FILM LIST
Tam/mp0 again stars Nobuko Miyamoto. this time as a female tax inspector obsessively on the trail of a wealthy businessman w ho is similarly concerned to hide his earnings from the inland rev eiiue services.
The Itami mix as before really . a one-idea movie (the tax inspector as film noirgumshoe ) stretched out to allow all manner of comic vignettes. cinematic referencesand gratuitous sex. to lill out a blackly entertaining whole. (ilasgow: (if-'I‘.
I The Terminator t l 8 l ( .lames ( ‘ame ron. L'S. I984) Arnold Schw ar/eiicggcr. Michael Biehn. Linda Hamilton. Ill" mins. In ZHZ‘) machines has e all but conquered the planet but a sa\ ioiii' isat hand in the form of a new human leadei'. Part~man. part-machine. Schwarzenegger's cyborg is sent back from the luturc to 1084 on a mission tokill the future leaders mothc r.
Inventive. excitingly -paced science-fiction adventure with a notable performance from Arnie in his first villainous role. Izdinburgh: Cameo.
I Tucker: The Man And His Dream ( PU) (FrancisComiola. CS. 1988) .lell Bridges. Martin Landau. Joan Allen. llllmins. Based on a true story . Coppola's best lilm in years charts the rise and tall ol l’restoii 'I‘ucker. a naive but iiigeniousauto engineer w ho in W48 managed to produce a car so technically adv aiiced that it scared the Detroit majors into action. Beloi'e long their ties with the political powers-that-bc ci eated a set ol trumped-up li‘aud chaiges that were to dissolve 'I‘uckcr‘s dream of affordable. safe motoring in a w elter ol litigation.
Jeff Bridges excels himself in the title role. and old lag Martin I.aiidau steals sortie of the spotlight with aneiideai'ing portrayal of his curmudgeoiily accountant. bill this is Coppola's mov ic. w here he at last re-unitcs his sly liin technique w ith a graspof iiarratiy e control it) a niaiinei that brings back memories of tliegi‘eat IIollywood productions ol old. (ilasgow: ()deon. Iidinburgh: ()deon.
I 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick. [IS CK. 1908) ls'eir l)ullea.(iai'y Lockwood. Celebrated visionary epic about the history and future ol the human race. superbly craltcd and directed by Kubrick. It needs the big screen to doreal justice to the famous sequences on the development of man and the landing on the distant site of the mysterious monolith. ()ne ol the great elasstesoI modern cinema. Izdinburgh: l' I IS.
I U2 Rattle And Hum ( l’hil .Ioaiioii. I 'S. 1988) Bono. Ihc Iidge. AdamClay ton. Larry Mullen. 0H mins. [‘2 on their worldwide Joy/um '1 rue tour liiid themselves exploring the great tradition ol American popular music as they record with BB. King and a llai'lemChoir. before taking a trip to the Sun Siiidiosin Memphis where I'.|\ is first recorded. Intriguing mix of stirring li\ e footage and intimate documentary capturing a band iii transition. though perhaps just a little too much of the former. Iidinburgh: Cameo, I The Unbearable Lightness of Being ( is) (Philip Kaufman. CS. 1987) I)aiiiel Day-Lewis. .luliette Binochc. l.ena( )liii. 167 mins. Ambitious adaptation of Milan Kundera‘s elliptical.complex novclabout a womanising C/eeh brain surgeon w ho falls in love for the first time w ith a doe-like beauty from a small spa tow n, Abandoning his freew heeling former existence. he faces commitment and togetherness at the time ofthe Prague Spring and Russian invasion ol 1%8.
A dawdling and rather austere nai'i any c is given some spice and interest by an overwhelming eroticism. a beautifully judgedevocation ol Prague and gorgeous photography , otherwise vastly overlong and uninvolviiig. (ilasgow: (iI’I‘. Edinburgh. I‘ilmhouse.
I West Side Story(i’(;i (Robert wise-ts Jerome Robbins. CS. 1%] ) Nathalie
Wood. Richard Beymer. Russ'l'amblyn. Rita Moreno. l55 mins. Romeo andIuliet revisited. against a background of New York gangs. (ireat songs of course. btit the play ing of the sly lised dancing against a realistic background contrives to make it all look rather camp these days. Izdinburgh: Cameo.
