FILM INDEX

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INDEX

I The Accused (18) (Jonathan Kaplan. US. 1988) Kelly McGillis. Jodie Foster. Berni Coulson. 111 mins. Sarah Tobias (Foster) is raped on a pinball machine by three men, but when the assailants go to court, a plea bargain with Sarah‘s lawyer (McGillis) reduces their charges. When both women realise this is a sell-out. they decide to bring charges against the onlookers who offered encouragement to the rapists. Standout performance from Foster in this sympathetic and responsible treatment of difficult subject matter. whose firm grasp of character helps allay one‘s reservations about the content. Glasgow: GFT.

IAltira (12) (Otomo Katsuhiro. Japan. 1989) Animated by Nakamura Takashi, with the voices of lwata Mitsuc. Sasaki

Nozomu, Koyama Mami. lshida Taro. 124 ;

mins. Based on the multi-volume graphic novel by Otomo, Akira is a mythical. futuristic tale of post-holocaust Tokyo, where pill-popping biker kids begin to unearth a government project designed to exploit the psychic and telekinetic powers of a group of laboratory-bound children. Superny animated, with a fantastic visual and narrative imagination, but you‘d be well advised to know something of the plot before you see it. Glasgow: GF'I‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I All Dogs Go to Heaven (U) (Don Bluth. US, 1989) With the voices ofBurt Reynolds, Loni Anderson and Dom DeLuise. 84 mins. In Bluth'slatest animated feature. likeable Alsatian Charlie Barkin is killed by his partnerin small-time crime, but manages to trick his way out of the Afterlife to face earthbound adventure with cute orphan Anne-Marie as he seeks revenge on his double-crossing buddy. Occasionally sloppy animation is more than made up for by the inventive story-line and an allusive sense ofhumour that should even have adults suppressing the odd guffaw. Strathclyde: Odeon Hamilton.

I An Angel At My Table (PG) (Jane Campion, New Zealand, 199(1) Kerry Fox. Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergussson. 158 mins. Campion‘s follow-up to her remarkable debut Sweetie is a lengthy

treatment of her compatriot Janet Frame‘s

autobiographical trilogy of novels. originally made for television. Following Frame‘s life from awkward childhood and teenage years. through university (where she was diagnosed as schizonphrenic) and bohemian travels in Europe. to her adult achievements as a writer, the film offers a more subtle depiction of mental illness than Sweetie, and is superbly conceived and acted throughout. Glasgow: GFT.

I Apocalypse Now! (18) (Francis Coppola . L

US, 1980) Martin Sheen. Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall. Dennis Hopper. 153 mins. Vietnam as The Ultimate Trip. We follow US Army assassin Sheen downriver and deeper into the Heart ofDarkness ruled over by Brando‘s mad Colonel Kurtz. Alternatcly pretentious and visually overpowering (the Valkyries helicopter attack, for example). its grandiloquent folly somehow pierces right to the bone of the conflict. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I L'Argent Money ( 12) (Robert Bresson. Switzerland/France. 1983) Christian Patey, Sylvie van den Elsen. Michel Briguet, Caroline Lang. 8-4 mins. Based

on a short story by Leo Tolstoy. Brcsson‘s

superbly detached film is a moral tale whose subject. quite simply. is evil. Centring on a forged SUD-franc note. the story leads inexorably and paradoxically from innocence to guilt as a young man is slowly driven to murder by an earlier deed undertaken in apparently harmless mischief. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

18 The List 19 April— 2 May 1991

I Au Bevoir Les Enlants (PG) (Louis Malle. France/W. Germany. 1987) Gaspard Manesse. Raphael Fejito, Philippe Morier-Genoud. 113 mins. Low-key. cinema-verite-influenced portrayal of incidents from Malle‘s own boyhood. Set during the German occupation, the film follows the developing friendship between two boys at a small school run by monks. one of whose secret Jewish identity proves dangerous to both boys as the Nazi presence looms. Simple. subtle. and very moving film. which avoids the cliches of the coming-of-age genre. and makes its larger political points firmly but unobtrusively. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.

I Awakenings ( 12) (Penny Marshall. US. 1991 ) Robert De Niro. Robin Williams. John Heard. Julie Kayner. Penelope Ann Miller. Max von Sydow. 121 mins. Based on the book by psychiatrist Oliver Sacks. A wakettings tells the story of a reclusive neurologist (Williams) whose new post at Bainbridge Hospital in New York is not the clinical experience he had anticipated. Instead, he finds himself drawn to a particular group ofstatue-like encephalitic patients. among them De Niro‘s Leonard Lowe. As his obsession with their unexpressed inner lives grows. he develops a relationship with Lowe which begins to release both Lowe‘s ability to communicate and his own repressed emotions. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. UCI Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride.

