FILM REVIEW
t BLACK CCMECV
g TRAINSPOTTING
; It's easy to be suspicious of the whole I Trains/rotting screen phenomenon. ; With so much associated junkie chic pictorial in the ‘style' mags and endless hype everywhere else - much ot’ it surrounding the film's contentious portrayal of drug use —- it would be all too easy to dismiss the Boyle- Macdonald-Hodge crew‘s follow-up to F Slut/lure (Irrtt‘e as an expert exercise in slick hipster opportunisin. Thankfully. though. the film itself quickly overturns one‘s worst fears. lt is very funny. it is very enjoyable. but it is never glib. And it certainly doesn‘t trivialise the fact that. although people
take drugs becatrse they want to have a . \ .3 . .‘ good time. people who take drugs also «s» x
‘Hodge’s screenplay retains the rough humour in Irvine Welsh’s novel, and also finds a through narrative line that Boyle’s bravura camera punches home in high style’
wreck what lives they may have had. People who take drugs do wind up very dead indeed.
White John llodge‘s screenplay ; adaptation retains the rough humour in , lrvine Welsh‘s novel. it also finds a I through narrative litre that Danny Boyle‘s bravura camera punches home in high style. [Swen Bremncr's mental
material. The upbeat ending may remain : controversial - a reward for surviving'.’ ’
~ but overall there are too many castraltics along the way to say that the ‘- tilrn glarnoi'ises substance abuse. liven ' it the decision to skip the scene which gives the piece its title seems a
Desperado: ‘supremely stylish’ original movie. but. to tell ‘ i the truth. I)r'.vpr'rra/o is
puzzling decision. it's a real pleasure to
DESPERADO
Reading Robert Roilr‘igtir‘fs book about the shooting of /'.'/ .llzrrrur-ln. you get the impression that he never really expected what was supposed to b.‘ .i quick earner in the Spanish video market to l‘t‘ seen by discerning audiences across the world. So now that a bone tide tilni studio have given him a budget that's a thousand times the si/e ot' the original. maybe Rodriguez l‘cels he owes the l‘tlttt-goci's who stood by him first time round a bit of a treat. It's all here in the t‘renetically paced. supremely stylish Desperado.
This time .-\ntonio liaiidei'as play s the Mariachi. a lilackclad trav elliiig crooner w hose guitar case is tilled \‘.llll semi-ariioiiiarn weapons. The plot has liriii closing in on the drug dealer who killed his girlfriend iii the
part sequel and part big budget remake. Think of
Sanr Raimi's Iii-ll l)r'rrr/ II.
which redial‘ted and \iL‘\L‘lthCti the sitttlc‘ ideas
as its precursor. and
you‘ve got a better idea of
u the relationship between
l)r'\/rt'n.'r/o and lil .l/ttrrrlt m.
This is more than simply a great action moi ie: it is happy to acknowledge its nit'ltrences r l’eckmpah.
. l,eoiiei w lrrle also tooling
around with genre espectations arid the hero's mythic status. l)(’.\/)(’I'(lt/tl shows that it
; you want to have empty- headed fun at the pictures.
you don't have to sacrifice the l'ilriiiriakcr's talent. l:\l1llt Morrison) l)t'.\/’(’I'tlt/U I IN) (/v’rt/tt'l'l
li’ttr/I’Ik'tlt’f, LIV, /‘)9.‘-} :l/It'irllli' Ir’riIlr/i'rt/v, SUI/nit
Him A. .lr‘tIt/HHH l)r‘
l.’rr:r irr'.i_ /tl() lilll/\. I’m/it It: I (Minerva: (ii/“l: .l/(i.l/ /’.i/'A/tr'iit/ Iii/Illli’fll'Q/l.‘ l'l/lll/II’HM’. l/( L”. It '/. .Vl/‘rll/lt’lit/t’.‘
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MEXICAN CINEMA
lit the last couple of years. a handful of .\le\icaii l'iltirs (inrrtm arid l.i/.t' Water For ( ‘liot tI/tllr' most prominently ha\e broken out of the testival circiiil to stand on their own legs at the l\o\ ottice. A l'iillei picture ot the country's criieiiia histoi‘v. ltowc\ct. will eiiieige as tlte (ilasgow l-ilrir theatre and lzdiiiburgli l'rlirihouse mount a nine lrliii tclrirspcclnr' irl McULatt lrlrirs from the l‘tltls to lltt‘ l‘r‘rtrs. throughout Niall ii and Aptil
irrr v' ‘.'.l.tr l'.‘~tr'il iltt‘
waters at the WM
lidmbrrrgli International i'lllll l-esti‘.al's focus on
new .\le\rc.i:i cinema will
remember that this is a country wrtlr a style and
t'lamboy aiice all of its ow ll. ()ne trhii trom that l-idinbui‘gh event. love //i .l ’lr/rtt' ()t l/\ \ti'rirl. is on the bill again this time round; its director. :‘sllittlstr (‘iiiirorr went on to bigger things with the woiiderttil A Little I’I‘Iltr r'vv.
