FILM INDEX
I The Exorcist ( 18) (William Friedkin. 1JS.
1973) Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max
1 Von Sydow. lllimins. Earnest priest \’on i Sydow steps in to save poor little possessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Dead good. dead searey . dead priest. Strathclyde: WMR Film ('cntre. I The Falls ( P(i) ( Peter (ireenaw ay. L'K. 198(1)185mins.(ircenaway'presentsthc case histories of 92 subjects w itfi the prefix ‘Fall‘ to their surnante. and informs tisof their language and views about the responsibility of birds. Make ofit what you will. btit this will be a rare chance to see this early work in a new pristine print. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
5 I Fantasia (1' ) (Ben Sharpstcen. 1'S. 19411) The voice of Deems'l'ay'lor; music played by the Philadelphia ()rchestra.
conducted by Leopold Stokowski. 13.<
E mins. Fully restored to mark its 511th
anniversary. Walt Disney's semi-abstract feature remains a unique and astonishing achievement. Almost equally lauded and loathed. it contains sortie visually stunning material as well as some rather embarrassing kitsch. btit surely the most mentorable sequence is Ali/re .S'oreerer's Apprentice starring Mickey Mouse (endowed for the first time with pupils instead of button eyes). lidinburgh: fiilmhouse.
I The Fly ( lb’) (David (‘ronenberg 1'S. 1986).leff(ioldblum. (iecna Davis. 1111) mins. Brilliant reconceptualisatiori ofthc camp 19st classic. with (ioldblttttt highly effective as the scientist w hose experiments in teleportation go disastrously wrong. and his w ife 1)av is no less impressive as the lov e of his life. Special effects superlatively revolting. tension sustained throughout. (ilasgow: (3171‘.
I The Fountain ( 15) ( Yuri Mamiii. 1 "SSR. 1988) 1111 mins. ()ne ofthc first filmsto take ftrll advantage of recent opportunities to speak freely about Sov iet society. Mamin’s satire uses an overcrowded tenement with bad plumbing asa metaphor for political decay. .~\n elderly new corner to the building is appointed maintenance engineer. but. as he is unable
to speak the local language. chaos ensues.
(ilasgow: (il’l‘.
I FXZ: The Deadly Art Of Illusion( 15) (Richard Franklin. 1S. 1991 ) Bryan Brown. Brian Deririehy. Rachel'l‘icotin. .loanna (ileason. Philip Bosco. lllfsiiiins. When movie special effects genius Rollie
Tyler 1 Brown ) is eoased out of retirement.-
he finds himself caught up in a w ebof deceit and murder. Sounds fariiilrar‘l’ Sure
is. Stars and plot twists turn out againfoi'
sequel to the successful 19% thriller and that's not necessarily a bad thing. ('entral:
(‘aniion
I La Gloire De Mon Pere ( l’( i i i y'v es Robert. 15rance. 19911) Philippet .iuber'c. Nathalie Roussel. l)idicr l’atnfl licrese Leotard. 1115 mins. The first of two films based on the memoirs of Marcel Pagiiol (offlleuu De I’lorerre Marion Dev Sources fame ). this is a story of the remembered ioy s of childhood. focusing on Pagnol's father 1 ( 'aubere ). a successful schoolteacher. and on a summer holiday in Provence. where the young Marcel ((‘iamaea ) discoversthe beatin ofthc country side. the v aliie of friendship and the sad fact that holiday s come to an end. (hat mmg arid summery . it somewhat sentimental. (‘eritral: MacRober‘t .-\its ('entre.
I Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (IS) (Simon \Vincer'. 1S. 1991 ) Mickey Rourke. Don Johnson. (‘helsea field.
I Tom Si/emor'c. 9b mins. The buddy formula just refuses todte. This trmeit's
two miitoicyclc-r'idirig dr‘ilter'sl Rourke
andlohnsorilivingouttheircliildhood
dreams) w ho rob a bank reasons.of course
for good btrt find themsclv cs caught tip in a treacherous world. .-\n
action adventure chase comedy star
\ ehicle that tries [it please cv cryorte 11111
ends tip leaving riooiie fully satisfied.