I Babar. The Movie (U) (Alan Bunce. Canada/France. 199(1) With the voicesof Gordon Pinsent. Elizabeth Ilanna. Sarah Prilley. 7(1mins. Jean de Brunhoff‘s lovable elephant graces the screen in animated form for the first time as the long-running children‘s favourite is called into action to save Elephantland from the clutches of Lord Rataxes and his Rhino Hordes. Undemanding and likeable children‘s fare for the school holidays. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Bad Inlluence ( 18) (Curtis Hanson. US, 1989) Rob Lowe. James Spader. Lisa Zane. 1(12 mins. Spader plays a demure finance manager with a luxury LA apartment and, signifigantly, a video camera. Enter Lowe. who personifies

Young. 117 mins. A tough cop tracks down a group of malfunctioning androids

in this gritty hi-tech retread of Raymond

Chandler. executed with Scott‘s customary visual flair. and with strong performances. especially from Ford and

: Hauer. But try following the confusing plot first time around. Edinburgh: Cameo. ? I Blue Velvet ( 18) (David Lynch. US,

1986) Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper,

Isabella Rossellini. 12(1mins. In small-town Middle America, would-be

boy detective MacLachlan finds a severed

. car on some waste ground. When the police shoo him away he decides to do

everything Spader ain't: cool. assured and i

unhindered by moral scruples. The two strike up a friendship and Spadcr's life takes a dramatic turn. Though it shares much the same roots as the pretentious Apartment Zero this is a far superior production with suspense and humour served up in equal measure. An

unexpected slice of quality entertainment.

Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Betty Blue ( 18) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean HughesAnglade. Beatrice Dalle. 12(1mins. Tempestuous love gone mad as an older handyman and a free-spirited woman embark on a passionate. pcripatctic fling that ends in tragedy. Filmed with a dazzling technique and an irritating emptiness by the maker of Diva. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure ( 15) (Stephen Herek. US. 199(1) Keanu Reeves. Alex Winter. 91 minutes. Bill and Ted have an ‘excellent' friendship. but their dream of forming a band called the ‘Wyld Stallyns‘ is haunted by the spectre of flunking their history exams and being packed offto military academy. However. courtesy of a time-travelling telephone booth, the two dudes canter through the centuries on a breakneck refresher course where they meet up with the likesof Genghis Khan and Beethoven. Problems multiply in this enjoyably manicteen romp when this brace of historical figures make it back to contemporary California with them. Like. totally tubular. man. Central: Allanpark.

I Blade Runner( 15) (Ridley Scott. US. 1982) Harrison Ford, Rutger Ilauer. Sean

some investigating of his own. A singular fusion of the cosy and the terrifyingwhich blends kitsch and nightmare, B-movie detection and brutal sex to deconstruct our complacent vision of normal society. This is film-making of remarkable imagination and skill. Glasgow: GET.

I Bonlire 01 The Vanities (15) (Brian DePalma. US. 199(1) Tom Hanks. Bruce Willis. Melanie Griffiths. Morgan Freeman. 126 mins. Tom Wolfe's celebrated New York satire is brought to the screen by veteran director DePalma, with a starry cast. but disappointing results. which failed to capture the US box office‘s imagination. and led to Wolfe‘s disassociation with the project. Hanks stars as ill fated yuppie Sherman McCoy, whose blossoming fortunes take a downturn after a car accident involving a young black man. Griffiths plays his mistress Maria. Willis the newspaper hack on his trail, and Freeman the black judge overriding corruption in the courts. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon, UCI. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride.

I The Brave Little Toaster (U) (Jerry Rees, US, 199(1) 94 mins. Fun animated adventure as a group of plucky electrical appliances go off in search of their master who‘s moved to the big city. Yet for Toaster, Lampy the lamp, Kirbythe vaccuum cleaner and Blankey the electric blanket there are many dangers to be face along the way. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I C'Est La Vie (12) (Diane Kurys. France, 199(1) Nathalie Baye. Richard Berry, Zabou. Vincent Lindon, Julie Bataille, Candice LeFranc. 1()(1mins. Kurys‘ latest movie is another instalment in her serialist semi-autobiography, which also includes Diabolo Menthe and Coup De Foudre. Set in the summer of 1958 at the holiday resort of La Baule-les-Pins. the story explores the effects on two children (Bataille - l3 and LeFranc— 6) oftheir parents' deteriorating relationship. Sensitive. sometimes harrowing, but not without humour. this is a stirring and affecting movie. Glasgow: GF'T.