I Who Framed Roger Rabbit? ( l’( i) (Robert Zemeckis. CS. 1988) Bob
I Ioskins. .loanna Cassidy . Christopher Lloyd. 92 mins. I.o.s Angeles. l‘M‘Land side by side with the human population
M e the 'I‘oons. the cartoon characters working in the movie business. Animated star Roger Rabbit is wort ied about his
\\ ile .Iessica's faithfulness and hires private dick Iiddic \‘aliaiit ( Bob I loskins) to keep tabs on her. but this is merely the prelude to the unravelling of a conspiracy that is to threaten the lives of all insolyed. and the very future of ’l'oontowii itscll.
An incredible technical achiey ement for the credibility with which the cartoons interact with the human cast and sly lised sets. this surefire box office w inner efficiently spoofs the film noir genre while milking its 'I‘ex Av ery -sty led highly physical sense of black comedy for all its worth. 'I'he stars cope remarkably well. btit all praise is due to the team behindthe cameras and on the animating boards. for they haye returned a sense ol wonder to the silver screen. (ilasgow Cannon Clarkston Road. (it‘os\ eiioi'. ( )deon. Iidiiiburgh: Dominion. ()deon. Central: Allanpark. Caledoniati. Cannon. Strathclyde: AMC (‘lydebank Ill. Cannon. ()deon Ayr. ()deon I Iamilton. Rialto.
IWIIIDW(I’(i) (Ron Howard. I'S. W88) Warwick Day is. Val Kilmer. .loannc \Vhalley. .Iean Marsh. 12o mins. A mystery baby turns up in the land olthc little Nelwyn people. and one of their number has to return it to the adult-sized land of the I)aikini. However. the kid turns out to be the little princess w how ill say e the country from the clutches of the w ickcd ()ueeii.
Would-be blockbusting fairytale epic offers producer ( ieorge l.ucas another opportunity to i'el’ashioii the Star Wars narrative in a setting straight otit ol 'I‘olkien. The result is not unentertaining. btit w e‘ve all been here too many times belore. (ilasgow : Cannon ('Iarkston Road. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Cirosvenor. Iidinbui'gh: Cannon. Central: Allanpai'k. Cannon. Strathclyde: AMC Clydebank ll). Cannon. ()deon Ay r. ()deon l Iamilton. \\'MR.
I Wings Of Desire ( lS ) (Wim Wenders. w. (ierinany .l‘)87) BriinoCiaiv. ( )tto Sander. Sols eig I)oniniartin. l’etei' i’alk. 137 mins. Restless angel ( ian/ oiiduty
os ei‘ Berlin takes a tip from American mm ie star and lormer angel l’eler l~alkon the possibilities ol crossing in er. iltltl follows his mentor's palli lo consumate his relationship with beautiful circus acrobat l)oinmartin.
(iorgeous black-and-w bite. and an attractively \L‘li\lll\e feel lor the people and places ol Berlin grace this thematically rich and uncharacteristically optimistic slice of Wenders movie enchantment. I lighly recommended. Izdinburgh: Cameo. Central; Regal.
I Withnail And | ( l5 ) ( Bruce Robinson. CK. 1987) Paul McCiaiin. Richard I-.. (irant. Richard (iriffiths. it)? mins. Wot). 'l'wo out of work actors surviving through London giro squalor take a break in a picturesque Lake District cottage. w here one of them suffers the attentions ol the ageing homosexual owner.
Reasonably entertaining British comedy with a tendency to rely on the all-too-easy targets of drug-taking and gay stereotyping for much of its humour. Iidinburgh: I‘ilmhouse.
I A World Apart ( 15) (Chris Menges. 17K.
was) Barbara Hershey. Jodhi May. Linda
Mvusi. David Suchet. 112 mins. Basedon the experiences of screenwriter Shawn
The Films of 1988
In retrospect it must have been a fairly decent year as the problem is now trying to contain one’s choice of the best films to a mere ten ratherthan hunting around fora few worthy titles to augment the genuine favourites. The ten chosen are only the best on the most highly subjective terms: personal enjoymentand whim.
The cinema distribution side of the industry is experiencing some of the most lucrative years in recent memory; admissions continue on their upward curve and one drawback is now the lack of screens to accommodate the veritable glutof audience: hasing product. Cinema construction is big business and both the advance of the multiplex and response of the traditional venue have made this an interesting twelve months.
