INDEX FILM

Bebe Neuwirth. Gregg Edelman. 107 mins. The hugely amiable figure of Depardieu dominates this. his Hollywood debut. He plays a French composer living illegally in New York and in desperate need ofa work permit. MacDowell's horticulturalist is in love with a conservatory apartment. but needsa husband to get the lease. A marriage of convenience is arranged. but the authorities are not convinced. so the mismatched couple are forced to invent a history for themselves. In doing so. of course. they fall for each other. Funny.

charming. and not without profundity. but 5

suspend your disbelief for the denoument. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.

I Henry: Portrait 0111 Serial Killer( 18) (John McNaughton. US. 1986) Michael Rooker. Tom Towles. Tracey Arnold. 80 mins. Based loosely on the true life (and subsequently recanted) confessions of Henry Lee Lucas. McNaughton's exemplary film is a harrowing account of an amoral mass murderer. Scenes of rape and mutilation transcend the usual titillation of the genre and force the audience to question the use of murder as entertainment. Simultaneously one ofthe most important releases of recent years. and one recommended with caution. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Home Alone (PG) (Chris Columbus. US. 1990) Macaulay Culkin. Joe Pesci. Daniel Stern. John Heard. Catherine 0'1 Iara. 103 mins. Peter and Kate McCallister (Heard and O'Hara) have an eight-year-old brat and wisely albeit accidentally— leave him behind in Chicago when they go on holiday to Paris. Left to his own devices young Kevin (Culkin) has to deal with two bungling burglars (Pesci and Stern) who threaten to invade his peaceful haven. Jolly. ifsadistic. scare-Comedy antics produced by teenflick veteran John Hughes. Glasgow: GFT. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.

I Hudson Hawk (15) (Michael Lehmann. US.1991)Brucc Willis. Danny Aiello. Andie MacDowell. James Coburn. Richard E. Grant. 100 mins. The Hawk turns into a big budget turkey for reformed cat burglar Willis. who is lured out of retirement by a motely crew of egomaniacs. Vatican art experts and CIA hoodlums. Lehmann (Heathers. Meet The Applegates) handles the pyrotechnics well. but a lame script and one dimensional characters weigh down what could have been good undemanding fun. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street.

Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: UCl

, Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride.

I In Bed With Madonna (18) (Alek Keshishian. US. 1991) Madonna. her dancers. the tour crew. a bottle ofmineral water. 119 mins. This behind the scenes look at the world‘s top pop icon may not be the candid revelation the hype would have us believe. but newcomer Keshishian

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provides a constantly entertaining portrait

of the artist. as she switches from super-bitch to mother mode. Concert footage of the BlomlAmbirion tour is impressive and tightly edited. but the highlights have to be Beatty and Costner making total prats ofthemselves. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UC1.Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. UCl Clydebank.

I Journey Of Hope (PG) (Xavier Koller.

Switzerland. 1990) Necmettin Cobanoglu. :

Nur Surer. Emin Sivas. Mathias Gnadinger. 110 mins. Winner ofthe 1991 Best Foreign Film Oscar. this is a

harrowing tale about a Turkish family who

sacrifice everything to seek admission to a new. more prosperous life in Switzerland. Charting the tribulations and humiliations they endure on the journey. it givesa striking account of the difficulties facing all refugees and would-be immigrants. Glasgow: GF'T.

I Kind Hearts and Coronet: (PG) (Robert Hamer. UK. 1949) Dennis Price. Alec Guinness. Joan Greenwood. Valerie

ROADKILL

Roadkill (certificate to be announced) (Bruce McDonald, Canada, 1989) Valerie Buhagiar, Gerry 0uigley, Don McKellar, Larry Hudson. 80 mins. Don't let the title fool you —this isn’t Hannibal Lector let loose on the Canadian highways, but a reference to the cute little bunny rabbits and muskrats that get squashed along the way in this quirky rock ’n' roll road movie. That is, “road movie’ in as much as the main character can't drive. And the serial killer—yes, I admit it, there is one - hasn't actually killed anyone yet, even if he is disillusioned by other career prospects in northern Ontario. Sent by her slimy boss to track down an errant rock band, Ramona (Buhaglar) comes across a strange selection of North American weirdos, all of whom seem to be in the process of searching lorsomelhing. Eventually she progresses from bullied office gofer to assertive organiser of a climactic concert, the only person who

can bring her disparate fellow travellers together and provide the answers they need.

