FILM LIST

l— NDEX

I The Accused ( 18) (Jonathan Kaplan. l'S. 1988) Kelly Mc(iillis. Jodie Foster. Berni (‘oulsoii 111 mins. Sarah'l‘obias (Jodie Foster) is raped on a pinball machine by three men. yet when the assailants are taken to court. a plea bargain with Sarah's lawyer Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) reduces their charges. When both women realise this is a sell-out. they decide to bring charges against the men in the bar who cheeredon the attack and offered encouragement to the rapists.

Standout performance from Foster in this sympathetic and responsible treatment ofdifficult subject matter. whose firm grasp of character and honest intentions help allay one‘s reservations about the content. Glasgow: (‘annon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Strathclyde: Cannon. La Scala. ()deon Ay‘r. ()deon Hamilton.

I The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (PG) (Terry Gilliam. L'S. 1988)John Neville. Sarah Polley. Eric Idle. Robin Williams. 12(imins. (iilliam‘s fabulously expensive 18th century fantasia begins in a city under siege from the Turks where the populace are being entertained by a theatrical extravaganza based on the tall tales of Baron Munchausen. whereupon the lad himselfappears to give a first-hand account of his adventures and save the day.

Gilliam‘s extravagant visual sensibility guides this occasionally misfiring manic epic through its sticky patches. but there is so much to look at and enough genuine laughs that his relentless campaign against mediocre convention is more than justified. Strathclyde: AMCClydebank 10.

I Babette's Feast (1}) (Gabriel Axel. Denmark. 1987) Siepharie Audran. Jean-Philippe Lafont. Bibi Andersson. 103 mins. The Jutland peninsula during the late 19th century. Exiled French housekeeper Audran wins 10.000 francs in a lottery and uses the money to prepare a sumptuous banquet marking the centenary of the birth ofa Lutheran dean whose surviving spinster daughters carry on his good works among the poor and needy. However. when a shopping list of quail. turtle. champagne and vintage wine arrives the sisters begin to wonder if such pleasure is compatible with their piety. ..

A delicious gastronomic experience and an exquisite slice ofcinematic narrative this is a boisterous. exemplary literary adaptation full of pleasurable surprises and real feeling. A worthy ()scar winner. (‘entralz Regal.

I Betrayed ( l8) ‘2: (Costa-( iavras. 11S. 1988)’l‘om Berenger. Debra Winger. John Heard. 127 mins. See panel. Glasgow: ()deon. Edinburgh: ()deon.

I Big(l’G)(Penny Marshall. l'S. 1988) Tom Hanks. Elizabeth Perkins. Robert Loggia. 104 mins. 12 year-old Josh ( David Moscow) has no luck with the school beauty because of his diminutivestature. However. upon discovering a neglected fairground wishing machine. he jumpsout of bed the next morning to find his boy ish self now wrapped in an adult packaging (Tom Hanks).

()1 all the role-reversal movies out last year. Big has been by far the most successful. because Tom Hanks offersa most appealing characterisation as the dopey innocent at large. and because it treats the situation with a little intelligence. Josh is at times lost and bewildered in the adult world. for instance but his unspoilt ideastriuiiiph w hen he gets a jtit) with a toy company. (iood mainstream fare. (ilasgow: ( 'annoii

35 The List 5 18 May 1989

MATEWAN

Matewan (15) (John Sayles, US, 1987) Chris Cooper, Will Dldham, James Earl Jones. 130 mins. The difficulty that writer/director John Sayles had in finding the finance for the project, and the delays in attracting British distribution are both evidence of the kind of struggle faced by Hollywood film-makers in tackling material that centres on the American trade unions. In the wake of a legendary commercial flop like Warren Beatty’s expensive epic Reds, it’s especially remarkable that Sayles made it at all, but we are to be grateful that he has, for the result is a humane and moving piece of work. This true story is set in Matewan a

West Virginia coaliields town that's owned by the mining company who take their policy of lowering wages and raising shop prices to the point where the workers stage a walkout. As the bosses import Scab black and Italian labour, activistJoe Kinnehan (Chris Cooper) arrives in the area to see if he can also get the blacklegs out to put the massed strikers in a position of strength. However, the company sends

(‘larkston Road. IThe Big Easy( 18) (Jim McBride. US. 1987) Dennis Quaid. lillen Barkin. Ned Beatty'. 101 mins. Pretty smart and sexy cop thriller set in a sweaty. atmospheric New Orleans where local lieutenant ()uaid tries toclear tip a seriesofgangland murders. all the while falling in love with Barkiii's attorney. in town to investigate police corruption. Glasgow: (ii-'1‘.

I Bigfoot and the Hendersons ( PG) (William Dear. LS. 1987) John l.ithgow. Melinda Dillon. Don Anteche. l 11 mins Disney'esque family adventure in which the all-American Henderson family crash into the legendary Bigfoot and adopt the suprisingly genial beastie as a domestic pet with predictable complications from the neighbours and blood-hungry hunters. (ilasgow : (irosvenor. (‘entralz Allanpark. Strathclyde: Kelburne.

I Carmen ( 15) ((‘arlos Saura. Spain. 1983) AntonioGades. Laura Dlil Sol. l’acode l.iicia. 101 mins. ('horeogiaphei'(iades casts unknown Del Sol as the lead in his new flamenco ballet production of

( iii-men. and as the rehearsal period gathers momentum pioccetls to fall in love with her. lhe conceit of life iiiirroringart is the oldest 111 the book. but w hocarcs when the dancing is as beautiful and as highly charged as it is here. l-dinbiirgh: ('ameo.

