FILM INDEX
Paredes. 115 mins. More melodramatic frolics from Spain‘s finest. this time in the shape of a murderous triangle between a mother. her daughter and the latter's husband. While Almodovar isn‘t quite at his best. Abril excels as the TV news presenter who admits on air to her hubby's killing. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Hook (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1991) Robin Williams. Dustin Hoffman. Julia Roberts. Bob Hoskins. 135 mins. The combination of Robin Williams. Steven Spielberg and Peter Pan proves to be as successful in practice as it appears in theory. if the film is watched in the proper childish frame of mind. The story ofa grown-up Peter rediscovering his true identity allows for some fortysomething pondering. but primarily it's an excuse for a magical journey around pirate ships. lost islands and colourful fights. Sure. it‘s formulaic; but Spielberg‘s ingredients are richer and more wonderfully cinematic than anyone else‘s. Edinburgh: UCI. Fife: Adam Smith.
I In The Realm Of The Senses Ai No Corrida (18) (Nagisa ()shima. Japan. 1976) Tatsuya Fuji. Eiko Matsuda. 105 mins. At last deemed fit for certification. Oshima's shockingly erotic film can now be publicly screened. In the militarist Japan of 1936. a couple enclose themselves in their own sensual world. their passion escalating until only death can provide the next orgasm. Masterly though necessarily extremely explicit look at the power of sexual arousal. which has attracted controversy throughout the world. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Lawnmower Ian ( 15) (Brett Leonard. UK/US. 1992) Pierce Brosnan. Jeff Fahey. Jenny Wright. 108 mins. Backward gardener (Fahey) is the subject ofexperiments to increase learning potential using drugs and Virtual Reality technology. Cue weird side effects and telekinetic powers. Unfortunately the plot (which has hardly anything to do with the Stephen King short story) is little more than a ludicrous twist on the Frankenstein format and is basically just there as an excuse for some admittedly stunning, computer-animated special effects. Borders: Kingsway. IUght Sleeper(15) (PaulSchrader. US. 1991) Willem Dafoe. Susan Sarandon. Dana Delany. . Mary Beth Hurt. 103 mins. Writer/director Schrader returns to terrific form with this tale of a drug courier searching for meaning in a broken urban world. Dafoe is superb as John Le Tour. a latterday cousin to Schrader's creations in American Gigolo and Taxi Driver. Tough and intense. it is the most involving film from this major American filmmaker for quite some time. Fife: Adam Smith. I The Men Who Fell To Earth ( 18) (Nicolas Roeg. UK. 1976) David Bowie. Rip Torn. Buck Henry. 138 mins. An alien searching for the water needed to save his own planet has his powers destroyed by the sinister machinations of a multinational business enterprise. Well cast Bowie gives perhaps his best performance in this dazzling. occasionally obtuse. piece of Roegian sci-fi. A film that bears and indeed improves with repeated viewings. Edinburgh: Cameo. I male (18) (Srinivas Krishna. Canada. 1991) Srinivas Krishna. Sakina Jaffrey. Saeed Jaffrey. Zohra Segal. 106 mins. Bizarre. ironic and with a small whiff of blasphemy. writer-director-star Krishna‘s oddity has an ex-junkie orphan wandering about Canadian streets meeting. amongst others. a woman who talks to a Hindu god via her video recorder. M y Beautiful Laundrette on acid. See preview. Glasgow: GF'I‘. I Matador (18) (Pedro Almadovar. Spain. 1986) Assumpta Sema. Antonio Banderas. Nancho Martinez. Eva Como. 96 mins. Less uproarious than the works that established his commercial reputation. this is Almadovar at his most intensely dark and ecstatic. Themes of sex and death merge around a pervy ex-bullfighter. his sexually confused pupil and the latter's murderous defence lawyer. Quite deliriously amoral. Glasgow: GFT. I Merci La We (18) (Bertrand Blier. France. 