FILM LIST
PLATOON
Platoon (15) (Oliver Stone, US, 1986) Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger. Willem Daloe. 119 mins. Alter the ballyhoo, the reckoning, as Britain linaily gets a chance to relive Vltenam courtesy ol writer-director-veteran Oliver Stone. Forsaking the elevated literary ambitions ol thematic heavyweights like Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter, this year’s multiple Oscar-winner seeks to portray as vividly as possible the lot at the ordinary inlantryman, or ‘grunt’ on combat service in Vietnam around the turn 011967—58. Charlie Sheen is Chris, a university dropout and volunteer who soon iinds his ideals ol dignity and heroism languishing in the sweat and tear oi the reality oi active duty. .
As soon as the plane lands to set Chris down, we’re right in there with him. Dead bodies in plastic bags are the llrst sight oi his new adventure. Soon the jungle and patrol, enclosing, ubiquitous, unpredictable. The daily round ol backpacktrudging and sleepless nerves, no linger on the salety catch. The enemy is always somewhere out there, just out ol sight. Violent lrustration is unleashed on unlortunate villagers or dulled by drugs and alcohol. The officers are incompetent and some oi them don’t
_. L “A « 3‘ " --~ " g “ ‘ “GP/,4; w. care either. The patrol spends as much time lighting itseil as it does the enemy. Platoon just is the leartul, coniused, seemingly pointless tile oi the grunt. It is not a comiortable expenence.
it is undoubtedly a welcome and valuable one, however. A realistic departure lrom Rambo's comic-strip heroics and a dignilied epitaph lor those who did serve. Yet, like much oi Stone’s earlier screenwriting (Scarface, Conan The Barbarian) it is very much a genre piece. The narrative is ellectively lragmentary and episodic, but linaily it is shaped around
disposes ofhis recently deceased mother‘s body and uses the coffin in a daring robbery. A resurgence of interest in Joe Orton results in a screening of this screen adaptation of one of his greatest stage successes. And a welcome one too, for this is fast, funny and furiously tasteless stuff. Edinburgh;Filmhouse o A Love in Germany (15) (Andrezej Wajda, France/Germany, 1983) Hanna Schygulla. Set during the Second World War, Wajda‘s film tells a true story of an illicit love affair between a smalltown shopkeeper and a Polish POW. Edinburgh; EUFS o The Man With A Movie Camera (PG) (Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1928) 60 mins approx. A ‘camera eye‘ documentary displaying all the tricks of which the equipment (at the time) was capable. Highly imaginative Soviet surrealism, the camera even takes a bow at the end. Edinburgh; Filmhouse O Marlene (PG)s (Maximilian Schell, West Germany, 1984) 84 mins. Unconventional documentary on the legendary Dietrich of that ilk. Edinburgh; EUFS
0 The Mission (PG) (Roland Joffé, UK, 1986) Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally. 125 mins. In 18th century South America a papal prelate is called in to resolve a territorial dispute between Spain and Portugal. Lothian; Regal
o The Mosquito Coast (PG) (Peter Weir, US, 1986) Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix. 119 mins. A black-edged working of the Swiss Family Robinson as inventor and self-righteous know-it-all Allie Fox (the excellent Ford) rejects the decline of Western civilisation to
build his own paradise in the jungles ofSoutli America. Glasgow; Salon. Edinburgh; Dominion 0 My Lile as a Dog (PG) a (Lasse Halstrom, Sweden, 1985) Anton Glanzelius, Manfred Serner. Anki Liden. 101 mins.
Twelve year-old Ingemar is packed off, because of his mother‘s illness, to live with his jolly aunt and uncle in the country, where amongst other odd characters he encounters a football-playing hermaphrodite and an old man with a penchant for
underwear catalogues. Glasgow: G1-‘f.
0 Nanou (15) it (Conny Templeman, Uk-Frnace, 1986) Imogen Stubbs, Jean-Phillipe Ecoffey, Daniel Day Lewis. 110 mins. An English teenager takes European time out before her college studies and finds first love in France with a young political militant but the path of their romance does not run smoothly. Glasgow; GFT
o No Mercy ( 18) e: (Richard Pearce, US, 1987) Richard Gere, Kim Basinger. 95 mins. Gere is a clean-shaven Chicago cop whose best buddy has just had his throat cut by a nasty-looking gentleman with a psychotic ponytail. Thus, Gere ends up in New Orleans to sort the whole business out, falls in love with La Basinger, and lays waste to a good deal ofanything that moves in an overblown finale. Formulaic stuff Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cannon. Lothian; Cannon. Strathclyde; Cannon Greenock, Cannon
Kilmarnock 0 Once Upon a Time in America (18)
(Sergio Leone, US. 1983) Robert De Niro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld. 228 mins. The story oftwo childhood friends and their early
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. a \u \ “than the ‘good’ Sarge and ‘bad’ Sarge iigures (Oaloe and Berenger both excellent) that are a commonplace oi Hollywood combat movies. What comes across most strongly is still the howl that ‘war is hell’ — but trom All Quiet On The Western Front to The Naked And The Dead, that’s a place we've been belore.
