FILM INDEX
FILM mas:—
Fllnts screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits, hriel review and venue details. Full length reviews of new releases can he iound in the listian section wich follows. Film index compiled by Alan Morrison.
I The Abyss: Special Edition (15) (James Cameron. US. 1989) Ed Harris. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Michael Biehn. 168 mins. Let's face it: the original ending of Cameron's underwater extra-terrestrial drama left a lot to be desired. Much better is the heightened political intrigue of this extended version. which still retains its human emotional impact. One-day screenings only: see Screen Test. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon.
I The Minster (18) (Atom Egoyan. Canada. 1991) Elias Koteas. Arsinee Khanjian. Maury Chaykin. 102 mins. A disparate array of plot elemean — an insurance adjuster. film censors. a kinky couple — combines with off-kilter Twin Peaks-ish humour and some bizarre visuals in Atom (Speaking Parts) Egoyan's most approachable movie to date. ‘A film about believable people doing believable things in an unbelievable way' is how he describes it. Wierd and. in its own way. wonderful. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I “in (12) (Otomo Katsuhiro. Japan. 1989) Animated by Nakamura Takashi. with the voices of lwata Mitsue. Sasaki Nozomu. Koyama Marni. 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. Superbly animated. with a fantastic visual and narrative imagination. but you'd be well advised to know something of the plot before you see it. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Antonia III m (15) (Beeban Kidron. UK. 1991) lmelda Staunton. Saskia Reeves. Bill Nighy. 69 mins. Jane tells her therapist that her boyfriend only gets aroused when she reads aloud from his Murdoch; her friend Antonio tells the same therapist details of her life. happily married to a photographer who was previously a boyfriend of Jane. TV film by Kidron. showing on Wed 21 only. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I III! of MUS) (Sam Raimi. US. 1992) Bruce Campbell. Embeth Davidtz. Marcus Gilbert. 109 mins. First the definitive video nasty. then the definite slapstick horror comedy. now the definitive disappointment. Picking up from where Evil Dead 2 left off. with Ash (Campbell) and chainsaw arm in the Middle Ages. it all runs out of steam as it tries its best to please. Borders: Kingsway.
I Til. Mil (18) (John Badham. US. 1993) Bridget Fonda. Gabriel Byme. Dermot Mulroney. 108 mins. Scene-for-scene remake of 1990's Nikita. with emphasis on the action rather than moody contemplation. Fonda brings depth to her character (a teenage drug addict turned government killer). making this a Hollywood thriller with more emotional sympathy than most. in its own terms. easily as good a movie as the original: it‘s a case of same song. different sin ers. General release.
I lim08) (Abel Ferrara. US. 1992) Harvey Keitel. Frankie Thome. Zoe Lund. 96 mins. A return to urban sleaze by master of the genre Abel Ferrara. A NYPD cop (Keitel). in debt due to drugs. alcohol and gambling addiction. is intrigued by a big money reward in the case of a raped nun. Harsh. powerful. but filled with a religious orthodoxy. this is a reminder of the director at his best (Angel of Vengeance. Driller Killer) and should be picked up by Reservoir Dogs fans. Edinburgh: Cameo. Filmhouse.
I m (U) (David D. Hand. US. 1942) 69 mins. Disney at his cutest. purest best. A baby fawn enjoys life in the forest with his friends (Thumper the rabbit is surely one of Disney's most memorable creations). grows up. has a run- in with Man. and becomes Great Prince of the Forest. Nice animation. with touches of extreme tweeness. and a massive hankie count when Bambi's mum dies. General release.
I I'll! and Joan (l2) (Jeremiah Chechick. US. 1993) Johnny Dcpp. Mary Stuart Masterson. Aidan Quinn. 98 mins. This off-centre romance between a mentally ill young woman and an eccentric who thinks he's wandered out of a silent comedy would have us believing that anyone with mental problems is a 'loveable loony'. At times the film seems little more than an excuse to show off Depp's mime versitility.
