imagery. and the ‘all actions have consequences’ motif which ends the narrative is obviously intended to shock. but feels shallow and uninspired. (Louisa Pearson) Fabrlque en France eoee
Filmhouse. 20 Aug. 10pm. Cutting edge animated and live action music promos from France. where. Mirrorball says. it's at.
Face (Kao) O... Filmhouse. 20 Aug. 5.30pm. 23 Aug. 9pm. Masako is a seamstress in her mother's laundry shop; middle-aged and overweight. she‘s a loner. When her mother suddenly dies Masako's life is turned upside with the return of her bitchy. beautiful younger sister. Yukari. Tragedy ensues and Masako is forced to flee through earthquake torn Kyoto (the film is set in 1995) and onto the neighbouring towns and islands. On her travels she comes face to face with the Japanese underclass and between being raped and used by various undesirables she finds some semblance of a new identity. Though a virtual remake ofAki Kaurismaki‘s Ariel. this is powerful stuff that is at times hard to watch. Provincial Japan never looked so grim. but award winning Naomi Fujiyami as Masako carries this dark tale. (Paul Dale) Friends Have Reasons (Las Razones de Mis Amigos) es
Cameo. 19 Aug. 7pm; Lumiere. 23 Aug. 9pm. Play on human nature teased out of the disintegrating relationship between three long-time friends. Director Gerardo Herrero has been hailed as the Spanish Eric Rohmer. but we're not so sure.
From Here To Where Filmhouse. 20 Aug. 7pm. 23 Aug. 7pm. Fashion photographer Glen Luchford makes his directing debut with a film about an ambitious. self-absorbed young filmmaker who co-opts the life of a man who has lived in Paris Charles DeGaulle airport for eleven years.
41) Ghost World eeeoe UGC. 17 Aug. 9.30pm: OFF. 21 Aug. 8.30pm. Dan Clowes‘ underground comic book gets terrific big screen treatment courtesy of Clowes himself and director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb). Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson play two angsty teenage girls. Enid and Rebecca. who having just graduated front high school. aren‘t sure what to do with their lives. Rebecca settles for a ‘McJob' and a flat of her own. while Enid latches onto Steve Buscemi‘s geeky record collector. The comic book look is nicely underplayed. though its killer dialogue and weird. dislocated tone remains. The filmmakers‘ personal demons are here too: Clowes' inner conflict between rebellion and acceptance (given voice through Enid and Rebecca) and criticism of ignorance towards the comic form. and Zwigoff‘s disgust at the decline of western civilisation into a suburban strip mall nightmare. See feature. (Miles Fielder)
Gimmle Shelter UGC. 20 Aug. 10pm. 25 Aug. 10pm. .0. A digital remastering of The Rolling Stones' Altamont concert movie which signalled the end of the hippie dream. Happy How can Cameo. 20 Aug. 10pm; UGC. 22 Aug. 9pm. in the backwaters of rural Wales a beauty queen‘s car gets stuck. it's night-time and along come two friends. one of whom (Paddy Considine) is a psychological time bomb. They give her petrol. but want sex in return. A struggle ensues during which she is accidentally killed and the boys bury the body. Fourteen years later. a local woman (Susan Lynch) returns home from America with her young daughter . . . who is the spitting image of the dead girl. Director Philippa Cousins‘ debut is a dark. introspective tale. with impressive brooding landscapes. eerie mUsical score and dream- like sequences. Unfortunately. the ending is predictable and lacks logic. while the characterisation is obvious - though the cast. which also includes Om Puri. loan Gruffudd and Robert Pugh. is classy. (Guilianna Ashford)
O Hedwig And The Angry Inch 0... Cameo. 17 Aug. I lpm. 22 Aug. 8pm. Star of the cult rock musical. John Cameron Mitchell gives it his all once more. directing. writing and starring in the film version. in order to escape communist East Germany. young Hansel marries a gay G.l.. which involves undergoing a sex change operation. This is botched leaving Hansel.
