FILM INDEX
BACARDI BLACK
Stop. Alabama for serving coloured customers. the female owner and her black handyman find themselves on trial for an unsolved murder. A chronicle of courage and ingenuity that avoids becoming as overwhelmingly heart-warming as one might have feared. Not the most tantalising item on the menu. but a flavoursome little dish nonetheless. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I done W TI. III (PG) (Victor Fleming. US. 1939) Clark Gable. Vivien Leigh. Olivia de Havilland. Leslie Howard. 220 mins. This new print has restored the original colour to the classic. fifty-three-year-old tale that brings alive the era of the civil war through gripping narrative and characterisation. remaining faithful to Margaret Mitchell's powerful novel. Central: MacRobert.
I m (PG) (Randal Kleiser. US. 1978) John Travolta. Stockard Channing. Olivia Newton John. 110 mins. The long-running broadway show arrives on screen dripping with Fifties‘ nostalgia. cheery tunes. a high camp value and the winsome charms of the plastic Newton-John and the toothy Travolta. A nice collection of old timers enhance the cast. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I w (15) (Michael Lehman. US. 1989) Winona Ryder. Christian Slater. Lisanne Falk. 102 mins. An ultrablack parody of the high school teenflick. Lehman‘s first feature film manages to combine box office success with artistic merit. This cult hip hit of its year has Slater and Ryder starting a suicide craze to muscle in on the cliquey Heathers running the joint. Tune in. turn on. drop dead. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I m In AIOI (18) (Alain Resnais. France. 1959) Emmanuelle Riva. Eiji Okada. 9| mins. The romantic liaison between a French actress working in Hiroshima and a Japanese architect awakens the ghosts of her wartime relationship with a German soldier. First major work by a director who has altered the perception of cinematic time. here moving effortlessly through the flashbacks and fiashforwards of Marguerite Duras' emotive script. Glasgow: GFT.
I TI. M 01 TI. Spirits (15) (Bille August. Germany/Portugal. 1993) Meryl Streep. Jeremy irons. Glenn Close. 138 mins. Disappointineg messy adaptation of lsabel Allende's novel retains the domestic melodrama and South American political content. but loses most of the mysticism that gave the book its special appeal. Performances are varied (and often embarrassingly amusing). the story a little overcooked. See preview. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinb h: Filmhouse. All UCls.
I I Th0 lb. Fit (15) (Wolfgang Petersen. US. 1993) Clint Eastwood. John Malkovich. Rene Russo. 128 mins. A Secret Service veteran in the twilight of his career is haunted by the Kennedy assassination. so when a former government killer threatens the life of the current President. he vows now ensure history won‘t repeat itself. Lavish action scenes don't detract from the film’s cnrcial emotional core as Petersen delivers the best mainstream Hollywood movie in years. Fife: Adam Smith. IhTheIn-eofTheFatkerusmim Sheridan. US/Eire. 1993) Daniel Day-Lewis. Pete Postlethwaite. John Lynch. 133 mins. Writerodirector Sheridan manipulates the facts concerning the wrongful arrest and eventual acquittal of Gerry Conlon. one of the Guildford Four. but the deep. disturbing truths of this miscarriage of justice remain constant. Day- Lewis and Postlethwaite give career-best performances as Gerry and Guiseppe Conlon. the father and son whose relationship provides the emotional core of the movie. Brave. powerful stuff. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: Cameo. Fife: New Picture House. Su'athclyde: Cannon. All UCls.