but by stressing kookiness instead of genuine confusion. it‘s patronising and misleading. Glasgow: MGMs. Edinburgh: MGM. All UCls. I The UFO (U) (Brian Cosgrove. UK. 1989) 105 mins. Animated version of the Roald Dahl favourite has young Sophie battling against evil. aided and abetted by the Big Friendly Giant. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Blade limiter: the Director's Cut (15) (Ridley Scott. US. 1982/92) Harrison Ford. Sean Young. Rutger Hauer. 116 mins. Out go the pseudonoir narration and the tacked-on happy ending; in comes a more defined sense that Deckard himself may be a replicant. The look and feel remain as powerful. and the acting is superb. A flawed masterpiece is now a restored masterpiece. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Candy-ll (18) (Bernard Rose. US. 1992) Virginia Madsen. Tony Todd. Kasi Lemmons. 93 mins. Writer/director Rose (who brought us the memorable Paperhause) transplants Clive Barker's short story 'The Forbidden‘ to a run- down Chicago housing block where a series of killings are blamed on Candyman. a hook- handed boogieman figure. The film's use of urban myth takes it well beyond the jumps and scares of the genre (although they aren't ignored either). to make it the most intelligent. disquieting horror film since Jacob's Ladder. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Champions (PG) (Stephen Herek. US. 1992) Emilio Estevez. Joss Ackland. Lane Smith. 104 mins. Under the title The Mighty Ducks. this lame flick took over $50 million at the US box office. it‘s hard to fathom why. A lawyer on community service after a drunk driving conviction helps a little league ice hockey team to victory. The worst level of moviemaking by numbers. General release. ITIIOCiIOIioiJMSbgMTMBM, Black Oil (PG) (John McGrath. UK. 1973) John Bett. Alex Norton. Bill Paterson. Elizabeth MacLennan. David MacLennan. Dolina MacLennan. Alan Ross. 100 mins. Film record of McGrath's milestone ‘ceilidh play‘ for 7:84 Scotland. about Scottish history from the Highland Clearances to the North Sea oil boom. It was the first theatre show ever to tour Scotland's Highlands and Islands. and provided a model of radical political theatre which McGrath and others are still employing and developing twenty years later. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Clilfltanger(l8) (Renny Harlin. US. 1993) Sylvester Stallone. John Lithgow. Michael Rooker. Stallone returns to top fomi as a guilt- ridden mountain rescue pro battling it out amongst the peaks in Colorado with a gang of hijackers. Spectacular vistas and stunt sequences ensure a white-knuckle. vertiginous experience from the comfort of your cinema seat. General release.
I Danae (18) (Louis Malle. UK/France. 1992) Jeremy irons. Juliette Binoche. Miranda Richardson. Rupert Graves. 111 mins. A Tory MP. headed for high office. drops his parliamentary briefs in favour of his son's new girlfriend. David Hare's script is restrained and dispassionate. leaving the audience detached from the potential melodrama. A very English sexual repression pulled apart by French master Malle. Strathclyde: UCl East Kilbride.
I Day of the llead ( 18) (George A. Romero. US. 1985) Lori Cardille. Terry Alexander. Joseph Pilato. 100 mins. The conclusion of Romero's zombie trilogy has the last humans holding out underground in a Florida bunker while the undead on the surface outnumber them by 400.000 to one. Both an ultra-black gross-out comedy and a very dark allegory on the American public's ignorance of the nuclear threat. the film is sabotaged by shaky pacing and overheated performances. but benefits from some truly gut-wrenching effects. Central: MacRobert.
I Deep Cover (18) (Bill Duke. US. 1992) Larry Fishbume. Jeff Goldblum. Victoria Dillard. 112 mins. An undercover cop (Fishbume) trying to infiltrate LA's major cocaine cartel finds his very integrity threatened as he is seduced by a life of crime. A highly recommended. uncompromising urban thriller. penned by Michael (The Player) Tolkin and featuring a disturbingly outstanding performance from Goldblum. Fife: Adam Smith. I EquinoulS) (Alan Rudolph. US. 1992) Matthew Modine. Lara Flynn Boyle. Fred Ward. 110 mins. Another carefully constructed. subtly mannered exercise in symbolic storytelling from Alan (Tmuhle In Mind) Rudolph. This time Matthew Modine plays separated-at-birth twins. one a shy mechanic. the other a rising hitman. A labyrinthine thriller with existential yearnings. Glasgow: GFT.