now Hedwig. with just an ‘angry inch'. Jump forward a few years and Hedwig is touring middle-America with her punk rock band named after her phallic stump. She‘s also stalking former lover and musical protege Tommy Gnosis. who’s stolen Hedwig‘s songs and hit the big time. What this tale allows Mitchell to do is advance a groovy Platonic theory about the origin of love. It‘s as lively and liberating as Rocky Horror. though less camp and much funnier. (Miles Fielder) Hole In The Sky (Sora Ho Ana) 0... Filmhouse. l8 Aug. 6pm. A single thirtysomething Japanese man's humdrum life working in a roadside diner is shaken up when an attractive woman arrives on the scene. Home Movie 0... Filmhouse. 18 Aug. 8pm. 19 Aug. l0pm. After American Job. then American .Movie. director Chris Smith gives us Home Movie. which could fondly be described as the antithesis ofTV‘s Changing Rooms. It‘s an irreverent look at five homes and their house-proud owners. We are shown around these fascinating domiciles. which include a missile silo and a tree house. but it is the occupiers of these dwellings who are the real stars. Open and honest and not just a little eccentric. their passion and disregard for convention is endearing. Smith has an uncanny skill for getting people to open up to him. As a result we are treated to some priceless moments and stories that are both funny and touching. Great fun. (Niall Macpherson) Hule’s Sermon + God’s Angry Man Filmhouse. 17 Aug. 1 1.30am. Werner Herzog gives us the light and dark of religion in American with these two documentaries. one about a dedicated New York black church Reverend. the other concerning a menacing televangelist.
The Icelandic Dream (lslenski Draumurinn) so L'GC. 19 Aug. 7.30pm; Filmhouse. 24 Aug. 5.30pm. The malign influence of Harry Enfield extends north as lceland discovers the joys of ‘Wayne and \‘l’aynetta‘-style comedy-of-patronisation. This movie takes the form of a bogus video diary. following the tragic life of thirtysomething-loser Toti. whose personal
failures are inextricably linked to the demise of
his beloved football team. The dream is over and he's as sick as a parrot. The mock-doc parody. so overused on British television of late. simply does not stretch to the feature format. Promising gags. like Toti‘s doomed attempts to market dodgy eastern-European fags. milk dry what could have been an interesting portrait of lcelandic adult-lescence. Come back Kevin Turvey — all is forgiven. (Richard Rees)
The Indian Runner eeee L'GC. 21 Aug. 8pm. Sean Penn's directing debut. a tale of two warring brothers set in 1968 middle America and based on ‘Highway Patrolman'. a song from Bruce Springsteen‘s acclaimed Nebraska album.
In July (Im Juli) COO. Lumiere. 1‘) Aug. 8pm. L'pbeat road movie about a young man‘s (Run Lola Run's Moritz Bleibtreu) wild trip from Hamburg to lstanbul.
The Inner Tour eeee Filmhouse. 17 Aug. 9pm. Several generations of Palestinians are reacquainted with lsrael during a sightseeing tour in sensitively-handled documentary.
Jump Tomorrow eee OFT. 16 Aug. 8.30pm; L'GC. 2i Aug. 7pm. Comic road movie looking at upstate New York's cultural
Kandahar (Satar E Ghandehar) Lumiere. 20 Aug. 9pm. Iranian master Mohsen Makhmalbaf‘s (Gabheh) fiction-documentary hybrid maps out a woman's dangerous journey through Afghanistan to find her sister.
The Lawless Heart Wry humoured romantic comedy about three men whose lives are thrown into disarray when their friend dies. not least Nick who was the dead man's lover. Douglas Henshall stars.
L.I.E. O... Cameo. 17 Aug. 6pm. Close to the edge indie movie about a boy's encounter with a paedophile (Brian Cox) in small town America.
Enigma O... Odeon. [8 Aug. 6pm: UGC. I 9 Aug. 1pm. Saving Private Ryan described in graphic detail the Allies' western front assault during World War ll; Enemy At The Gates did likewise for the eastern front. But there was another battle fought which had a similarly dramatic effect the outcome of the War: the efforts of Britain's Bletchley Park mathematicians to crack the German Enigma machine code and thus scupper U-Boat attacks
on vital Allied shipping in the North Atlantic.