22 The List 11— 24 October 1991 -
(ilasgow . (‘aririori 'l be huge ( aririori
AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER
If N N N his run out r-n inn rm "1 '11
Aunt Julia And The Scriptwriter (12) (Jon Amiel, US,1990)Keanu Reeves, Barbara Hershey, Peter Falk. 104 mins. Although it was released in America as Tune In Tomorrow, the British distributors of this second feature by Jon Amiel of Singing Detective acclaim have decided that we’re all rather more literate on this side of the Atlantic and have reinstated the title of Maria Vargas Llosa‘s rollicking and intelligent source novel. The action has been relocated from Lima to 1951 New Orleans and Keanu Reeves plays aspiring writer Martin whose apprenticeship at local radio station WXBU receives something of a boost when serial script maestro Pedro Carmichael (Peter Falk) joins the operation to increase the listening figures forthe operation’sflagging daily soap, Kings of the Garden District. While Pedro's flairforwild storylines and his running jibes about anything remotely Albanian begin to attract much attention, Martin creates a stir of his own when he begins dating his vivacious, divorced AuntJulia (Barbara Hershey). After spying on the couple and recording their conversations, Pedro begins to instigate a real-life plot by arranging for Martin's shocked relatives to find
out about the illicit affair.
Dominating the proceedings is an effortless display of flamboyant comic invention from Peter Falk, who not only brings off Carmichael’s florid use of disguise and bottomless creative zip, but justifies, through sheer charisma,
* the decision by William Boyd to take
the screenplay adaption a step further on from Vargas Llosa's original conception and have the serial unfolding around him. As in the novel, Martin and Julia’s narrative is intercut with extracts from the outrageous soaps, yet here we not only see the radio actors reading them in the studio but have their pulp excesses visualized for us by an impressive cast (Peter Gallagher, Buck Henry, Elizabeth McGovern) greatly relishing the chance to play sudsy melodrama to the hilt. Would that dear old Keanu Reeves were able to muster a similar sense of animation, for, despite the amount of lively comic mugging going on around him, his own performance is decidedly lacklustre, hardly striking the sort of erotic sparks off the capable Hershey that are really needed to make the reality/fantasy musings of the piece truly hit home. (TrevorJohnsfon)
From 18 Oct: Glasgow: Ddeon. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Sairchiehall Street. Izdrnburgh: (‘anrion. 1'1'1. Strathclyde: 1'(‘1(’lydebank.1'(‘l T'.il\1 Kilbride. I Henry And June 1 is) 1 Philip Kaufman. 1'S. 19911) 1~red Ward. 1'nia Thurman. Maria dc Maderios_ Richard 1-). Grant. 13," mins. The triangular relationship between the erotic w ritersllenry Miller and .-\nais Nin and Miller's wife June istlic backbone of this well mounted biopic. w liicli suffers from the slightly incongruous explicitness of Kaufman's previous ( 'Iibeur'irb/e lightness ()f'lierrrg and the same uncomfortably slow pace. 1-.diiibiirgh: ('aineo. I Hidden Agenda 1 15) ( Ken 1.oach. 11s. 1901)) l'rances Mcl)ormand. Brian(‘os. Brad 1)oui'rf. Mar Zetterling. 1113 mins. ()ne of Britain's most respected political filrti-rttak‘crs takes on the big one -r the security forces in Northern Ireland. When an .-\rrierican lawyer is killed. detailsbegin to emerge w hich are neither palatable nor in the view of the British govcr'ririient
1 l t
1
I
suitable for public consumption Fortunately for all concerned. the characters and narrativ e are fictional. but l.oach's research rev ealed some unsavoury facts about Britain's recoidoii civil and human rights. and he‘snot keeping them to himself. .-\ bitter pill. Strathelyde:1'(‘11'.astlsilbridc.
I Hiroshima Mon Amouri is)(.-\I.iin Resriais. France. 1959) Izrrinianuelle Riva. 1-.iji ( )kada. 91 mins. The romantic liaison between a French actress working in Hiroshima and a Japanese architect awakens the ghosts of lier'war'trriie relationship with a ( ierman soldier. l'ir'st maior work by a director w ho hasaltered the perception of cinematic time. here iiioving effortlessly through the flashbacks and flashforwards of Marguerite 1)rrras‘ emotive script. (ilasgow : (if-'1'.