l.uis liiiriuel's [5/ begins the l~ilmhouse season on Sun i. while .luair Bustillo
()io‘s comedy 'l'lirtt'v 'Ilrr'
I’m/iii gets things underway at the (il’l‘ on 'l‘ire ‘ ‘lollowed by a talk
on lll.‘ retrospective as a wlroler See listings and
lirdc\ lot ilclatls
Spud. Johnny l..ce Miller's equally oft- the-rails Sick Boy and a chilling portrait in psychosis from Robert ("arlyle's Begbie all brilliantly till out
the grunge and grotesquerics slightly lacking in liwan McGregor's fairly anodyne ‘hcro' Renton. whose role is obviously and successfully conceived as a conduit for audiences who may not be inrmediately syriipathctic to the
report that the Scots home team have made a movie with more spark. relevance and genuine attack than you‘ll find in. say. the latest Martin Scorsese iiiagnuiir optis‘. ('l'revor Johnston)
'I'rriiiis‘pu/ii/ie t M) (liars/iv Hoyle. (7K.
/‘/‘)()) liri'un .l/(‘Ul't’grtll line/1 li’rt'rri/tr'r‘.
.lolrmrv /.t‘(' Mil/('1'. lv’o/u'r/ ('m'lvlr'. ‘b‘ int/rs. From /"ri 23’. (iv/rem! I'(’/('(l.'\'(’.
W CASINO
There’s absolutely no doubt about it: Martin Scorsese makes an immense movie. But you knew that already. It’s just that Casino is so good that you
can only sit there gaping at the man’s genius. What makes his work even more outstanding is that this is
obvious despite the fact that the story ; scores highly in the ‘so what?’ table.
Some dedicated gambler gets to go to Vegas to manage a casino for the mob. He makes a good job of it, until his psychotically violent minder blows into town just about the same time as he decides to get married. The gambler makes a couple of bad political decisions and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down in a blaze of violence.
Three hours and that’s all? Well no, actually. There’s Robert De Niro pacing the casino floor as if he were born to it; Joe Pesci doing extremer horrible things to people silty enough to look the wrong way; and Sharon Stone seducing, confusing and losing it completely. There’s a soundtrack of 705 favourites that Tarantino would
cut his ear off for; cinematography of 5 sumptuous proportions; and an ' aircraft hanger-sized wardrobe ot . obscenely tacky but wonderful i I costumes. Not to mention wittin self- 3 ; referential dialogue, slick editing and 5 Scorsese’s own superb direction. ; Any one of which is worthy of Oscar ‘ t nomination. The fact that Stone got i i one probably reflects surprise at her ' i talented and wide-ranging
"l
performance; that no-one else did reflects the hollow centre of the movie. Despite its theme of the ordinary man getting to the top, De Niro’s key character is too flashy, slick and self-assured to identify with. Which is perhaps the problem the Academy have with Scorsese’s films too. (Thom Dibdin)
Casino (18) (Martin Scorsese, US, 1995) Robert De Mira, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci. 178 mins. From Fri 23. General release.
‘a soundtrack of 705 favourites that
5 Tarantino would cut his E ear off for and an i aircraft hanger-sized i wardrobe of obscenely l tacky but wonderful costumes’ 1 i l
28 'l hi: l :.t .’_ i l'r'li 7 Mar l‘l‘ifr