I film (15) (Lars von Trier. Den/Fra/Ger/ Swe. l991)Jean~Marc Barr. Barbara Sukowa. 107 mins. A young American visits post-war Germany and falls in love with an enigmatic woman . . . but forget all that. because Europa exists purely for the sake of its visuals. The images are indeed stunning but. given that von Trier freely admits he is ‘a simple masturbator of
the silver screen'. this is simply an exercise in cinematic Showmanship. pretentious and unfulfilling. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Falling Down (18) (Joel Schumacher. US. 1992) Michael Douglas. Robert Duvall. Barbara Hershey. 112 mins. A sacked defence worker abandons his car in a traffic jam and goes on an escalating rampage across Los Angeles. No mere vigilante movie this. but the zeitgeist movie of the 90s. drinking deep of White Middle-Class America's fears about its future. Actor Douglas and director Schumacher deliver their finest work to date. General release. I The Fencing m (12) (Pedro Oleo. Spain. 1993) Assumpta Sema. Omero Antonutti. Joaquim de Almeida. 88 mins. Madrid in the 18605. and life is turbulent under the decadent Queen lsabella. particularly for swordsman Don Jaime de Astarloa. who is asked by the sultry Adela to be her teacher. A fully-fledged political thriller. with its romance and melodrama restrained by more elevated concerns. Highly recommended. See review. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Forever Voting (PG) (Steve Miner. US. 1992) Mel Gibson. Elijah Wood. Jamie Lee Curtis. 102 mins. A 8-52 test pilot volunteers for cryogenic experiments. gets frozen. then thaws out in 1992. After befriending a young boy. off he goes to find his lost love. Escapist twaddle this may be. but it is a shimmering example of the Hollywood weepie machine at its best. Three packs of Kleenex and a box ofchocs. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Fife: Adam Smith. I M(PG)(11arold Ramis. US. 1993) Bill Murray. Andie MacDowell. Chris Elliot. TV weatherman Phil Conners (Murray) finds himself in the back of beyond. trapped in an ever-repeating single day. Partying and babe- chasing leads to serious romancing as he goes after his producer (MacDowell). Murray's cuddly sarcasm stops the movie from becoming the kind of moralising mush that surrounds so many of his contemporaries. At last. a Hollywood comedy that is really funny. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCl. I lienry: Portrait iii A 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 of the most important releases of recent years. and one recommended with caution. Edinburgh: Cameo. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank. I House of Angels ( 15) (Colin Nutley. Sweden. 1992) Helena Bergstrom. Rickard Wolff. Sven Wolter. 126 mins. A rural community's suspicions are aroused when the hip grand- daughter of a deceased landowner arrives from the city with boyfriend and motorbike to take over his house. Englishman abroad Nutley effectively dissects the racism and bigotry of a small community with much humour. See preview. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I indecent WI (15) (Adrian Lyne. US. 1993) Demi Moore. Robert Redford. Woody Harrelson. 117 mins. Suave bastard Redford offers poverty-stricken yuppies Moore and Harrelson a million dollars if he can sleep with the lady and dilemma ensues. Killer base material. but Lyne makes a towerineg abominable film out of it. Cavemously empty stuff. a worse film than even The Bodyguard and likely to be every bit as successful. General release. I m The m (PG) (Mike Newell. Eire/UK. 1992) Gabriel Byme. Ellen Barkin. Ciaran Fitzgerald. Ruaidhri Conroy. 102 mins. Following the death of his wife. a former traveller (Byme) sets up home with his two sons in a Dublin slum. But when a mystical white horse appears and the boys head off into the irish countryside with it. he is forced to come to terms with his present life and past culture. A wonderful piece of family storytelling. blending ancient and modern myths. Glasgow: GFT. I Mgle Book (U) (Wolfgang Reitherman. US. 1967) With the voices of George Sanders. Louis Prima. 78 mins. Growing up in the jungle. young Mowgli learns from the animals around him. Enjoyable Disney. a long way after Kipling. but the songs are wonderful. Fife: Adam Smith. I Jurassic M (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1993) Sam Neill. Laura Dern. Jeff Goldblum. A group of scientists are invited to give their approval to a theme park filled with genetically engineered dinosaurs. but the giant reptiles are soon running amok. Unsurpassed computer effects ensure that the dinosaurs themselves are tenifyingly believable (moreso than the PG certificate would suggest). but by the halfway point. it‘s more or less a chase movie with superior technology. See review. General release. I KestPG) (Ken Loach. UK. 1969) David Bradley. Lynne Perrie. Colin Welland. Brian Glover. 109 mins. 1n the run-down industrial