Part diary, part documentary, part traditional narrative, the freedom of the film’s form and the loose episodic structure of the story underline the sense of release, optimism and damn good fun that jumps off the screen. Powering along with an excellent post-punk soundtrack by the Hamones, the Cowboy Junkies and the excellent Nash the Slash (who appears in a neat cameo role, bandages and violin at the ready), Roadkill is perfect late-night fodder with huge cult potential. Apart from the odd Film Festival screening, this is its first British run, so see it now before it is relegated to some obscure mid-week Canadian independent film retrospective on Channel 4. (Alan Morrison)

Edinburgh Cameo 3,8at10—Sun 25 Aug, daily 11 .30pm.

llobson. lllomins. Blackerthanblack Ealing comedy has a suave and sophisticated Price killing off an entire family tree (all played by Guinness) in order to move himselfcloser to the d‘Ascoyne family title. Low-key cynicism and disarming callousness make it a true gem of British post-war cinema. Glasgow: GET.

I Life Is Cheap... (18) (Wayne Wang. US. 1990) Spenser Nakasako. Victor Wong. (‘ora Miao. Cheng Kwan Min. 88 mins. The supposedly simple delivery ofa suitcase to Hong Kong becomes more complicated when the Triad boss it was intended for refuses to accept it. Wang‘s portrait is ofa city that becomes increasingly nightmarish and surreal the more our innocent hero is sucked into it. A lewd. rude and scatalogical antidote to the travelogue genre. Glasgow: GET.

I The Magic Flute (1))(lngmar Bergman. Sweden. 1974) Josef Kostlinger. lrma Urrila. Hakan Hagegard. 135 mins. Originally made for Swedish TV. Bergman's version of Mozart is set in an actual theatre where a modern audience watch an 18th century performance. The result is sympathetically attuned to the talents of his performers but still a fairly frothy addition to the Swede‘s canon of faithless anguish. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Mermaids ( 15) (Richard Benjamin. US. 1991 ) Cher. Winona Ryder. Bob 1 loskins. Christina Ricci. 110 mins. Quirky growing-up comedy whose adolescent heroines are an irresponsible. footloose

mother Mrs Flax (Cher) and her morose. pious daughter Charlotte (Ryder). both of whom have something to learn from the other's pre—supposed values. Enjoyable and warm-hearted. with Hoskins splendid as the sexy shoe-shop owner. and excellent performances from the two central actresses. Strathclyde: WMR Film Centre.

I Misery ( 18) (Rob Reiner. US. 1991) Kathy Bates. James (‘aan. Frances Sternhagen. Richard Farnsworth. Lauren Bacall. 107 mins. Adapted from Stephen King's novel. this psychological chiller centres on a popular author with literary aspirations (Caan) who finds himself trapped. following a nasty car accident. with his ‘number one fan' (Bates. who won the Best Actress Oscar for the role). Gradually. he becomes aware ofher psychosis. and is forced to bide histime until he can contrive an escape. The talents of all concerned are employed to superb effect. to produce a movie ofgreat originality. subtlety and entertainment value. Glasgow: ()deon.

I Music Box ( 15) (Costa-Gavras. US. 1990) Jessica Lange. Armin Mueller Stahl. Frederic Forrest. 126 mins. Lange plays a successful Chicago lawyer whose Hungarian immigrant father (Armin Mueller Stahl) is threatened with the loss of his American citizenship when he is suspected of collaborating in wartime atrocities against Budapest Jews. Believing unswervingly in her dad‘s

innocence she takes on the task of

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