The plethora of baby boom and body-swapping rib-ticklers threatened to become unbearable but then along came the genuinely delightful Big and all was forgiven. Any national cinema that can produce such diverse pleasures as lronweed and Roger Rabbit can be forgiven a lot.
Sean Connery’s Dscarwas satisfying, Brando‘s return to work cheering, John Cleese's success heartening, Robin Williams' press conference side-splitting and Richard Gere’s twinkling smile devastating.
It’s a charitable time of year but also the season of turkeys and 1988 produced some megamutants in this category, notably the excruciatingly awful Consuming Passions, the enigmatic Pet Shop Boys fiasco It Couldn't Happen Here and uncle Ken Russell’s self-abusing abomination Salome’s Last Dance — films one couldn’t envisage wanting to make, let alone have to watch.
To end, my personal Top Ten of 1988 is:
Au Revoir Les Enfants (Malle), Babette‘s Feast (Axel). Big (Marshall), Distant Voices Still Lives (Davies), Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway), Good Morning Vietnam (Levinson), lronweed (Babenco), Moonstruck (Jewison). No Way Out (Donaldson), and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Zemeckis). (Allan Hunter)
I suppose I would have to echo my colleague‘s sentiments about it being a pretty good year for film in general, for I found myself all too swiftly outgrowing the allotted list of ten films to represent the achievements of the last twelve months. Those that made it
just happened to lodge more firmly than others, whim as usual being the way of these things.
While bums continued to hit seats at an encouraging rate of increase, especially in Scotland where we watch
Slovo‘s teenage years in the South Africa of the early Sixties. the tilt!) followsthe arrest of her political activist mother and the resultant tensions this brings to bear on their relationship. However. the young girl's growing personal awareness ofthe injustices of apartheid lead her towards some sense of solidarity with her mum. Well-handled and brilliantly acted domestic treatment of the moral evilsof the Johannesburg regime. which never opts for preachiness but offers an honest
more movies than anywhere else outside London, grumpy critics like myself often grouse that they are there to see the merest pap. While the relative failure of the ultra-resistible Sly Stallone’s ‘Rambo 3' was mildly heartening, one sometimes feels dismay that audiences will flock to catch inanities like ‘Three Men And A Baby‘ while they seem scrupulously to avoid a superb commercial thriller like Roger Donaldson's ‘No Way Dut‘. At least everyone agrees about Roger Rabbh.
On a more serious note. the inauguration of the European Film Awards showed just how much challenging film-making goes on without the support of the wealthy but cautious American industry, and Kieslowski's deeply powerful ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ proved a more than worthy first winner, though both Terence Davies and Wim Wenders can think themselves a mile unfortunate that it was a year of such intense and quality competition.
At the other end of the scale, the huge numberol releases means an uncomfortably high ratio of inept products on the market. Most depressing perhaps is when (presumably) intelligent directors make asses of themselves, as in the case of Mike Radlord’s ‘White Mischief', or Cimino's “The Sicilian‘, but perhaps most notably in the instance of Phil Kaufman‘s Unbearany Turgid Beings From Czechoslovakia Take Their Clothes Off, a certainly unbearable screen version of Kundera‘s sexist epic.
Anyway, enough olthat, here are the good ones. In no particular order: Wings Of Desire (Wenders), Thou Shall Not Kill (Kieslowski), Distant Voices. Still Lives (Davies), Hairspray (Waters). Housekeeping (Forsyth). No Way Out (Donaldson), Bird (Eastwood), King Of The Children (Chen Kaige), The Last Emperor (Bertolucci), Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Zemeckis). (TrevorJohnston)
Distant Voices. Still Lives
complexity that makes its powerful tale ol learning and committment all the more engrossing. Iidinburgh: I‘ilmhouse.
I Young GunS( ls) (Christopher ( ‘ain. l l'S.1988)Iimiliolistevez.I.ouI)iamond Philips. Kiel'er Sutherland. Charlie Sheen. i Terence Stamp. Jack I’alance. llllmins. See caption review. (ilasgow : Cannon l Clarks‘ton Road. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. (irosvenor. Iidinburgh: Cannon. I Central: Caledonian. Cannon.
Strathclyde: AMCClydebank ltl.
'I'liel.ist23I)ec1988— 1: ii... loan 17