FESTIVAL FILM
PREVIEWS/lISTINOS
heritage of the Italian neo-realists, Pasolini‘s films located themselves, spiritually and geographically, in the shanty towns and ramshackle housing estates surrounding Rome. Early works, such as Accatone and Mamma Roma are marked by their fascination with a violent. seedy , sub-proletarian culture, while the narrative draws a sense of a high, ancient formalism
from its influences in Renaissance art.
The power of this vision proved to be the enduring feature of Pasolini‘s work: completely breaking with neo-realism he filmed The Gospel According to St Matthew in a Sicilian wasteland, combining cinema-write with highly stylised Biblical imagery; while the mythic, primitive universes of Medea and Oedipus Rex, take on the form of sophisticated parable, thesis-films conducting an increasingly desperate analysis of cultural consciousness. In political terms, the savage attack on petty bourgeois values begun in Theorem and Pigsty culminates in the brutalities of his final film Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, where Dante-tsque structure ritualises repellent images of torture and sado- masochism and forms a profound condemnation of the horrors of Fascism.
‘Pasolini’s poetry is not yet very well known, ‘explains translator Chris Whyte, ‘but in the long run, I suspect it will turn out to be equally important as his films.‘ Similar themes re-occur: ‘Pasolini took a radical stand against the consumer society, against the bourgeoisification of Italy. Also, he was a Catholic, a Marxist and gay, his sexuality was very bound up with violence - all these come out in his poetry. He had a very rich education in late 19th century Italian poetry, which is very melodic, very refined, but he started writing about the lowlife of Roman slums. The effect is essentially of being violent to the text .' (Andrew Pulver)
I The Form of the Vision St Cecilia‘s Hall. Cowgate. 14—25 Aug. 10am-5pm Mon-Sat. I Pasolini: Film Poetry and All Filmhouse. 21 Aug.
_ 10.303m—4.30pm.
DAY BY DAY DIARY
SATURDAY 12
I CAMEO
New Paradise Cinema (Giuseppe Tornatore. Italy, 1988) 7pm. The festival begins with this celebration of the cinema itself. Centred on the life of a Sicilian cinephile who grows from boy to man without ever losing his passion for the movies. A stylish , sentimental opening that was loudly cheered at Cannes. Philippe Noiret stars.
SUNDAY 13
I FILMHOUSE 2
0-Planes (Tim Whelan, UK, 1939) 2pm. Part ofa season marking the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, this is one of 30 British films from 1939. Richardson and Olivier head a cast concerned with the disappearance of some test planes; and assuring us Britain is still Great.
I FILMHODSE 1
anl Woman (Suzanne Schiffman, France, 1989) 2.30pm. A struggling publisher tries to overcome a financial crisis by pretending that his exotic girlfriend is the author of a series of romance books. Former Truffaut collaborator Schiffman is greatly influenced by her mentor (Jean Pierre Leaud plays the author) but she also possesses a charming, devil-may-care tone of her
I CAMEO
The Mikado (Victor Schertzinger, UK, 1939) 3pm. Odd attempt to put Gilbert and Sullivan on the screen in this high-risk early Technicolor feature. I FILMHOUSE 2
John Huston (Frank Martin, US, 1988) 6pm. Solid documentary on one of Hollywood’s most likeable directorial legends, with rather wooden commentary by Robert Mitchum.
I FlLMflOUSE 1
The Kill-Oil (Maggie Greenwald, US, 1989) 7pm. Based on a novel by American pulp novelist Jim Thompson . this romantically sombre study of New Jersey low-life centres on a bed-ridden gossip who spreads her vitriolic sensibility through the phone.
I CAMEO
Breaking in (Bill Forsyth, US. 1989) 7pm. Forsyth's first film as hired directorial hand is a character comedy scripted by John Sayles, with Burt
Reynolds and Casey Siemaszko as old hand and greenhorn safecrackers. Promising ingredients. but they do not necessarily a great film make.
I FILMIIOUSE 2 Accatone (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1961) 8.30pm. Part of wide-ranging Pasolini retrospective Pasolini (see panel). His debut feature was shot quickly on the streets of Rome, and follows the hopeless lives of the poor and vice-ridden, ironically juxtaposing the heights of human ecstacy and anxiety.
I FILMI'IOUSE1
Jesus of Montreal (Denys Arcand, Canada, 1988) 9pm. Many people’s favourite for the Palme D‘Or at Cannes this year but eventually rewarded with one of the minorjury prizes. Beautifully realised meditation on religion, America, politics et al from the director of The Decline of the American Empire. Recommended.
I CAMEO
Slaves of New York (James Ivory, US, 1989) 9.30pm. Adapted from Tama
J anowitz's novel about the survival of an independent woman in a city dominated by a minority of men, this latest Merchant-Ivory production boasts the beautiful ensemble playing we have come to expect. See also feature.
MONDAY 14
I FILMIlOUSEl Lunchtime Animation-Tex Avery 1pm. See panel.
I FILMHOUSE 2
Cheer Boys Cheer (Walter Forde, UK, 1939)2pm. Early Ealing comedy pits quaint traditional craftsmen against soulless modern industry in a battle of the breweries.
I FILMHOUSEI
A Strange Place to Meet (Francois Dupeyron, France, l988)2.30pm. After being left by the roadside by an overwrought hubby, Catherine Deneuve meets up with Gerard Depardieu who's out repairing his car. Star performances power this unusual love story set
almost wholly in the middle of the night. I FILMHOUSE 2 Countdown to War4.30pm I FILMHOUSE 2
Jacoba (Joram ten Brink, Netherlands, 1988) 6pm. A docu-drama following the director‘s own experiences as he escapes with his family from the clutches of the Nazis. Arrives with high praise.