I “01 m (18) (Denys Amand. Canada. 1989) Lothaire Bluteau. Catherine Wilkening. Johanne-Marie Tremblay. 120 mins. Hired to revamp a Catholic passion play. Bluteau enlists four actors from diverse sources. casts himself as Jesus. and sets to work on a stunningly radical version of his own. Arcand's follow-up to Decline Of The American Empire is chockful of twists. surprises and incisive satire. Finely actedédtil‘egb‘gt'l‘ygmtlmed and always intriguing. ' : . ummmwanmm Hanna& Joseph Barbera. US. 1991) With the voices of George O'Hanlon. Mel Blane. Penny Singleton. Tiffany. Pauic Zimmerman. 83 mins. America’s favourite family of the future (it says here). as animated by the celebrated duo. move to a new borne in outer space when George Jetson gets promotion at Spacer Sprockets. His new job is jeopardised by a sabotage campaign. however. which leads to a struggle between the astral green movement and the technocrats from the suatosphere. Edinburgh: MGM.
I I.” “MW (15) (Alfonso Arau.
SUZUKI SEIJIJN
Imagine a Japanese Elvis gangster ruovie directed by Godard on acid, and you’re some way towards describing the delirium of Suzuki Sellun’s mind- bending mid-60s genre movies, now gaining intematlunal recognition several decades after they emerged before a bemused Japanese public. While the 1988 Edinburgh international Film Festival was the first international event to honour the Tokyo-bum filmmaker, now a hale and hearty 11 -year-old who recently visited Glasgow to coincide with the season of his films at the EFT, london’s Institute of Contemporary Arts has kept up the momentum by organising the current touring package of this extraordinary talent’s often outrageous work.
If you’ve enjoyed movies by Quentin Tarantino or Tateshi iiitano, Suzuki’s mad mid-60s output should be right up your street. A contract director turning out several B-pic quickies for the llhtkatsu studio, Suzuki and his regular cameraman and designer found ways of lazzing up the average underworld thriller by piling on plot incongruities, way-out colour effects, lashings of weirdsvflle humour and a general
willingness to flaunt each and every rule of classical film grammar in search of outre stylistic effect. To see the likes of 1966’s Tokyo llrifter and the same year’s Branded To 11111 is to rediscover what it’s like to sit in a cinema with your jaw flapping open. flo wonder the front office fired him after these two!
The rest of the EFT package showcases Suzuki’s slightly earlier forays into making strange the already overheated exploitation flicks of the time, while it also offers connoisseurs of the Truly Bizarre a chance to savour his enchantineg eccentric independent offerings of the early 80s and beyond. For the ultimate in stylish enigma, check out 198118 Zlgeunerweisen (if you dare). Just don’t miss this rare chance to experience the wit and visual imagination of one of world clnema’s true mavericks. (Trevor Johnston)
The Suzuki Seilun season begins at the EFT on Fri 18 with Detective Bureau 2-3, continuing in the early evening slot for the next fortnight. Matinee prices apply at each screening, with the Suzuki Keycard, £21 (£15), allowing access to all films.
Mexico. 1991) Marco Leonardi. Lumi Cavazos. Regina Tome. 114 mins. At the end of the 19th century. Mexico is caught up in the Revolution. Against this backdrop. Laura Esquival's novel and this film adaptation by Arau depict one woman's struggle for freedom from tradition. A classy melodrama that fiits from comedy to tragedy to culinary excess. raising the new generation of Mexican filmrnaking talent to uuly international levels. Central: MacRobert. Fife: Adam Smith.
I II “1 0110! III (PG) (Eric Rohmer. France. 1969) Jean-Louis Trintignant. Francoise Fabian. Marie-Christine Barrault. 113 mins. The third in Rohmer’s series of Comedies er pmverbes was the first to bring him to widespread international recognition. Trintignant plays a priggish Catholic enduring a long dark night of the soul in the company of free-thinking divorcee Fabian. The profoundest questions of the spirit and the heart are delicately teased out in what remains one of the director's finest moments. Glasgow: GFI‘.
I Iallce (15) (Harold Becker. US. 1993) Alec Baldwin. Nicole Kidman. Bill Pullman. Hot-shot surgeon Baldwin provides the outsider element in yet another ‘married couple under threat‘ movie which makes you wonder if the formula thriller has finally run out of gas. Throw in a college setting and a few unsolved crimes. and the result still suffers from its amusineg predictable twists and turns. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The In Ike 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. Part of the Designs Of The Times touring season. Glasgow: GFl‘.
