FILM LIST
sudden disappearance of his wife in a foreign city where he doesn't speak the language. is soon to pitch Ford into a plot that involves international espionage and the murky Parisian underworld.
Good to see Polanski partially redeeming himself after the soggy Pirates. But it is only partially. because this attempt at a Ilitchcockian thriller is really rather dog-cared in conception and sluggish ofexccution. though the cast are worth watching. Glasgow: GF'I‘.
I The Fruit Machine ( 15) (Philip Saville. UK. 1988) Emile Charles. Tony Forsyth. Robbie Coltrane. Bruce Payne. 103 mins. Two young scouses on the run from a gay nightclub slaying hitch a ride south to Brighton. where the situation oftwo trapped dolphins seems to mirror their own sense ofentrapment. Meanwhile. the killer is still stalkingthem.
Frank Clarke's script is an ambitious attempt at showing how a growing relationship between two sexually uncertain adolescents is affected by the atmosphere of Eighties' Britain. though even Philip Savillc‘s stylish direction can't help the separate thematic strands from pulling in several directions at once. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Ghoslbusters (Ivan Reitman. IIS. 198-1) Bill Murray. Sigourney Weaver. Dan Aykroyd. 105 mins. Three wacky unemployed parapsychologists pursue a little private enterprise as exterminators in spook-infested Noo Yawk. Wildly over-rated comedy. Strathclyde: AMC Clydebank 10.
I Gorillas In The Mist ( l5) a (Michael Apted. US. 1988) Sigourney Weaver. Bryan Brown. Julie Ilarris. John ()mirah Miluwi. 1-10 mins. See panel. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchichall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Strathclyde: AMC Clydebank 1().
I Hangmen Also Die (PG) (Fritz Lang. 1's. 1943) Brian Donlevy. Anna Lee. Walter Brennan. 131 mins. In wartime
Czechoslovakia. the Nazis exact terrible punishment on brave partisans. Propaganda effort co-scripted by Bertolt Brecht whose impassioned impact is sadly undercut by a phoney Hollywood idea of eastern Europe. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Highlander ( 15) Christopher Lambert. Beatie Edney. Sean Connery. 1 16mins. A handful of immortals battle through the centuries to win a mythical prize. A curious mixture of romance in 16th century heather and car chases in present day New York the film is an inelegant. often ludicrous. but enjoyany daffy fantasy adventure.
Lambert seems more at home with the contemporary passages and only the ever wonderful Connery has the requisite style for the kitsch Scottish scenes. Glasgow: Grosvenor I High Spirits ( 15) (Neil Jordan. US UK. 1988) Peter O'Toole. Daryl I lannah. Steve Guttenberg. 92 mins. ()"l‘oole stars as the financially desperate owner of a decaying Irish castle. Facing the prospect of coming up with some swift cash or accepting foreclosure. he cooks up a scheme to pass off Plunkett Castle asthe most haunted house in Ireland. When a group of American tourists arrive. however. the real ghosts eventually do come out for them and a complicated double supernatural romance is the result.
Lacklustre slapstick farce. with poor timing and a cluttered narrative curtailing any interest in the sometimescharming special effects. Perhaps comedy isn‘t Jordan's forte. or the compromisesof international production have spiked his authorial independence. but this load of mularkey does him and his stellar cast no credit at all. Glasgow: ()deon. Salon. Edinburgh: Cannon. ()deon. Central: Caledonian. Strathclyde: A MC Clydebank 1(1. Cannon. ()dcon Ayr. ()deon Ilamilton.
I Hiroshima Mon Amour ( 18) (Alain
Resnais. France. 1959) Emmanuelle Riva. Eiji ()kada. 91 mins. The romanticliaison between a French actress working in Hiroshima and a Japanese architect awakens for her the ghosts of a previous wartime relationship with a German soldier. First major work by a director who has altered the perception of cinematic time. here moving effortlessly through the flashbacks and flashforwards of Marguerite Duras‘ emotive script. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Hope and Glory ( 15) (John Boorman. 15K. 1987) Sarah Miles. David Hayman. Ian Bannen. Susan Wooldridge. 112 mins. A deceptively simple but perfectlycrafted slice of wartime nostalgia that paintsa warm and witty portrait ofthc adventurous childhood of the boy who would be John Boorman. Edinburgh: Iidinburgh Film Guild.
I I‘ve Heard the Mermaids Singing ( 15) (Patricia Rozema. Canada. 1987) Sheila McCarthy. Paula Baillargeon. Ann-Marie McDonald. 81 mins. The slightly scatterbrained. socially maladroit Polly lands a secretarial job in a fashionable art gallery and tumbles into a platonic crttsh on her employer Gabrielle. Although intimidated by the woman and her surroundings. Polly eventually is made to see that judging yourselfby other people‘s standards is worthless.
Funny and touching feminist fantasy which admirably displays the way in which good writing. wit and imagination can make up for a lack of finance. Glasgow: (if-'1‘.
I Jean De Florette (PG) (Claude Berri. France. 1986) Gerard Depardieu. Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. 121mins. Provence. during the 1920s. Depardieu‘s indomitable hunchback struggles against impossible odds to make a success ofhis inherited farmland unaware that his apparently friendly neighbours are secretly planning to drive him frotn his land.
Beautifully photographed with flawless performances. this is a towering tribute to the highest aspirations oftraditional French storytelling. A recent BAI‘TA winner as the film of the year. Central: Regal.
I Jezebel (PG) (William Wyler. US. 1938) Bette Davis. Henry Fonda. George Brent. 104 mins. A Southern belle becomes notorious for her bitchy manner. but atones for herself when a plague strikes. Star melodrama with all the stops out which was given to Davis as compensation for losing out on the part of Scarlett ()‘I lara in Gone With The Wind. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Kes (PG) (Ken I.oach. 17K. 1969) David Bradley. Lynne Perrie. Colin Welland. Brian Glover. [()9 mins. In the run-down industrial north. at young boy learns some harsh lessons about life from the fate ofhis pet bird. Classic piece of British realism which showed that Loach‘s television work could transfer to the big screen. A very humane sense of humour leavens what is in effect a tale of some desolation. Edinburgh: I’ilmhouse.
I The Last Temptation Of Christ( 18) (Martin Scorsese. CS. 1988) Willem Dafoe. Harvey Keitel. Barbara I lershey. Harry Dean Stanton. 103 mins. Contoversial though hardly blasphcmotts Scorsese adaptation of the Nikos Kazanlzakis novel has Christ tempted on the cross by the possibility of living out his life as an ordinary man. an avenue which servesonly for him to realise the full significance of his divinity.
The central thesis aside. this is a fairly straightforward though rather overlong treatment of the ministry with Willem Dafoe making a rather conventional looking Christ. The rather reverent tone can seem a little numbing at times. with the result that the film lacks the edge ofthe director's earlier work on the mean streets ()chw York. Glasgow: (if’l‘.
‘BOX OFFICE SMASH-WINNERS OF 4 BRITISH OSCARS'NOW AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
4 BRITISH ()SCARS
d LAM Q
FLQRELTE‘. O MARC N D138 80 DEC 1318
“TWO FILMS YOU MUST SEE...”
“An epic tale of innocence and evil, greed, envy
and revenge." TIMES
The List 27 January — 9 February 15