I FILMHOUSE1 Sweetie (Jane Campion, Australia, 1989) 7pm. Odd-ball story of two sisters, their strange obsessions and loves. Stylised first feature in the love it or hate it category. I CAMEO
We Think The World OiYou (Colin Gregg, UK, 1988) 7pm. From the director of Lamb comes this study of homosexuality in 505’ London. Alan Bates falls in love with a dog when his lover loses interest in him; Garry Oldman plays the human interest of those affections.
I FILMI‘IOOSE 2
Mama Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1962) 8.30pm. Typically pessimistic stuff following the fortunes of an ageing prostitute trying to mend her ways and improve the life of her son.
I FILMHOUSE 1
Eat a Bowl oi Tea (Wayne Wang, US, 1989) 9pm. The study of a struggling marriage in American Chinatown which draws on some obvious cultural differences in order to illuminate and criticise both countries. Absorbing and heartwarming stuff, a return to the excellence of Dim Sum..
I CAMEO
Wings oi the Morning (Harold Schuster, UK, 1937) 9pm. This is the first British feature in Technicolor, screening in a newly restored print from the National Film Archive. On-loan Yank Henry Fonda and the French actress Annabella star in a story of (ahem) Irish horsey folk.
TUESDAY 15
I FILMHOUSEi
Lunchtime Animation- Estonlan Animators 1pm.
I FILMHOUSE 2
The Nursemain Who Disappeared (Arthur Woods, UK, 1939)2pm. Woods was killed in action in 1942. but this film was
made the year after his celebrated morbid melodrama They Drive by Night. We'll leave you to guess the plot.
I FILMHOUSET
The Lady From The Cinema Shanghai (Guiherme de Almeida Prado, Brazil, 1987) 2.30pm. A former boxer watches a movie in the Cinema Shanghai. and soon realises that the woman sitting beside him is the film‘s star. A tribute to Welles and Film Noir rather than Woody Allen. I FILMHOUSE 2
The Power oi Solovitl (Marina Goldovskaya, USSR, 1988) 6.30pm. Documentary about an island in the White Sea used in the Thirties and Fortics to re-educate Soviet dissenters.
I FILMHOUSEI Meiancholia (Andi Engel, UK/W.Ger, 1989) 7pm. A former German radical working as a journalist in London is persuaded to carry out a murder which leads him onto further intrigues. Philposophical thriller from the film distributor turned first-time director.
I CAMEO
Dealers (Colin Bucksey, UK. 1989) 7pm. Risible low-key British rip-off of Wall Street centres on successful businessmsn Paul McGann facing major decisions when his personal life starts getting affected. Rebecca DeMornay is the bonk interest.
I FILMHOUSE 2
Love Meetings (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1964) 8.30pm. Pasolini interviews the Italian public on attitudes to sexuality.
I FILMHOUSE1
My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, Ireland, 1989) 9pm. Subtitled ‘The Story of Christy Brown', this is a sensitive biopic of the young Irishman who battled through cerebral palsy to tap out an acclaimed novel with his foot. Brown is remarkably played by Daniel Day-Lewis.
I CAMEO A Story of the Wind (Joris Ivens, France, 1988) 9pm. Portrait of communities in rural China screened in tribute to the nonagenarian Dutch documentarist who died in June ofthis year
WEDNESDAY 16
I FILMI'IOUSEI
Lunchtime Animation- Women and Animation
1 m.
I FILMHOUSE 2
Goodbye Mr Chips (Sam Wood, UK.1939)2pm. Robert Donat plays schoolmaster Mr Chipping in this classic adaptation of James Hilton‘s novel. If you have tears prepare to shed them now.
I FILMHOUSEl
Before the Bat Completes Her Fllghl (Peter Timar, Hungary. 1989) 2.30pm. A woman, whose husband has long since disappeared, takes on a lover only to discover that the real interest of the man‘s affections is her son. Extraordinary tale of sexual aberration with a gripping thriller finale.
I FILMHOUSE 2
My Name is Benoit Brecht- Exile in USA (Norbert Bungc, Christine Fischer-Defoy. W.Gcr. 1988) 6.30pm. From 1941 until 1947 Brecht tried to find work in Hollywood. an experience which questioned his idealisation of mythical America.
I FILMHOUSE 1
Painted Faces (Alex Law, Hong Kong, 1988) 7pm. Evocative study of the last group of students to go through the school of Peking Opera before it closed in the early 70's. A fascinating glimpse into an alien culture.
I CAMEO
Play Me Something (Timothy Neat, UK. 1989) 7pm. John Berger's exploration of the ways and means of storytelling brings together separate narratives in Barra and Italy. Winner of the first prize at the Barcelona Film Festival.
I FILMHOUSE 2
The Gospel According to St Matthew (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1964) 8.30pm. Justly famous biblical cine-verité, whose stark vision remains the most moving Christ on film. Al this from a Marxist.
I FILMHOUSE 1
Let’s Get Lost (Bruce Weber, US. I988)9pm. Sex and drugs and jazz and cheekbones: the Chet Baker story. Bruce Weber's sorrowful monochrome study ofthe
The List 11— 17 August 198963
CONT. OVERLEAFV