I Wt. Hider Mystery (PG) (Woody Allen. US. 1993) Woody Allen. Diane Keaton. Alan Alda. 108 mins. When her elderly neighbour dies mysteriously and suddenly. Carol Lipton (Keaton) does some amateur sleuthing along with the New York literary set. Allen returns to the comic formula that first made his name - neat plot. snappy one-liners - making this a much more approachable and enjoyable experience than his more serious work of late. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Consent (PG) (Peter Wintonick/Mark Achbar. US. 1992) 165 mins. Despite sounding like the kind of university lecture you'd spend all day lying in your pit to avoid Noam Chomsky‘s intelligent analysis of
the organisational structures and hidden agendas of the American news media. particularly in respect to foreign policy. is never less than fascinating. His views are interspersed with biographical details (including his work as a linguistic pioneer) and snatches of intellectual debate. Lively stuff that isn‘t steeped in academia. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I I W 011.118 81‘ 1108111 (PG) (Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger. UK. 1946) David Niven. Kim Hunter. Roger Livesy. Raymond Massey. 104 mins. Wonderful film that rises above its beginnings as a piece of wartime propaganda about goodwill between Britain and the USA. Niven is an RAF pilot who finds himself before a heavenly tribunal when he bales out of his burning plane. A witty and stylish fantasy with a fair share of on-target satire. Glasgow: GFl‘.
I Mean Streets (18) (Martin Scorsese. US. 1973) Harvey Keitel. Robert de Niro. David Proval. 110 mins. Tony‘s Bar is the base for four young italian-Americans. whose increasingly illegal activities lead to tragedy. Vividly observed character study which combines breathtaking technique with a pervasive sense of corruption. Keitel and de Niro give of their very best. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I “film (15) (Gabriele Salvatores. Italy. 1992) Diego Abatantuono. Claudio Bigagli. Guiseppe Cedema. 90 mins. A group of WW2 Italian sailors find themselves stranded in the Greek village they were supposed to be ransacking. and settle down to an idyllic life with the locals. A tribute to the kinship of the Mediterranean peoples. this 1992 Oscar winner carries sentimentality and knowing humour in equal amounts. Glasgow: GFT.
I at: “Will (12) (Anthony Minghella. US. 1993) Matt Dillon. Annabella Sciorra. William Hurt. 97 mins. Gus wants to remarry. but the alimony he pays his ex-wife is killing him. The solution: find her a new husband. a Mr Wonderful. But in the process. he discovers that he isn't ready to let go. An old-style romantic comedy with a heart. and a performance from Dillon that shows he's the only actor of his age who could carry off the working-class leading man role with any credibility. Great stuff that will leave you with a warm feeling inside. Fife: Adam Smith.