Not. you would think. easy to make numeral crunching the dramatic stuff of war films but. armed with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard adapted from Robert Harris' bestseller. director Michael Apted has fashioned a riveting thriller in the style of The 39 Steps. Dougray Scott takes the lead as top codebreaker Tom Jericho. who returns to Bletchley Park scandalised by a nervous breakdown following an affair with colleague Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows). But Romilly’s gone missing and secret service agent Wigram (Jeremy Northam. taking the plum role as a sadistic toff) has Jericho at the top of his suspect list. The bulk of the film. which counterpoises the private investigations of Jericho and Romilly's plucky pal. Hester (Kate Winlset). with the codebreaking team's race against time. is well-crafted. Ironically. it's the extended chase finale which goes off the rails. (Miles Fielder)
Lifetime Guarantee: Phranc’s Adventures In Plastic eeee Filmhouse. lo Aug. 9pm. 2-1 Aug. 6pm. ‘l‘m the all-American Jewish lesbian folk-singing surfing Tupperware lady.‘ Those old enough to remember Tlte Smiths and Morrisscy tours of the 80s will know Phranc as the fiat-top acoustic folkie who dared put some un- American irony into her campfire riffs. Well she's thankfully still going strong. but as a sideline she sells Tupperware and this charming film follows her to the top of the plastic pyramid as she becomes a team leader in her small Californian commttnity. Then we follow her to the huge conferences. where this girl in a suit is judged plenty by the taffeta WASP's from middle America. Phranc's warm-hearted glee at entering this culty world of sales makes this a really special little documentary. (Paul Dale)
Lift L‘GC. 22 Aug. 7.30pm. 24 Aug. 7pm. Streetwise crime caper revolving around a drug addicted sexual abuse survivor who remodels her identity through shoplifting excursion to the smartest stores in town. Little Otik (Otesanek) O... Lumiere. 16Aug. 8..i’()/mi. A cure for clucky-ness. this. A sterile wife and husband are the two central characters in the latest stop motion/live action surreal fairytale from internationally acclaimed animator Jan Svankmajer. .Mrs and Mr Horz‘ik want a child so much they unwittingly and literally ‘will' baby ()tik into being. Except it's a tree stump with an enormous appetite which consumes everything from pet cats to postmen. and the doting parents let and abet it. Only a little girl called Alzbetka realises what‘s happening to the neighbourhood — she‘s read about a similar monster in her Czech folktale picture book. ()Iesanek. Though Little ()tik is less animated titan. say. ('onspirators ()f Pleasure or Faust. Svankmajer's cartoony visual style and sense of the bizarre are just as evident. Wonderfully weird. (Miles Fielder); ‘Look Out, Haskell, It’s Real!’ The Making Of Medium Cool Lumiere. l9 Aug. 2pm. Preceding a screening of Hollywood cameraman Haskell Wexler's (In The Heat ()f The Night. The Thomas Crown Affair) 1968 directing debut. Medium Cool. Paul Cronin's fascinating making of documentary.
Lovely Rita Filmhouse. 1‘) Aug. (3.30pm; L'GC. 2-1 Aug. 9pm. Sly comic story with a shocking ending of a disaffected adolescent girl attempting to distance herself from family and school.
The Lovers Of San Fernando (De Alskande I San Fernando) Filmhouse. 16 Aug. 3.30pm; Cameo 2| Aug. 3pm. Documentary spanning two decades in the
marriage of a Nicaraguan couple and set against the backdrop of the war between the Sandinistas and the Contras.
Lucky Break .0. L'GC. 17 Aug. 6.30pm; OFF. 20 Aug. 8.30pm. Fun prison break comedy from the director of The Full Monty and starring James Nesbitt.
Made In Scotland FilmhoUse. l8 Aug. 9pm. Mirrorball argues Scotland is emerging as a music promo production centre. Feature the first locally tnade promos for the 4 Minute Wonders scheme.
0 Maids (Domesticas, O Filme) CO... Cameo. l8 Aug. 5.30pm; Lumiere. 23 Aug. 6.30pm. Forget Isaura The Slave Girl. here's her modern day counterpart and she doesn‘t dance to anyone's tune. Adapted from a hugely successful contemporary Brazilian play. Mauls follows the lives of five domestic servants. This is so much fun it‘s criminal. The text’s theatrical roots are hidden beneath some really visceral. exciting filntmaking. while lung-bursting comedy slides into occasional tragedy. Sexy. funny and base without ever being condescending. it's a little like watching three episodes of Set And The City back-to-back shot through with social realism and a samba beat. The monologues are beautifully executed as are the jaw-dropping (one can only presume true) stories involving their employers. “arm-hearted. watchable and thoroughly entertaining. this is an absolute
(Paul Dale)
McLaren Animation 2 a 3 Filtnhouse 16 Aug. 2.30pm and I9 Aug. 2.30pm. Two programme of the best of new British animation with attached McLaren Award. now in its twelfth year.
Medium Cool 0... Lumiere. 19 Aug. 4pm. A fictional story against the authentic background of the Chicago riots in the summer of l968. Veteran cinematographer Haskell Wexler directs. shouldering the camera and totally involving us with a frightening picture of what the late media prophet Marshall McLuhan described as ‘hot' and ‘cool'. hot being a medium that required little interactivity. cool requiring maximum interaction. Television. McLuhan said. was a cool medium. Here the interaction comes from all sides — the media. the disenfranchised who have no access to it and the politicians who want to exercise control over it. Robert Forster plays the cameraman inured to the violence he encounters every day. With a freewheeling feel and a pastiche of visual styles and narrative approaches from cinema verite to straightforward documentary. this nervy. subversive filtn remains anything but dated. (Richard Clark)
16-22 Aug 2001 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 39