REVIEW FILM
fascistic leader llando (Russell Crowe) begins an affair with a rich girl on the run. Director Geoffrey Wright treads a
BOMPEH STDMPER
Thrown head-first into the current debate on cinema violence, Romper Stomper sticks the boot into the opposition and noisily drowns out calls for censorship. Granted, this portrayal of a gang of Australian skinheads is not the anti-Nazi film its makers would have us believe; but neither is it pro-Nazi. Depicting violence isn’t promoting violence, and like many topical betes noires - Reservoir Dogs, Rad Lieutenant — the brutality in this film is a reflection of brutality in modern society, not the cause.
Caught up in an orgy of street fights
fine line, but by drawing the audience into the frenzy -- his hand-held camera savours the heart of the action - he forces us to experience the thrill of the fight. Only then can we reject the skinheads’ views with moral certainty rather than blind emotionalism. It is important to understand the charismatic power that llando exudes, otherwise how is it possible to strike at the evident appeal of real fascist leaders? like it or not, Romper Stomper pressurises audiences into addressing the issues involved. (AM) Romper Stomper (18) (Geoffrey Wright, Australia, 1992) Russell Crowe,
I Lloyds Rank Film Challenge: lf Mozart was writing musical masterpieces at the age of live. then there's no reason why several undiscovered cinema geniuses might not be hidden away across the l‘K. The Lloyds Bank Film Challenge hopes to give TV access to that talent by encouraging programme ideas and short film scripts from anyone aged eleven to nineteen. The writers of
Jacqueline McKenzie, Daniel Pollock. A ' 3n shortlisted submissions
[\f".
with local Vietnamese, a gang of Melbourne neo-llazls find their
numbers dwindling when their Theatre-
89 mins. From Sun 4: Glasgow Film
ection of brutality in 2 modern society’ ?
Romper Stomper: ‘a ref
.f/
Jit: ‘permanent cheerfulness’
think he’ll go a long way) falls for I
l— I
JIT
With a chugging good-time soundtrack . featuring top iit stars, the latest ; offering from Zimbabwe is playing to 1 its obvious strengths. Lots of live : footage underpins a simple romantic comedy that succeeds in atmosphere !
hopeful UK (so called because people
record-company babe Sofi, who is , presently spoken for by mean-mouthed gangster Johnson. And Sofi’s sly dad insists on UK coming up with the traditional bride-price, even though
the younger generation have left the old ways far behind. One of the film’s
themes, though, is that tradition can’t
be buried all that deep, as Ull’s
ancestral spirit arrives to plague him with demands for beer in return for
help in winning Sofi. ;
Jit is all to do with the clash between city and country, the past and the present; but most importantly, it’s about hanging out in Harare and making a buck here and there. With an immensely likeable (though mostly
3 despite a lack of originality. The ever- 5 "on'l’mlessma'l 333" Shambonc
style and permanent cheerfulness, Jit is a product of the positive vibe school of African cinema - if you like La Vie Est Belle, you’ll love this. (Andrew Pulver)
Jit (12) (Michael Raeburn, Zimbabwe, 1990) Dominic Makuvachuma, Sibongile-llene, Faral Sevenzo. 92 mins. From Fri 26: Edinburgh Filmhouse.
_ A woman’s TALE
Love him or hate him, you just can’t ignore him. That, at any rate, is what Eric Rohmer must want us to think. What other reason could there be behind his obsessiver dry story- telling, his determination to resist the traditional French virtues of colour, light and other visual delights?
His latest offering is a typically downbeat affair, framed around the moral dilemma of hairdresser Felicie. On the one hand, lover Loic beckons, as does salon boss Maxence, whose business looks like taking off. But there’s also Charles, a holiday liaison who gave her a daughter and for whose return she has never ceased to hope.
it’s the normal knotty Rohmer poser, brilliantly suffused with the unglamorous atmosphere of French suburbia. In addition, he calls in the heavyweight - in the form of Shakespeare’s play of the same title — to provide a crystallisation of the central theme. Not to everyone’s taste, but stick with it and you’ll find a very different kind of cinema. (AP)
A Winter’s Tale (12) (Eric Rohmer, France, 1991) Charlotte Very, Frederic van den Driessche, Herve Furlc. 114 mins. From Thurs 1: Edinburgh Filmhouse. From Mon 5: Glasgow Film Theatre.
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WW” ‘ /
will line tune their screenplays at a weekend workshop before six of the best. selected by a panel of industry experts. are professionally produced under the guiding hand of a young British director and Compulsive Viewing Ltd, to be broadcast later on (‘hannel 4. lintry forms are available from branches of Lloyds Bank. while fact packs (with hints on presenting scripts) are available from The Lloyds Batik Film Challenge. [’0 Box 3053. London N l‘) SBT (07] 284 0060).
I Cut Peter Todd‘s acclaimed short ()u! will be screening at the (ll’l‘ on Sun 28 and Mon 2‘) along with Bunuel's Bel/c
(1e Juur. The nine-minute-
long lilm examines the emotions of shared experiences. focusing on three different women in different situations who speak the same monologue. ()uI. which received good notices when it played the l99l Iidinburgh International Film Festival. sees the return to the screen of Kathleen Byron. who appeared in Powell and Pressburger‘s B/tlt‘k
Na n '1 .v .vus .
I Hickey steps down: Jim
Hickey. Director of
Edinburgh's Filmhouse
I ‘- since l97‘). is leaving the a post in order to ‘take on a
A Winter’s Tale: ‘typically downbeat affalr’
new challenge while
moving to another area of
I the film industry".
Without elaborating on specific plans. he did indicate a more active interest in production. citing the success of recent low-budget British and American films. Hickey also served as Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival between l‘)80 and I988, before deciding to concentrate on the year- round activities of the Filmhouse. Under his
guidance. the Filmhouse
has expanded from a single ‘)()-seat cinema to a
complex boasting three
screens. a cafe bar and video shop. (A M)
The List 26 March—8 April um 17
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