I “'3 11m (12) (Chris Columbus. US. 1993) Robin Williams. Sally Field. Pierce Brosnan. 125 mins. Separated from his wife and kids. out-of-work voice actor Daniel Hillard (Williams) dons make-up and body-padding to become a sexagenarian nanny. Another top- notch comic performance by Williams. who makes the most of his split personality zest
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without becoming overly sentimental. Hugely enjoyable and well pitched with gags for the whole audience. General release. I M Ado About Nothing (PG) (Kenneth Branagh. UK/US. 1993) Denzel Washington. Kenneth Branagh. Emma Thompson. Keanu Reeves. 111 mins. A lusty. lively version of Shakespeare's comedy of love and deceit. set in the sun-drenched Tuscan hills. Barbed witticism fly across the screen as British thesps and American stars acquit themselves with honours. Glasgow: GFT. I My 3031111111 Witt (15) (Stephen Frears. UK. 1985) Daniel Day Lewis. Roshan Seth. Gordon Wamecke. Shirley Anne Field. 97 mins. A young Asian from South London is given the chance to manage his uncle's laundrette. which he and his ex-skinhead boyfriend transform into the latest word in laundromats. Made for TV. the film nevertheless attracted some critical acclaim. though it has proved something of a puzzle to those neither homosexual nor Asian. Edinburgh: Cameo. I My 1.110 (12) (Brtrce Joel Rubin. US. 1993) Michael Keaton. Nicole Kidrnan. Haing S. Ngor. 1 17 mins. 1n the process of making a video about his life for his unborn son. PR man Bob Jones disovers that having cancer is forcing him to reassess what is truly important. Rubin treads a very similar path to Ghost and Jacob's Ladder (both of which he wrote). alternating doses of sentiment with some depreciating and very human humour from Keaton. See review. General release. I Naked (18) (Mike Leigh. UK. 1993) David Thewlis. Katrin Cartlidgc. Lesley Sharp. 126 mins. Johnny. a cynical drifter. wanders around the homeless of London spouting a bitter philosophy. An episodic. bleak. but bitingly funny portrait of 90s Britain that suffers from a few characters who could only exist in a Mike Leigh world. Scenes of sexual violence may be difficult for some audience members to sit through. but Thewlis delivers a virtuoso performance. Fife: Robin‘s. I let M (18) (Katherine Bigelow. US. 1987) Adrian Pasdar. Jenny Wright. Lance Henriksen. 98 mins. A chance sexual encounter for a Texas youth leads to his abduction by a group of marauding bloodsuckers and his difficult transformation to their parasitic mode of existence. As vampire-biker westerns go. this is a pretty good one. Fife: Adam Smith. I liew York. flew York (15) (Martin Scorsese. US. 1977) Liza Minnelli. Robert De Niro. Lionel Stander. 153 mins. Winning combination of satirical parody and heartfelt tribute. as Scorsese tries his hand at big-budget musical comedy. The two stars are outstanding as a warring couple. De Niro's downbeat jazz saxophinist perfectly counterpoising Minnelli‘s struggling singer in an affecting rags-to-riches yarn. Edinburgh: Cameo. I On Deadly Email (18) (Steven Seagal. US. 1993) Steven Seagal. Michael Caine. Joan Chen. 110 mins. No longer is the thinking man's Chuck Norris kicking the shit out of low-life scumbags. now he's kicking the shit out of capitalist scumbags intent on destroying the delicate balance of the eco-system by oil exploration. First-time director Seagal stages the action scenes with great skill. but falls down with the characterisation and speechifying environmentalist tone. See review. General release. I One 1.110 Une We (15) (Alexandre Astruc. France. 1958) Maria Schell. Christian Marquand. lvan Desny. 88 mins. An innocent aristocrat marries a handsome womaniser. but soon she is widowed and fending for herself. A refined. nicely detailed version of Maupassant's story. Edinburgh: French institute. I 018100 (PO) (Sally Potter. UK. 1992) Tilda Swinton. Billy Zane. Quentin Crisp. 92 mins. A male Elizabethan courtier 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 director Potter creates from Virginia Woolf '5 novel a humorous and visually splendid succession of episodes that is a constant joy to watch. At last. a literary film rather than a literature substitute. Fife: Robin's. I Parents (18) (Bob Balaban. US. 1988) Randy Quaid. Mary Beth Hurt. Sandy Dennis. 90 mins. An imaginative blend of Hairspray. Happy Days and The Hills Have Eyes. this is the assured directing debut from Close Encounters actor Balaban. Set in 1958. it follows the suburban lives of two couples. the son of one pair suspecting the other couple of cannibalism. After an hour of increasingly weird sitcom antics. the film changes gear for a distinctly grim ending. Formica fear was never more functional or so much fun. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I The P011681 Brief (12) (Alan J. Pakula. US. 1993) Julia Roberts. Denzel Washington. Sam
20 The List 11-24 March 1994