whisper
(Xiao Bai Wu Tin Ji) it
Raw drama about three stages of a woman’s life
The structure of ViVian Chang's raw, edgy debut allows ner fllll‘ to be interpreted in two ways, either as tnree stand-alone stories or, conversely, as three phases of the same woman's fe The first section focuses on a five-year‘- Old girl begg=ng for money in the street With her partially disabled father Section two sees a teenager using r;"(i abusing other people's identitic—is in a quest to find her own, The final part tells the tale of a woman dealing with her dy:ng mother and (()l‘.f(‘l‘.1()ldf:li(] the birth of her own child. Dark, not always engagir‘g, but iie\.ier't'r1eless powerful stuff iDawn Kofie)
" Hidden ‘./"./hiSper; Film/louse 2, 7/ Aug, 8pm, Cameo 2, 79 Aug, 9, 30pm, [7 ([450)
DOClJl.l'r.'.ll:.R)'
The Jaundiced Eye *** Chronic/e ofa homophobic miscarriage ofjustice
Disturbing documentary that chronicies the trauma and miscarriage of rustice suffered by gay Michigan man Stephen Matthews and his father
A Brief History Of Errol
Morris at ‘k t * Filmmaker on filmmaker
Kevin Macdonald, director of the
Oscar-winning documentary One Day In September, turns his
lens on fellow documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, maker of The Thin Blue Line, Gates Of Heaven (about an ill-fated pet cemetery), and Mr Death, a disturbing study of an execution equipment expert. For Morris, non-fiction filmmaking is about, 'getting people to tell you things'; his talent, observes one astute contributor, is that, 'he never filled a silence.’ Yet he has no truck with cinema vérité, conducts all his
carefully controlled interviews using his patented 'Interrotron' device, and has never balked at staging
events for the camera.
For The Thin Blue Line, he staged several different subjective versions of the same murder in order to distil a grain of salty truth from a ’sea of falsehood'. His film eventually freed an innocent man from Death Row and convicted the true killer. Morris himself comes
when Stephen's ex-girlfi‘iend accuses them of molesting her son With an appallrng lack of (“.’|(l(’ll((‘, but a lot of local prejudice, the two men are imprisoned From the impassioned producers of b'.”aco The Rules Of Engagement, this is another fine documentary, sub-Errol l.lorris, but still l)()‘.‘.(‘lflll stuff Shot in black and wh-te rfor no evrdent good reason-, the film is ultimately a sad indic tment of '.lic higan's pro-heterosexual agislation rPaul Dalei
The Jaundiced Eye, Film/louse l, 76 Aug, 4 30pm, Cameo 2, 27 Aug, 7 30pm, [7 ([450).
?)C(.'.'E'.TAR1
De Grote Vakantie
(The Long Holiday) ink Po-faced travelogue
ll‘ 1998, legendary Dutch documentary maker Johan van o'er Keuken found out he had prostrate cancer and set off around the world to
The Season Of Men (La Saison Des Hommes), Moufida Tlatli's French drama set in Tunisia which has been hailed as a female King Lear. Filmhouse 1, 15 Aug, 7pm;
Filmhouse 2, 19 Aug, 8pm, £7 (£4.50).
Morris: obsessive, honest, ironic and funny
over as obsessive, self-absorbed and arrogant, yet also disarmingly honest, ironic and funny. If for no other
reason, see this for the scene in which Werner Herzog,
fi'ld a cure, taking his camera With him Wilfully avant garde, this po- faced doccimentary is like Nani l.lorretti's sentimental death trip film, Dear Diary, with all the humour taken Out A long haul at 140 minutes, De Grote Vakantie is basically a manipulative, overly-intellectualised travelogue. Worth seeing, though, for a truly remarkable seguence with a Shaman woman who tries to heal Keuken in Bhutan (Paul Dale)
De Grote Vakantie, Fi/mhouse 2, 76 Aug, 72 45pm, l7Aug, 2.45pm, [7 ’[4 50/.
COH'EDI
Lista De Espera
(The Waiting List) **** Comedy with a powerful political message
Eager to depart their respective rural homes for the c0untry’s major cities, an eclectic group of Cubans wait at a bus station. Unfortunately, the ("Ountry's beleaguered infrastructure ensures a long wait. As they unite to overcome their obstacles, the grocip gradually realise that they may be better off where they are. More Ealing comedy than political treatise, List De Espera brilliantly captures the spirit of people struggling against the US economic blockade on a small Caribbean island. Juan Carlos Tabio (Strawberries And Chocolate) brings to life a beautiful, light romantic comedy with a magical {\‘VISI, and also sinuggles in a powerful message lDavre Archibald)
r Lista De Espera, Cameo I, 16 Aug, 5pm, I7Aug, 8pm, [7 ([4 50).
ERICK»? Gohatto (Taboo) *tt *
Elegant samurai drama from Japanese master
Japanese master Nagisa Oshima’s
wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, describes his friend's abortive plans to make a film about a giant super-chicken called Ralph. (Nigel Floyd)
A Brief History Of Errol fi/lOff/S, Fi/mhouse l, 74 Aug,
4 30pm, Fi/mhous‘e 2, 75 Aug, 5 30pm, [7 ([450)
first film in almost a decade reunites him with two collaborators from his 1983 hit; Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence: star rBeat) Takeshi Kitano and soundtrack composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, In 1865, the samurai warriors of the Shinsengumi militia prepare to defend the Shogun, but the arrival of a beautiful, yOung and gay trainee samurai stirs up paSSIOns and rivalres wrthin their temple. Thoughtful mediation On the nature of honour and obsession mutually exclusive character traits?) is enlivened wrth the fastest sword fights this side of Seven Samurai. And Oshima's elegantly pacing proves cinema doesn't require breakneck pace to rivet attention (fVlllCS Fielder)
Gohatto, Film/rouse 7, 14 Aug, 7pm, [7 i[4.50i
(0'3? I)" Marshall Tito's Spirit (Marsal) *‘kt‘k Croatia does delightful Ea/ing- esque comedy On an obscure island in the Adriatzc Sea, off the coast of Croatia, the ghost of communist leader Marshall Tito is terrifying the townfolk A policeman is despatcheci from the mainland and finds there is more to this supernatural case than meets the eye A guirky and very funny comedy with a strangely refreshing take on Ytigoslavian history, it's the perfect companion piece to Emir Kusturica's mad masterpiece Underground Very much imbued \‘.’|Il1 the kind of warmth and silliness of Scottish classics such as Whiskey Galore and Local Hero, the real 'spzrit' of this delightful little l)1()\'|(‘ belongs to the Ealing comedies rPaul Dale) h/larslia/l Tito’s Spirit, Film/louse 2, 14 Aug, 5 30pm, 20 Aug, Fil/nnouse 3, 20 Aug, 9pm, [7 r[4 50i
72 THE “ST FESTIVAL GUIDE '3 1f) flag 2000