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IGhost(12) (Gerry Zucker. US. 1991)) Patrick Swayze. Demi Moore. Whoopi Goldberg. Tony Goldwyn. 126 mins. Swayze stars as the recently deceased hubby trying to get back in touch with spouse Demi Moore. via medium Whoopi Goldberg in Jerry Zucker's amiable supernatural. comedy-drama. A box-office hit in the States it is charming audiences here. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchichall Street. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. UCl. Central: Allanpark. Caledonian. Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelburne. Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. La Scala. UCl Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride.
I Gilda (PG) (Charles Vidor. US. 1946) Rita Hayworth. Glenn Ford. George Macready. Joseph Calleia. 111) mins. A bizarre and disturbing menage u trois builds up in Argentina between roving card-sharp Ford and the couple (Hayworth and Maeready) who own the casino where he finds himself. Plenty innuendo and sexual ambiguity from the lens that was later to bring us Last Tango In Paris. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I GoodFellas (18) (Martin Scorsese. US. 1990) Robert De Niro. Ray Liotta.Joe Pesci. Lorraine Braco. Paul Sorvino. 145 mins. A return for Scorsese and De Niro to the creed of amoral violence seen in Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. Liotta plays Henry Hill. a real-life mafioso. while De Niro is his mentor in crime. And while the bullets, fists and carving knives/7y. Scorsese brings us back to that unavoidable question — yes. it 's glamorous and lucrative to live this way. butcan anyone really live with the consequences? Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cannon. UCI. Strathclyde: U C] Clydebank. U('l East K ilbride.
I The Goonies (PG) (Richard Donner. US. 1985) Sean Astin. Josh Brolin. Jeff Cohen. 112 mins. Rather dire teenflick. in which seven kids go in quest ofburied treasure. leaving their parents arguing over real estate. and are followed hotly by vicious villains vying for the loot. A joyride which is slow to start and doesn‘t ever depart from well charted highways. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Handmaid's Tale ( 18) (Volker Schlondorff, US. 1989). Natasha Richardson. Elizabeth McGovern. Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall. 108 mins. See review. Glasgow; Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon.UC1. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank.
I Heart Condition (15) (James D. Parriott. US. 1990) Bob lloskins. Denzel Washington, Chloe Webb. 1le mins. AfterAlways and Ghost. poor old Bobby ‘oskins gets bothered by dead lawyer Washington. who‘s been murdered in the cover-up surrounding a politician‘s death in embarrassing circumstances. lle maybe a card-carrying racist. but he‘s a cop. and he‘s haunted. so he tracks down the bad guys. It‘s fun. it‘s fast. and it‘s playedand directed with a lightness of touch. Good entertainment. Glasgow: ()deon.
I FIND Ill" NI“! 1 B
FILM
The Handmaid’s Tale (18) (Volker Schlondorll, US, 1989). Miranda
Richardson, Elizabeth McGovern. Faye ‘ Dunaway, Robert Duvall.108 mins.
Despite having assembled a highly talented cast, Volker Schlondorll continues to frustrate the high hopes
once held for him with this rather lame
re-working 01 Margaret Atwood's
schematic but powerful dystoplan
novel. The lilm is set in an unspecified near-future America, but llirts only marginally with science-fictional trappings; as screen-writer Harold Pinter explains, “appearances are in the main lamiliar. It is customs which
3 have changed.’
America has been re-named Gilead,
; and is now run by right-wing
lundamentalists. Minorities are imprisoned in work-camps, and any lertlle white women are required to act as child-bearers lor the barren wives ol
the ruling elite, lollowing the biblical
story 01 Rachel and her handmaid. Kate (Natasha Richardson) is captured trying to escape into Canada, her husband killed and her young daughter taken away.
While in a re-locatlon camp, she makes lriends with the rebellious Moira (McGovern), a lesbian who escapes the camps only because she is lertlle. The pair are separated when Kate is lorced to act as handmaid to a high-ranking otticer (Duvall) and his wile (Dunaway). although it does not require visionary powers to work out that they will meet again.
Naturally, the new society and its leaders are terminally corrupt, and an underground resistance is already lorming to sweep them away. No real attempt is made to explain how this radically translormed world came about in the time-scale assumed, other than some passing reierences to nuclear accidents. but suspension 01 disbeliel has always been a requisite lor fantasy. The problem with The Handmaid's Tale is that it fails to
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
generate the necessary conviction to persuade the viewer to really care about the late of this group 01 characters.
