. charitably offered sanctuary in an
1 attic shared by the mentally ill Shaw and his sadistic brother Bates. His presence there transforms their apathy into violent action.
Claustrophobic. theatrical preservation of Pinter’s bleak. macabre black comedy.
Glasgow; GFI‘
o The Care Bears Movie (U) (Arna Selznick. US. 1985) Voices - Mickey Rooney. Harry Dean Stanton. 76 mins. A full-length adventure ofthe cuddly bears from the land of Care-a-lot whose aim is to foster friendship throughout the world.
Recommended only to uncritical bear-lovers. Edinburgh; Filmhouse 0 Cat’s Eye ( 15) (Lewis Teaguc. US. 1984) Candy Clark. James Woods. 94 mins. A potentially menacing moggy provides the tenuous link in a trio ofstories from the prolific pen of Stephen King. Strathclyde; La Scala 0 Charlie Bubbles ( 18) (Albert Finney. UK. 1968) Albert Finney. Liza Minelli. Billie Whitelaw. 91 mins. A successful novelist is bored with the pointlessness and superficiality ofthe Big Time. and attempts to return to his roots in a Northern town. A shame that it is still Finney‘s only directorial outing. because this melancholy and fragmentary character study shows an incisive feel for people and places. and features Finney the actor at his understated best. Compact. haunting and bleak. this is one ofthe best British films of the (ills. Edinburgh; EU Filmsoc 0 Class ot1984(18)(.\fark Lester. Canada. 1981 ) I’erry King. Roddy McDowall. 94 mins. Warfare in the classroom as rebels without causes and caring teachers clash. Slick exploitation featuring an early appearance of Michael .1. Fox. Glasgow; (irosvenor o A Chorus Line (PG) fir (Richard Attenborough. US. 1985) Michael Douglas. Alyson Reed. Terrence Mann. 118 mins. Sixteen dancers reveal their innermost secrets and fears to director-choreographer Douglas in a bid to secure one of eight coveted roles in a brand new Broadway musical.
Lavish. splashy. showbizzy drama-musicalz-12nd Street meets Freud as played by the Kids from Fame. Competent entertainment but Dickie ain‘t got no rhythm. Edinburgh: ()deon. Glasgow; ()deon 0 Cocoon (PG) (Ron Howard. US. 1985) Don Amechc. Jack Gilford. 117 mins. Engaging. geriatric science-fiction fantasy. Edinburgh: Playhouse C Colonel Redl (15) (lstvan Szabo. Hungary-West Germany-Austria. 198-1) Klaus Maria Brandauer. Hans-Christian Blech. JanJiklas. 149 mins. Szabo‘s fastidiously constructed epic captures a multifaceted portrait ofa man who forces himselfto live a life based on untruth. The head ofMilitary Intelligence in the ‘ Austro-Hungarian Empire. Redl has ‘ denied his roots. betrayed his friends 1 and repressed his homosexuality in L his rise to the top. However. his
carefully controlled public facade
24 The List 7 — 20 Feb
FILMLIST
RAIZMAN, RUSSIA AND THE HUMAN TOUCH
"grim Week?
L .532. if _ Interest in the Soviet cinema is certainly burgeoning these days. What with Konchalovsky (Maria's Lovers) working for Cannon in America, Tarkovsky (Nostalgia) filming in Sweden, and Otar Ioseliani (Favourites ofthe Moon) in Paris, Russian film-makers seem to be going through a particularly fruitful period at the moment. Yet, one thing unites these diverse personalities: they are all emigrées. Edinburgh Filmhouse this month offers a welcome opportunity to survey the work of Yuli Raizman, a fine Soviet film-maker who stayed at home. His work spans a longer period than any other film-maker one cares to think of, from the late 20s right up to 1984’s A Time of Wishes, made in his 81st year, and yet he still remains unjustly undervalued. Perhaps he does not quite fit in with Western critics' idea of a ‘Russian Master'; exemplified by the visually extravagant, technical virtuosity of operatic film-makers like Eisenstein orTarkovsky. Instead, Raizman is more like a Russian exponent of classical Hollywood style, with the emphasis on story-telling and the delineation of character. The current season focuses on films made afteri 960, with the more tolerant
strains to conceal an inner core of frail. human vulnerability.
Meticulous storytelling is topped by Brandauer‘s performance. a discreet tour de force that acknowledges the self-deceit of a man driven to destruction. Glasgow:GI~'I‘ 0 Le Crime De Monsieur Lange (PG) (Jean Renoir. France. 1935) Rene Lefevre. Jules Berry. 85 mins. A corrupt publisher goes on the run. Presumed dead in an accident. he assumes the identity ofa priest. Meanwhile. the workers have taken over the publishing house as a co-operative. Although the politcially naive liberal sentiments seem quaint today. the caustic social astuteness make this an intermittently charming and tragic comedy~drama. Edinburgh: French Institute 0 The Dead Zone(18) (David Cronenberg. US. 1983) Christopher Walken. Brooke Adams. Martin Sheen. 103 mins. Five years after a serious road accident. a man discovers he has gained psychic powers in the process.