1990) Charlotte Gainsbourg. Anouk Grinberg. Gerard Depardieu. Michel Blanc. 117 mins. Two French teenagers embark on a road journey that takes them back to the Occupation as well as across the country. Blier‘s ferocious wit takes on big themes like AIDS and the Holocaust. creating an effective but self-conscious blend of buffoonery and sobriety. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Monsieur Hire (15) (Patrice Leconte. France. 1989) Michel Blanc. Sandrine Bonnaire. 82 mins. An elusive neighbourhood recluse (Blanc). whiles away his evenings spying on his alluring neighbour Alice (Bonnaire ). Gradually. he becomes entangled in an unsolved murder and a passionate romance. Based on a Simenon nm el this sensitive and enthralling film. which was almost overlooked in Britain. Glasgow: OFT. I Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (PG) (Jacques Tati . France. 1953) Jacques Tati. Nathalie Pascaud. Michelle Rolla. 91 mins. M. Hulot. the bachelor with the accident-prone touch. arrives at a jaunty coastal resort and devastation very soon ensues. Comic timing at its most irresistible . as Tati gets away with a number of memorable. slow-burning
gags. all undercut by the stabbing notion that we all have an uncle exactly like Hulot. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I HyCeusin Vinny ( 15) (Jonathan Lynn. US. 1992) Joe Pesci. Marisa Tomei. Fred Gwynne. 119 mins. Two New York students visiting the Deep South are charged with a murder they most certainly didn‘t commit. Enter rookie lawyer Vinny Gambini ( Pesci). and it's a test of can-do Italian-American guilc against the old-fashioned Southern gentility of Fred Gwynne's cunnudgeonly judge. A howlineg funny character comedy that at last lets Pesci carry a movie on his own. Thoroughly recommended. General release.
I listed Lunch ( 18) (David Cronenberg. US. 1992) Peter Weller. Judy Davis. Ian Holm. Roy Scheider. 121 mins. Body horror maestro takes on the near impossible task of filming William Burroughs‘ controversial novel The Naked Lunch and comes out with a cinematic masterpiece. Elements from Burroughs‘ own life merge with a surreal narrative and the book's bizarre. drug-induced sexual imagery. leaving a bewildered. but impressed. audience in their wake. By no means easy watching. but well worth the effort. Glasgow: OFF. 9 I Night On Earth (15) (Jim Jarmusch. US. 1992) Winona Ryder. tBeatrice Dalle. Gena Rowlands. Giancarlo Esposito. 129 mins. bos Angeles. New York. Paris. Rome. Helsinki. Five cities. five taxi rides. five chance encounters. The director of Mystery Train and Down By Law pushes aside narrative and goes instead for visual unifomtity in a claustrophobic setting. Character studies with a mildly philosophical aftertaste. See feature. Glasgow: OFT. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Once Upon A Time In America (18) (Sergio Leone. US. 1983) Robert de Niro. James Woods. Elizabeth McGovern. 228 mins. The story of two childhood friends and their early entrepreneurial activities. which blossom into careers in organised crime and politics. Leone‘s epic chronicle scrutinises the emergent American society of the early 20th century through the aspirations of the mob. Mammoth and often unforgivably vicious. yet somehow also lyrical and telling. Glasgow: GFT.
I One Deadly Summer ( 18) (Jean Becker. France . 1983) Isabelle Adjani. 133 mins. In rural France. a town flirt investigates the dark secret of her past and digs up more than she had bargained for. Interminable Gallic melodrama which Adjani does little to enliven. Sanitised smut. Glasgow: GFT.