Ultimately, while it is a quite brilliantly put together piece at work and a landmark in grimy authenticity, Platoon is above all a classic war film, that just happens to be set in Vietnam. It is a step tor the moment, but there is more to be said. (Trevor Johnston)
entrepreneurial activities which blossom into careers in organised crime and politics. Leone’s epic ganster chronicle scrutinises in an uneven and gratuitously bloody manner. the emergent American society ofthe early part ofthe century through the aspirations of the mob. Glasgow; GET 0 Dssessione (PG) (Luchino Visconti, Italy, 1942) Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti. 139 mins. This first screen version ofJames M. Cain‘s The Postman A [ways R in gs Twice stands up remarkably well beside the two Hollywood versions. The film remians both an important milestone in the development ofthe Italian neo-realist school ofthe 19405. and a brooding, powerful drama. Edinburgh; EUFS o OverThe Top (PG) (Menahm Golan. US, 1987) Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakely. 92 mins. Resistible. highly characteristic Stallone sermon with ’muscles‘ playing a brawny truck driver who not only wins the heart of his standoffish estranged son. but who also triumphs as the world arm-wrestling champ. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cannon 0 The Passion oi Joan otArc (PG) (Carl Dryer. France, 1927) Maria Falconetti. 81 mins. Intense account ofthe trial and execution ofJoan of Arc. Edinburgh; EUFS 0 Peggy Sue Got Married (15) (Francis Coppola, US, 1986) Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage. 102 mins. Resistible romantic drama as Turner collapses at her high-shool reunion and regains consciousness in 1959 giving her a chance to live her life over again with the benefit of
hindsight. Strathclyde; Kelburne, Rialto
0 Personal Services (18) cr (Terry Jones, UK, 1986) Julie Walters, Alec McCowen, Danny Schiller, Shirley Stelfox. 105 mins. See panel. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cannon
0 Platoon ( 15) it (Oliver Stone, US, 1986) Tom Berenger. Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen. 120 mins. See panel. Glasgow; Odeon. Edinburgh; Odeon. Lothian; Cannon. Strathclyde; Cannon Greenock, Cannon Kilmarnock, Odeon Ayr, La Scala
o Pumping iron 2: The Women (PG) (George Butler. US. 1984) 107 mins. Slightly stage-managed but effective documentary on the finals ofthe women‘s 1983 body-building championships Edinburgh; EUFS
0 Raging Bull (18) (Martin Scorsese. US, 1980) Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty. Joe Pesci. 129 mins. 1949 middleweight boxing champ Jake La Motta finds it difficult to sustain his early success and. as his career fades he declines into a travesty of his former self. Glasgow; GET
0 Raiders ol the Lost Ark (PG) (Steven Spielberg, US, 1981) Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott. 115 mins. Exhilarating, gung-ho adventure with Ford‘s invincible hero taking on the might of the Third Reich and emerging victorious. Strathclyde; Odeon Ayr
0 liepo Man (18) (Alex Cox, US. 1984) Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton. 92 mins. Bored LA punk Estevez turns legit as a repo man (one who repossesses cars for finance companies) and an old hand shows him the ropes. Edinburgh; Cameo
0 Rock Around the Clock (PG) (Fred F. Sears. US, 1956) Bill Haley and the Comets, Little Richard. The Platters. Alan Freed. 74 mins.Thrill 101 gyrations of Little Richard’s quiff! Gasp as the oldesters gamely begin to tap theirtoes too! Glasgow; GET 0 A Room Willi A View (PG) (James Ivory, UK, 1985) Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Rupert Graves. 117 mins. Highly
agreeable. perfectly realised version of the EM. Forster novel. Winner of three Oscars and now at this venue for a year! See Shortlist. Edinburgh; Dominion
0 Round Midnight (15) (Bertrand Tavernier, US-France. 1986) Dexter Gordon. Francois Cluzet, Lonette McKee. 133 mins. In the Paris ofthe late 19505, a young French jazz fan looks after Bebop legend Dale Turner lest he drink his weary body into the grave.
Relentlessly touching character
study
0 She’s Gotta Have It ( 18) 1} (Spike Lee, US. 1986) Tracy Camila Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, Spike Lee. 85 mins. See panel. Edinburgh; Cameo. Glasgow; Grosvenor
0 Solaris (PG) (Andrew Tarkovsky, USSR, 1972) Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatos Banionis. 165 mins. A top psychologist investigates a spate of deaths in a space station orbiting a far-off planet. Edinburgh; EUFS
0 Stand By Me (15) (Rob Reiner, US, 1986) Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix,
The List 1 — 14 May 25