I Celine And Julie Go Boating ( 1 F l (Jacques Rivcttc. France. 1974 ) Dominique Labourier. Juliet Berto. Bulle ( )gier. Two

.‘lw-w-‘I

x),

in strike-breakers whose devious machinations disrupt the integrity of the protest and bring matters to a violent head.

From the outset, there's an unquestioning acceptance of the iustness and the benefits of union organisation that's never preachy or sell-righteous, yet the film's strength actually lies 1 its portrayal of the disintegration of solidarity. Sayles shows how the strike-breakers eventually goad the men into a position where they can no longer uphold the rigour of the passive resistance that the union stands for, so that in the end it's the poor manual workers who are the victims in the inevitable llnal massacre. Which perhaps makes this a liberal movie more than anything else.

Political shading aside though, the film's clear grasp of the integration of narrative clarity and characterisation make it a powerful statement of the dignity of struggle for a just cause. Slightly overlong maybe, but It remains a worthwhile two hours in a landscape we rarely get to see. (Trevor Johnston)

young women. magician (‘eline (Berto) and librarian Julie (Labourier) become involved in a repeated drama being played otit between a young girl. her widower father and two strange women. Bizarre. allusivc masterpiece which works like a cross between Kafka. Lewis Carroll and Borges. and was claimed by critic David Thomson to be ‘the most important film since Citizen Kane". Edinburgh: lidinburgh University Film Society. I Cocktail ( 15) (Roger Donaldson. US. 1988)’1‘om(‘ruise. Bryan Brown. Elizabeth Shue. 95 mins. (‘ruise playsa greenhorn inducted into the my'steriesof all-action bartending by master cocktail shaker Brown. and before long they have graced the top bars in Manhattan and been signed tip to work in the Caribbean. However. a failed romance with poor little rich girl Shue. soon has ourTom questioning the vapidity of his experience. Glossy soaper with risible pretensions to social comment. which must go down asa disappointment from the talents involved. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Commissaul’ti) (Aleksandr Askoldov. L'SSR. 1907) Nonna Murdyukova. 110 mins. Special Mayfest preview of Askoldov 's humanist masterpiece that rey ives the poetic eloquence ofearlier Soviet masters like Dovzhenkoand Eisenstein. The story concerns a Red Army officer experiencing the suffering and the bravery of a Jew isli community during the (‘ivil War of the 1920s.

sensitive subject matter that saw the film shelved by the authorities for overtwcnty years and its director unable to find work. Glasgow: GFT.

I Crazy Love ( 18) ii (Dominic Dcruddcrc. Belgium. 1988) Josse Dc Pauw, Gert Hunaerts. Michael Pas. 87 mins. See panel and Mayfest preview. Glasgow: GFT.

I Crossing Delancey (PG) a (Joan Micklin Silver. US. 1988) Amy Irving. Peter Reigert. Reizl Bozyk. 97 mins. See panel. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Dangerous Liaisons (15) (Stephen Frears. US. 1988) Glenn Close.John Malkovich. Michelle Pfeiffer. Keanu Reeves. 120mins. ChristopherHampton adapts his stage version of Chodcrlos de Laclos‘ novel for the screen. with Americans Close and Malkovich starring as the central pairing of Madame de Tourvel and the Vicomte de Valmont. two treacherous 18th century aristocrats weaving a web of erotic duplicity around one another.

British director Stephen Frears makesa notable Hollywood debut by guiding his east through a difficult set ofnarrative pirouettes. and the crisp dialogue is handled with a certain aspcrity. Yet for all the pent-up emotion on screen. little fervour seeps through to the audience and the result is a rather cold and calculating piece of work. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Dominion.

I Danton (15) (Andrer Wajda. France. 1982) Gerard Depardieu. Wojciech Pszoniak. Anne Alvaro. Most critics read this treatment of the ideological tussles between idealistic Danton (Dcpardieu) and pragmatic Robespierrc (onniak) as analogous to the then conflict in Poland between Lech Walesa and General Jaruzelski. because it certainly makesa very conventional historical piece seem a good deal more exciting. Edinburgh: French Institute.

I Dark Crystal (PG) (Jim Henson. Frank ()2. UK. 1982) 94 mins. The Muppet men branched out with this unoriginal children‘s fantasy surrounding the quest for a missing shard from the all-powerful dark crystal which must be retrieved to prevent evil consuming the known world. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Day For Night ( 15) (Francois Truffault, France. 1973) Jacqueline Bisset. Jean-Pierre Leaud. Francois Truffault, Valentina Cortese. 120mins. Interesting and entertaining movie about moviemaking. with Truffault himselfas the hack director trying to steer cast and crew through a tacky love story. Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Film Society.

I The Dead Pool ( l8) (Buddy Van Horn. US. 1988) Clint Eastwood. Liam Neeson, Patricia Clarkson. Fifth in the Dirty Harry series has Clint as tough cop Harry Callahan investigating a series ofbrutal murders. All the victims‘ names appear on a list made for fun by eccentric slaher movie director Peter Swan (Neeson), of the people he thinks will not live out the year. As the bodies pile up. the deathtrail gets closer to our hero.

Ho hum actioner. as sluggish and tired looking as its rather over-age star. who must be getting a bit old for all this by now. Still he probably had to make this in exchange for Warners financing the wonderful Bird. so maybe we can excuse the old boy. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Strathclyde: AMC Clydebank 10.

I Death Of A Salesman (PG) (Volker Schlondorff. US. 1986) Dustin Hoffman. 140 mins. Originally made for American public television. this is an adequate record of an award-winning stage performance in a classic play. though Hoffman does look a little made-up on the cinema screen. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Le Demier Glacier ( PG) (Jacques Leduc 8.; Roger Frappier. Canada. 1984) Innovative docu-drama which uses an impressive split-screen technique to contrast the real-life fortunes ofdeclining