I Paris. Texas ( 15) (Wim Wenders. US/W. Germany. 1984) Harry Dean Stanton. Natassja Kinski. Hunter Carson. 144 mins. Missing for four years. middle-aged loner Stanton turns up in the Texan outback. and is later reunited with his son. The two embark on a trek across America to find his estranged wife. the young boy‘s mother. Wenders' coolly dislocating visual sense of combines with writer Sam Shepard‘s version of America's desolate heartlands to produce a moving story of personal alienation. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Pepi. Luci. Bent And A Whole Lot 01 Other Girls (18) (Pedro Almodovar. Spain. 1980) Carmen Maura. Eva Silva. Olvida Gara. 80 mins. Written while Almodovar still had his day job at the National Telephone Company. this is the work of a young director at his wildest. An advertising exec (Maura) who masterminded a campaign for a. revolutionary pair of panties introduces a mild-mannered housewife to a spikey-haired chanteuse. and the two begin a sado-masochistic relationship. A must for Pedrophiles everywhere. i Glasgow: GET.
I The Playboys ( 12) (Gillies Mackinnon. UK. 1992) Robin Wright. Aidan Quinn. Albert Finney. 108 mins. A young woman causes scandal in her small Irish village when she refuses to name the father of her newborn son; events only get worse when a troupe of travelling actors pitches its tent and she falls for the leading man. 'I‘enderly acted by a uniformly magnificent cast and handled with care by the Scottish director of acclaimed TV films The Grass Arena and C onquest of the South Pole. Edinburgh: Cameo.
IThe Piayer(15) (Robert Altman. US. 1992) Tim Robbins. Greta Scacchi. Fred Ward. Peter Gallacher. 124 mins. Altman's satire on the wheeling and dealing of modern day Hollywood is more than just an excuse for cineastes to play trainspotter with the famous faces in cameo roles. It is also a terrific thriller about a studio exec receiving death threats from a spurned writer. Tim Robbins is magnificent in the lead role. while Altman manages to grin as he bites the hand that feeds him. Easily the best movie of the year. if not of the decade so far. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. All UCIs.
I Playtime (PG) (Jacques Tati. France. 1967) Jacques Tati. Barbara Dennek. Jacqueline Lecomte. 123 mins. Monsieur Hulot. tussling with the modern world as usual. follows a group of American tourists around a garish and hi-tech Paris of concrete and glass. Undervalued later
Tati. with the actor Tati‘s slapstick of old
overshadowed by Tati the director's masterly control of the widescreen frame. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Railway Children (PG) (Lionel Jeffries. UK . 1970) Dinah Sheridan. William Mervyn. Jenny Agutter. 108 mins. A trio of youngsters find that their involvement with the railway that runs past their garden is to lead them into adventure. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I lied lieat(18) (Walter Hill. US. 1988) Arnold Schwarzenegger. James Belushi. Ed O‘Ross. 104 mins. Tough Moscow cop Arnie follows the trail of Moscow‘s most psychotic drug dealer to Chicago. where slobbish cop Belushi is assigned to co-operate with him on the case. They break the rules at every turn to bring the wrongdoer to justice. and thaw their mistrusts along the way. Predictable glasnost-era police buddy thriller with familiar banter and action set-pieces. This one does have a rather nifty bus chase sequence. though. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride. I Ricochet ( 18)(Russell Mulcahy. US. 1991) Denzcl Washington. John Lithgow. Ice T. More over-the-top nonsense from the director of the Highlander saga. Washington is an ambitious cop. stalked by deadly prison escapee Lithgow. whose subtle methods ofwrecking his prey's life and career lead towards an outrageously action-packed ending. A big crowd-pleaser. even if it does blatantly rip off Die Hard. Silence ofthe Lambs and Cape Fear. Central: MaciRobert. I Rush(l8) (Lili Fini Zanuck. US. 1991 ) Jennifer Jason Leigh. Jason Patric. Sam Elliot. 110 mins. A sleazy tale. set in the 70s. of white cops on dope. An undercover narcotics duo find that. to bust the baddies. you‘ve got to play their game. and that line between criminal and crimefighter is as fine as the strips ofcoke that fly up their noses. Despite a very unsatisfying ending. it's worth seeing for stand-out performances by Leigh and Patric. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. I The Searchers (PG) (John Ford. US. 1956) John Wayne. Vera Miles. Jeffrey Hunter. Natalie Wood. 119 mins. One of Ford‘s finest Westerns. and hence one of the greatest achievements of the genre has Wayne as the obsessive Ethan Edwards. a man whose five-year quest to hunt down the Indians who murdered his wife and captured his young daughter has developed into a thirst for murderous revenge. Indeed. his drive is not only to murder the Indians but to kill his own offspring because she‘s been tainted by her time with the Redskins. With Wayne at his most intense. this is one ofold Hollywood's darker. richer moments. Glasgow: GFT. I The Seventh Seal (PG) (Ingmar Bergman. Sweden. 1957) Max Von Sydow. Gunnar Bjornstrand. Bibi Andersson. 90mins. Knight Von Sydow returns from the Crusades to the brutal horrors ofmedieval Sweden. and plays chess with Death as the plague rages around him. Powerful morality tale. with a profound sense of historical cruelty. which was one of the director‘s biggest early successes. Glasgow: GFT. ISleemlkersus) (Mick Garris. US. 1992) Brian Krause. Madchen Amick. Alice Krige. Jim Haynie. 91 mins. The first original screenplay by Stephen King concerns a pair of itinerent. flesh-craving shape-shifters who are the last survivors of the ancient breed of Sleepwalkers. Shying away from exploring the material‘s dark desires. it concentrates instead on a slew of childish splatter setpieces. Makes a welter of bloodletting seem less threatening than a cat food commercial. General release. I That Sinking Feeling (PG) (Bill Forsyth. UK. 1979) Robert Buchanan. John Hughes. Janette Rankin. 89 mins. Forsyth's debut feature. remarkable for the paucity of the resources at his disposal. uses a cast from the Glasgow Youth Theatre to tell the story of unemployed youth driven by boredom into an audacious robbery of kitchen sinks. The easy-going performances and spriter wit still catch the attention. and were an early indication of Forsyth‘s quirky genius. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Thelma 6 Louise (15) (Ridley Scott. US. 1991) Susan Sarandon. Geena Davis. Harvey Keitel. Michael Madsen. 129 mins. The buddy/road movie genres are turned on their heads as Sarandon and Davis grasp the steering wheel and head off leaving a trail of murder and mayhem in their wake. On one level. the film is the critical catalyst that had the feminists cheering and put the stars on the cover of Time magazine; just as importantly. it‘s an accessible piece of entenainment with excellent central performances. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Through A Glass Darkly ( PG ) (Ingmar Bergman . Sweden. 1961) Harriet Andersson. Gunnar B jornstrand. Max Von Sydow. Lars Passgard. 91 mins. A young woman's descent into insanity at her lonely summer home is played against a cold background totally lacking in familial affection. Bergman turns what could so easily have become melodrama into a fascinating character study. not only ofthe mentally disturbed girl. but also of her emotionally crippled father and ineffectual husband. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Tron Belle Pour Toll Too Beautiful For You.’( 18)
(Bertrand Blier. France. 1989) Gerard Depardieu. Josiane Balasko. Carole Bouquet. 91 mins. Massive French hit offers a characteristic twist on the old eternal threesome scenario. Depardieu plays the succesful owner of a car showroom. envied by all for his beautiful wife (Bouquet). who falls in love with his dumpy secretary (Balasko). A film of commendable openness about the needs of the senses and men‘s facility for emotional expression. its true achievement is how it turns the stuff of farce into an intense hybrid of wistful comedy and romantic passion. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Unbearable tightness of Being ( 18) (Philip Kaufman. US. 1987) Daniel Day-Lewis. Juliette Binoche. Lena Olin. 107 mins. Ambitious adaptation of Milan Kundera‘s complex novel about a womanising Czech brain surgeon who falls in love for the first time with a doe-like small-town beauty at the time of the Russian invasion of 1968. A dawdling and rather austere narrative is given some spice and interest by an overwhelming eroticism. a beautifully judged evocation of Prague and gorgeous photography. Glasgow: GFT.