I House of Gamest 15) 1 David Mantel. 1S. 1987) Lindsay (’r'ouse..1oe Mantegna. 1.ilia Skala. 1112111111\.:\ workaholic psychiatrist. the author of a bestselleron
compulsive behaviour. dev elops an obsession w ith a group of con men and the seams they perpetrate. Attracted by the
v iearious thrill of their games. she is eager to graduate from observ er toparticiparit. The movie starts slowly . btit becomes a gripping and pleasurable thriller of serpentine twists. hard-boiled
(‘haridler'estiue dialogue and surprise
double-crosses. A (‘hinesc box of a film. lidinburgh: liilniliouse
; I I Know Where I‘m Going! ( 1' 1 (Michael
Powell A; finier‘ic Pressburger. 1'l\'. 19451
, Wendy lliller. Roger l.ivesey.1’inlay
('urrie. Pamela Brow ii. Nancy Price. 91
mins. Beautiltrlly shot in black and white. this isan intriguing comedy romance with darkundertones. irtwhiehtheyoirng.
confident Ms 1 filler sets out to marry her
; rich btit elderly fiance in the l febrides.biit
falls instead for l.ive\ey 's sc\y young naval officer. The visual symbols. all drawn from the islands' naturallandscape. underline the story ‘s deeper resonances. (ilasgow : (if-T.
I In Bed With Madonna ( 18) i Ate-k Keshisliiart.1‘S. 1991 ) Madonna. her' dancer's. the tour crew . a bottle ofrriiner'al water. 11‘) 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 ls'eshishian
providesa constantly entertainingportrait of the artist. as she switchcsfrorri super-bitch to mother mode. (‘orieer't
footage of the Blmir/ sfmlirrrmr tour is impressive and tightly edited. btit the highlights have to be Beatty arid('ostner making total pratsol'theniselvcs. iidiriburgh: (Enrico.
IJBCDD'S Laddert 13) (Adrian l.yric.1'S. 1991))TiniRobbins.1%li/abethl’eria. l)i11111_\z\1c‘llt), 113 mins. Vietnam vet
; .lacob Singer is seeing some very strange I, things. like nurses w ith demons‘ horns and
people with faces straight out of a 1'1 aricis Bacon painting. As his grip on the reality of his present life begins to slip. he has recurring flashbacks to the night lirs
platoon was w iped otrt during the war. The
director of fatal. frmri Iron and the writer of (i/iovreornbirie to pull offone ofthc most terrifying. yet ultimately mov ing. paranoia thrillers of recent years. (ilasgow ( 'aririoii Satrcliiehall Street. (irosveiioi' Izdrnburgh; ('ameo. 1'1'1. Strathelydc:1‘('l('lydebank.1'(‘11iast lsilbr'itle.
IJulia Has Two Loverst 15) r Bashar' Slibitw. 1'S(‘aiiada.19911Daphrralsastner. David ('har‘les. l)avid l)uelioviiv . Sbnirns After a strange and erotic telephone conversation with a man who hasdialled the wrong number . Julia 1 lsastrier‘) finds that she must reassess her life and the recent rtiar‘r'iage proposal from her doriiiricer irig live-in lov er. :\ steamy affair eltstles when she itl'titttges lit tttcel the mystery riiari. filmed on a budget of nut to nothing. this seat cliing evairiiriatri in of modern-day intimaeres scored a hit at the 1991 [zdinbui'gh film festival. See preview . ( ilasgow : ( il-‘l'. l-dinbur'gh: T'lllillitHlS'c‘.
IJungle FevertlsiiSpikc-l ee.1'S. 1991)
\Veslc) Sritpcs. Annabella Seior‘ra. .lohri
lirrtui i'o. Spike l.ce. Anthony ()uinri. 13?
mins. Black yuppie l'lrpper' Purify (Snipes) launches into an ill-fated affair with his ltaliari-.»\iriericaii secretary (Scioi ra ) and adds fuel to the fire of inter-racial tensions. Spike lee's latest eontrov ci'sial work also includes at 11121101 subplot on drug addiction. which leay es the atrdiertce wondering if he hastackled too many ‘big' issues at once Still. it'sa stylish piece with some good pci'for‘riiarices. even if the director's message is not exactly positrv e. ladiitbtrigh: (ameo.
I Junoon ( 15 ) (Shy arii Beriegal. lridia. l‘FS’) 141 mins. Set during the lridiari Mutiny of 1857.13c'ric~g;il's epic centreson the obsessive lov e of a Pathan nobleman fora female survivor of a massacre at the British garrison. full of the markersof