north. a young boy learns some harsh lessons about life from the fate of his pet bird. Classic piece of British realism which showed that Loach's television work could transfer to the big screen. A very humane sense of humour leavens what is in effect a tale of some desolation. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I [mm (U) (Godfrey Reggio. US. 1983) 86 mins. Rather vacuous exploration of the beauty of our planet and the nastiness of our modern civilisation which is in the process of destroying it. Beautifully shot. and with an apocalyptic Philip Glass score to boot. it ends up looking like a spectacular advert for something or other. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Myriam of Passion (18) (Pedro Amodovar. Spain. 1982) Cecilia Roth. lmanol Arias. Antonio Banderas. 94 mins. A nympho club chanteuse falls for a Middle Eastern heir. who in turn is having a fling with a terrorist who's out to kidnap him. Sluggishly paced and relentlessly tawdry. this early work is not the place for would-be Pedrophiles to start. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Last Year It MW (U) (Alain Resnais. France/Italy. 1961) Delphine Seyrig. Giorgio Albertazzi. Sacha Pitoeff. 93 mins. Evocative and enigmatic tale of a man who meets a woman in a rambling hotel. and believes he had an affair with her the previous year. Past blends with present to the point where they are indistinguishable. and you can only really enjoy it if you don't worry too much whether they did or didn't. Not one for Blind Date enthusiasts. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Leolo (18) (Jean-Claude Lauzon. Canada. 1992) Maxime Collin. Ginette Reno. Gilbert Sicotte. 107 mins. A French Canadian boy escapes from the increasing insanity of his family life into a bizarre series of fantasies. in which he is the offspring of his mother and a sperm-laden Sicilian tomato. Lauzon dives deeper into the darkly funny and painfully sad aspects of sexual awareness and adolescence. A unique. beautifully visual treat. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Looks and Sliles (PG) (Ken Loach. UK. 1980) Graham Green. Carolyn Nicholson. Tony Pitts. 104 mins. Two school-leavers are offered the choice of unemployment or life in the army. One enlists and is sent to Belfast; the other sticks it out at home amidst rising despair. A typically sharp dissection of British working-class life from director Loach. with excellent performances for the amateur leads. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Matcherian Candidate (15) (John Frankenheimer. US. 1962) Frank Sinatra. Laurence Harvey. Angela Lansbury. Janet Leigh. 126 mins. in his most convincing screen role. Harvey plays a Korean war hero brainwashed by the communists. who becomes a pawn in the sinister mission planned for him on his return home. Brilliant political satire-cum-thriller. with the cast in great form and a staggeringly inventive plot clearly and grippineg unravelled. It damn well works and surprises in a way that so few films do anymore. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The M8 ( 15) (Alan Rudolph. US. 1988) Keith Carradine. Linda Firoentino. John Lone. Genevieve Bujold. 126 mins. 1926 Paris is the setting for Rudolph's latest triumph. a playful exploration of the fake and the genuine in art and love. Against the background of the expatriate American artistic circle of Hemingway and Stein. it examines a series of tangled relationships whose effects reverberate around the boho art world. Excellent Altman/Rudolph rep company performances. an unpredictable directorial flair. and the dramatic shaping of complex themes into a delirious drama. Glasgow: GFT.
I light of the living llead ( 18) (Tom Savini. US. 1991 ) Tony Todd. Patricia Tallman. Tom Towles. 96mins. N0t as influential as Romero's original. but this remake by horror sfx grandmeister Savini is more intelligent and terrifying than the other zombie rip-offs that have oozed their rotting flesh onto the market. With a heroine in the Ripley mould. it's toughened up for an apocalyptic scenario. Central: MacRobert.
IMOIGMWWaIkfllinmSflUS) (Laurent Heynemann. France. 1992) Jeanne Moreau. Michel Serrault. Luc Thullier. 95 mins. An upper-class lady swindler swans around Guadaloupe pulling off devious capers until she falls for a beach-bum toy-boy. Jeanne Moreau stands out as the only worthwhile attraction in this leaden. contrived comedy. See review. Glasgow: GFI‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I M“ (PG) (Sally Potter. UK. 1992) Tilda Swinton. Billy Zane. Quentin Crisp. 92 mins. A male Elizabethan counier begins a journey of self-discovery that involves four centuries and a sex change. Swinton's simple but unique beauty captures the androgyny of the perfect Everyman/woman. while direcror Potter creates from Virginia Woolf's novel a humorous and visually splendid succession of episodes that is a
20 The List 16-29 July 1993