The uniformly chill atmosphere
political climate allowing Raizman to pose questions about the quality of life in his native land. In films including A Strange Woman (18 Feb) and A Time of Wishes (11 Feb) he looks at the tensions between the aspirations of the individual and the public demands of the system through determined heroines seeking self-fulfilment. 1982’s Private Life (25 Feb), on the other hand, hints at the emotional emptiness of a generation as Raizman examines the enforced retirement of a high-ranking official, who is then forced to re-evaluate the ideals which he has held throughout his life.
These films place him in the ranks of the cinema’s humanists. Raizman works not out of some self-conscious artistic zeal, but seeks impersonality in the attempt to represent the experiences of people as individuals so that we find out what makes them tick. Thus, we should not think of him as a typically Soviet director, fora man of such a philosopy will adapt himself to any ideological system, and his sensitively caring films evade any notions of propaganda. I would catch up on them while the chance presents itself if I were you. (Trevor Johnston)
pervading the film's wintry landscapes give this superior King adaptation a genuinely unsettling feel. Edinburgh; EU Filmsoc o Defence of the Realm (PU) (David Drury. UK. 1985) Gabriel Byrne. Denholm Elliott. Greta Scacchi. Ian Bannen. 96 mins. Fleet Street hack Byrne stumbles onto a nice juicy scandal involving an ()pposition M.I’.. the KGB and a call girl. little realising that it is a successful sntokescreen to obscure a far—reaching conspiracy of murder and deceit that stretches to the heart ofthe Government. Incisive. provocative political thriller that both entertainsand stimulates. Denholm Elliott‘s old warhorse is magnificent and Byrne's dogged reporter shows all the hallmarks ofa star in the making. Edinburgh; Odeon. Glasgow; Odeon. o Desperately Seeking Susan ( 15) (Susan Seidelman. US. 1985) Rosanna Arquette. Madonna. Aidan Quinn. 103 mins. Delightful feminist fantasy concerning
mistaken identity in the Big Apple.
I Edinburgh;Playhouse
o The Evil Dead (18) (Sam Raimi. US. 1982) Bruce Campbell. Ellen Sandweiss. 95 mins. Pleasurably scary backwoods horror comic. Edinburgh: ()deon
o A Fistful of Dollars ( l8) (Sergio Leone. Italy-W. Germany-Spain, 1964) Clint Eastwood. Gian Maria Volonte. Carol Brown. 100 mins. A taciturn. sharp-shooting. nameless stranger rides into a small town on the Mexican border and dramatically intervenes in an ongoing feud between warring families.
Leone's remake of Yojimbo revitalised the entire Western tradition. adding spaghetti to the genre's vocabulary. Ilis style is one of baroque overstatement with graphic violence detailed in lingering close-ups and endlessly drawn out confrontations orchestrated to the sound and fury of Ennio Morricone's memorably shrieking musical accompaniment.
Eastwood. substituted for an overly expensive James Coburn. received a paltry 5 15.000 but earned his niche in cinema history as The Man With No Name. Edinburgh; EU Filmsoc o The Great Gatsby ( PG) (Jack , Clayton. US. 197-1) Robert Redford. I Mia Farrow. Bruce Dern. Karen Black. 140 mins. Solitary millionaire Jay Gatsby is a man of mystery to the Long Island hoi polloi ofthe 1920s. ' When a young stockbroker rents a nearby cottage his imagination is fired by the legends and myths surrounding the man. However. the secrets of this enigmatic character are locked in the heart ofhis neighbour. the beguiling Daisy ! Buchanan.
Redford is well cast as the Jazz Age ; golden boy in the third cinema version of the ‘unfilmable‘ F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Sterling supporting performances. opulently nostalgic period recreation but overlong and unforgivcably bland. Edinburgh: Filmhousc O Greystoke (PG) (Hugh Hudson. UK. 1984) Christopher Lambert. Ralph Richardson. Ian Holm. 130 mins. Umpteenth version of Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan story. Lambert lopcs convincingly. Richardson dodders poignantly and the apes. both genuine and simulated. are fine. but extensive and injudicious editing have rendered the storytelling incoherent. Edinburgh; EU Filmsoc O The Hunger( 18) (Tony Scott. US. 1983) Catherine Deneuvc. David Bowie. 99mins. Glossy. vacuous vampire tale. Glasgow; (irosvenor O The Hungry Years (Jutta Bruckner. W Germany. 1980) 1953 and W , Germany gears up for the impending economic miracle and a teenage girl comes to terms with her father's politics and her mother‘s zest for : buying. Glasgow; German 3 Cine-Club i 0 Ivan the Terrible (PG) (Sergei Eisenstein. USSR. 1943-6) Nikolai
Cherkasov, Ludmila Tselikovskaya, Serafine Birman. 187 mins. Lavish, detailed chronicle oszar Ivan IV‘s life from coronation to defeat and
reinstatement. Edinburgh;
Edinburgh Film Guild