I Le Chat (PG) (Pierre Granier-Deferre, France, 197(1) Simone Signoret, Jean Gabin. Annie Cordy. 88 mins. Georges Simenon‘s dark and ironic novel centres on the bizarre love triangle between a middle-aged couple and their cat, which receives the caresses the husband (Gabin) once lavished on his now-alcoholic wife (Signoret). As their brooding relationship grows increasingly bitter, the cat‘s own well-being starts to seem jeopardised. Edinburgh: French Institute.

I A Christmas Story ( PG) (Bob Clark, US, 1983) Peter Billingsley. Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon. 98 mins. Christmas is coming and our young hero desperately wants a certain type oftoy gun from Santa. Appealing Forties-set memoir, with a witty first person narration and agreat performance from the bespectacled child star. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Cinema Paradiso (PG) (Giuseppe Tornatore. Italy/France,l988) Phillipe Noiret, Jacques Perrin. Salvatore Cascio. 123 mins. Tornatore‘s vision ofhis movie-mad childhood is a wonderful love letter to the cinema itself. Told largely in flashback. it traces the young Salvatore‘s infatuation with his village cinema. and his

growing friendship with its pro jectionist (played to perfection by Noiret). Essentially, it’s Tornatore‘s lament for the joyous movie-going experience of his youth and a recognition of the price we pay for our maturity. 1990 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film. Glasgow: GFT. I Coup De Foudre At First Sight/Entre Nous (15) (Diane Kurys. France, 1983) Miou-Miou, Isabelle Huppcrt. Guy Marchand. Jean-Pierre Bacri. 111 mins. Kurys‘ Oscar-nominated third feature is a superbly perceptive story about the intense friendship between two women, which gives both the strength to abandon unsatisfactory marriages. As in most of Kurys‘ work, there is an element of autobiography: in this case the Huppcrt character is based on Kurys‘ mother. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Cyrano De Bergerac (U) (Jean-Paul Rappeneau. France, 199(1) Gerard Depardieu. Jacques Weber, Anne Brochet, Vincent Perez. 135 mins. A stirring adaptation of Rostand‘s classic, romantic tragi-comedy. Full ofgrandly mounted, bustling crowd scenes (Ezio ,Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino won a Felix for their production design). it revolves around typically superb performance from Depardieu as the large-nosed hero. Although performed in rhyming verse throughout (with somewhat dodgy subtitles by Anthony

1

Burgess), and a touch overlong, the film‘s :

dramatic and cinematic qualities are outstanding. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.

I Dances With Wolves (12) (Kevin Costner, US, 1990) Kevin Costner. Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney Grant. 179 mins. Costner‘s debut as director and co-producer. in which he also stars, has already been widely praised for

its epic scale and its sympathetic depiction :

of Red Indian culture in the 1860. Itwon seven Oscars including Best Film and Best Director, with no less than twelve nominations. Set at a remote outpost during the American Civil War, a time of violent struggle between pioneering Yankees and Sioux Indians. it offers a sensitive and intense analysis of both

factions. and of a man caught between two ,

different cultures. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street, Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon, UCI. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton, UCIClydebank, UCI East Kilbride.

I Days Otllope Partst and 2 (15)(Ken Loach, UK, 1975) Paul Copley. Nikolas Simmonds, Pamela Brighton, Norman Tyrrel, Gary Roberts. 1916: Joining Up 95 mins; 1921: Lockout 100 mins. The first two servings ofthe four-part docu-drama written by Jim Allen, about ten years of the British Labour movement, as seen

through the lives of three working people.

and from a Socialist perspective. A milestone of its genre. and a chance to

assess the political commitment of Loach‘s

earlier work. Glasgow: GF'I".

I Do The Right Thing ( l8) (Spike Lee. US. 1989) Spike Lee. Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, John Turturro. 119 mins. New York‘s deprived Bedford-Stuyvesant district on the hottest day of the summer. and racial tension escalates between Italian-American Sal (Aiello), his two sons and the mainly black local 3 community who make up the bulk ofhis 5 customers. As the situation worsens and , violence looks a possibility. Sal‘s black delivery boy Mookie (Lee) ponders how to do the right thing. A forceful exploration of the socio-economic and cultural causes behind white racism, Lee's film also operates as a tightly controlled multi-character drama. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Drugstore Cowboy (18) (Gus Van Sant Jr., US, 1989) Matt Dillon. Kelly Lynch, James Remar. William S. Burroughs. 100 mins. A gang of dope fiends blithely ripoff a series of drugstores headed by our Matt J