I Universal Soldier ( 18) (Roland Emmerich. US. 1992) Jean-Claude Van Damme. Dolph Lundgren. Ally Walker. 102 mins. Two soldiers killed in Vietnam are cryogenically frozen. then turned into prototype versions of the Universal Soldier — an unstoppable fighting force of humanoid electronic warriors. But things begin to go awry and a deadly rivalry begins between the duo. causing a trail of destruction across America. Rohocommando Recall might be a better name for it. but this wonderfully daft. sci-fi pulp actioner certainly bounces the mayhem off the gleeful humour. General release.
I Uranus (15) (Claude Berri. France. 1990) Michel Blane. Gerard Depardieu. Philippe Noiret. Jean-Pierre Marielle. 100 mins. A small French town in the immediate aftermath of World War Two is the setting for Berri‘s wordy examination of political manoevrings. Tensions are high between the now dominant Communists and those suspected of sheltering a former collaborator. but it would appear that Depardieu‘s loudmouth barman knows too much about what really went on during the war years. Removed from the relevence of its home country. the plot struggles to raise itself ab0ve the uninvolvingly irritating. Glasgow: OFT.
I Van Gogh ( 12) (Maurice Pialat. France. 1991) Jacques Dutronc. Alexandra London. Gerard Sety. 185 mins. Less an art history than a look at a painter in his times. this — the best of the Van (iogh cinema treatments -» lets us sit back and watch an entirely convincing Dutronc go about his daily life. A kind of 19th century cinema-verite. it is an altogether remarkable movie experience. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I War Party ( 18) (Franc Roddam. US. 1989) Kevin Dillon. Billy Writh. 'I'im Sampson. M. Emmet Walsh. Matthew Montoya. 96 mins. Things get out of hand during a re-enactment of the Milk River Battle. at which Indians were slaughtered by the US Cavalry. when personal vendettas nudge the conflict beyond play-acting. A group of Indians (including the distinctly pale-faced Dillon) head for the hills in search of sanctuary. pursued by tracker Walsh. Enjoyable if lightweight action thriller. Glasgow: GFI‘.
I Wayne's World (PG) (Penelope Spheeris. US. 1991) Mike Myers. Dana Carvey. Rob Lowe. Tia Carrere. 95 mins. Two heavy metal dorks hit the big time when their public access cable show is snapped up by a greedy TV exec for national primetime. Crammcd full ofTV and film pastichcs. this US phenomenon has far more hits than misses. while Wayne and Garth revel in an even wackier vocabulary than cinematic first cousins Bill and Ted. They‘ve shot. they‘ve scored! Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Fife: Glcnrothes. All UCIs. I Wings Di Desire ( 15) (Wim Wenders. W. Germany .1987) Bruno Ganz. Otto Sander. Solveig Dommartin. Peter Falk. 127 mins.
. Restless angel Ganz on duty over Berlin takes a
tip from American movie star and former angel Falk on the possibilities of crossing over. and follows his mentor‘s path to consummate his relationship with beautiful circus acrobat Dommartin. Gorgeous black-and-hhite photography and a sensitive feel for the people and places of Berlin grace this thematically rich and uncharacteristically optimistic slice of Wenders enchantment. Highly recommended. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Ziggy Stardust and the Spider: From Mars (PG) (D.A. Pennebaker. UK. 1982) David iBowie. Mick Ronson. Trevor Bolder. Mick Woodmansy. 90 mins. Oh you pretty things. it‘s time to relive that sad night in 1973 when Ziggy played guitar for the last time at the Hammersmith Odeon. How Mr B. can show his face in public these days after wearing such ridiculous glam rock outfits I‘ll never know. Mind you. his performance is less embarrassing than the impromptu Lord's Prayer at the Freddie Mercury Memorial Concert. Edinburgh: Cameo.
22 The List 31 July— 13 August 1992