The players try hard enough, but the mechanistic plot and over-simplified issues constantly undermine their ellorts; the ensuing plot developments are all highly predictable, and Margaret Atwood’s initial point about the way in which pornography
*1 .1.
establishes a corrupt and corrupting view of women gets lost, along with her ambiguous ending. I lell leeling a chance had been missed in this rather dull and disappointing adaptation. (Kenny Mathieson)
From Fri 9 Nov. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon, UCI. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
Edinburgh: UCl. Strathclyde: ()deon Hamilton. UCl Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride.
I Nellraiser(18) (Clive Barker. UK. 1987) Andy Robinson. Claire Higgins. Ashley Laurence. 92 mins. A horror picture with a well constructed plot. strong characters. haunting images and special effects that actually serve the storyline. Minor blemishes along the way. but an auspicious debut from writer Barker. Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Honey 1 Shrunk The Kids (L‘ ) (Joe Johnston. US. 1989) Rick Moranis. Matt l'rewer. Thomas Brown. Amy O’Neill. Robert Oliveri. Jared Rushton. 92 mins. llapless father and would-be inventor (Moranis) does just what the title suggests. The kids find themselves cut down to size (a quarter of an inch) and swept out with the trash. Their mission: to escape from the garbage bag and somehow attract their father‘s attention to their height problem. Well. we might think it‘s old hat but Walt Disnae. Showing with the excellent new Roger Rabbit short. Tummy Trouble. Edinburgh: UCl.
I Jean De Florette (PG) (Claude Berri. France. 1980) Gerard Depardieu. Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. 121 mins. vaence. during the 1920s. Depardieu‘s indomitable hunchback struggles against
20 The List 9 — 22 November 1990
impossible odds to make a success of his inherited farmland. unaware that his neighbours are plotting to drive him from his land. Beautifully photographed. with flawless performances. this is a towering
' tribute to the highest aspirations of French
storytelling. A BAFTA winner for the film ofthc year. Glasgow: GFT.
I "18 Killer ( 18) (John Woo. liong Kon . 1989) Chow Yun-Fat. Danny Lee. Sally Yeh. 111 mins. Genre-led thriller. with old school buddies turned cop and contract killer as sparring partners. transferred into the sleazy gangland of llong Kong. The violence puts Robocop to shame. but there’s a glorious. oriental fatalism about the whole shebang that lends it a certain sheen of romanticism. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The King and I (U) (Walter Lang. US. 1956) Yul Brynner. Deborah Kerr. Rita Moreno. Martin Benson. 133 mins. Comparison opportunity time. as the King‘s Theatre hosts the stage version and the Cannon screens the film (for one day only). Sumptuous-looking tale ofprim teacher falling gradually for tyrannical King of Siam. though the songs and the script aren‘t wonderful. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchichall Street.
IThe Krays ( 18) (Peter Medak. UK. 1991)) Billie Whitelaw. Gary Kemp. Martin Kemp. 119 mins. The long planned biopic
of the terrible twins: Ronnie and Reggie. comes crashing onto the screen. Director Medak opts to imbue their lives with the mythic qualities ofa fairy tale and thereby ignores most ofthc grisly details oftheir g reign of fear. Whether or not you believe that their sordid tale deserves such treatment. the Spandau siblings do turn in a passable impersonation. despite their love of gazing moodin at the camera. Glasgow: Gl’l". I Landscape In The Mist ( 15) (Then .»\ngelopoulos. Greece. 1988) Michalis Zeke. Tania Palaiologou. Stratis . 'l'zortzoglou. 125 mins. A small boy and his older sister leave home in search of their father and travel across agrubby Grecian landscape unable to find anyone to look after them. but from time totime witnessing visionary epiphanies. Mesmerising Greek road movie in a similar style to Angelopoulos‘s previous effort lllc’ Beekeeper. and once again beautifully performed. Glasgow: GFI‘. I The L881 Battle (Luc Besson. France. 1983) Pierre Jolivet. Jean Bouise. 92 mins. 1n the aftermath of an unspecified catastrophe. survivors scramble to sun ive in the devastated city. and one ofthem constructs a flying machine to make his escape. Shot in magnificent black and white cinemascope. Besson's debut film is still his most impressive. dispensing with
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