FILM REVIEW
I Crusaid Oscars Night: Whether the statuettes end up going to Nicolas ('age or Sean Penn. Sharon Stone or Susan Sarandon. an audience in Edinburgh will be able to whoop and cheer along with the winners and losers when it comes to Oscar night on Monday 25 March. For the second year in a row. C‘rusaid Scotland are hosting a fund- raising party at the Filnihouse.
Included in the evening's events will be preview screenings of two ()scar- nominated movies (last year it was Bullets ()i'er Bruin/titty and Blue Sky). an auction of movie meirrorabilia (including Sean (‘onnery‘s shorts from The Hill) and. of course. live transmission of the ()scar ceremony.
Remember. last year the audience was able to celebrate Peter (‘apaldi‘s Scottish ()scai‘ win with the short Fran: Kit/kit 's It's A ll'miileij/iil life: this year patriots can hang the drum for
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Sean’s shortsh on Bl'tll‘t'llt’tll'l (Best Film). Mel Gibson (Best Director). Tirii Roth (Best Supporting Actor for Rob Roy) and Patrick Doyle (Best ()riginal Dramatic Score for Sense Anil .S'ensibility).
Anyone with items to donate to the auction should contact (‘i'usaid on ()l 31 225 S9 l 8. Tickets. costing £15 are on sale from I March at the li'ilmhouse box office. btit can be booked through
('i'usaid now.
. I Glasgow Film and Video Workshop:
Registration is already underway for the (il’VW‘s short training courses iii spring I996. Newcomers and experienced users wanting to brush up
skills are invited to book for workshops
on Model Animation Production (5—7 .\lar). Location Sound Recording (3 Apr) and Lighting (8 Mar). For prices and details contact the GFVW on ()l4l 553 2620.
Art and crafts
The modern male and his desire for tools: it it’s not Tim Allen’s jibes on Home Improvement, it’s Homer Simpson drooling over some superfluous gismo. A more dignified relationship between craftsman and utensil is reflected in The Beauty Of The Common Tool, a five-minute short from Elemental Films - the first project in the new Scottish Film Production Fund/British Screen/ Scottish Television ‘Prime Cuts’ initiative.
The story, with emphasis on mood rather than narrative, follows an elderly man as he dresses up for a special occasion: visiting his local tool shop to buy a simple wrench. The perfection of the tool evokes memories and a sense of value for the working life of this man, something that the shop’s young assistant can’t understand.
The inspiration for the film, written
30 The List 23 Feb-7 Mar 1996
E by May Eakin and produced by : Matthew Zaiac, was a quotation by
American photographer Walker Evans about the seemingly inexplicable respect some men have for finely crafted tools. ‘Accompanying the
; quote was a series of photographs for
a poetry magazine,’ explains director Owen Thomas. ‘Evans took these pictures of very simple metal hand- tools, basic components of anyone’s
working life, and photographed them ‘ as if they were Hollywood movie stars,
establishing them as beautiful objects in their own right. The thrust of the film is to say that there is a whole history associated with these objects;
they’ve contributed so much to
.1 everybody and should be celebrated.’
'? Using Glasgow’s Mitchell Theatre as
i a soundstage, The Beauty 0! The
1 Common Tool was filmed on a
' specially built set at the end of the
first week of February. Like the five
; other Prime Cuts projects to come, it
j was shot on standard 16mm on a
budget of £23,000, making the scheme an effective bridge between existing
, initiatives like First Heels and Tartan
! Shorts. Thomas reckons he’ll have a
final cut of the film in early March,
: with a premiere later in the year. (Alan
lMorrison)
I Fun ( )8) The comparisons with Heaven/v ('retttu/‘ev are obviotis — two teenage girls become close friends and commit an apparently motiveless murder '— btit this US independent hit disposes of that other films fantasy elements and opts instead for a documentary. tly-on-the- wall feel. As a journalist and a counsellor try to bring an (ltlllll logic to the killing. the girls' desperate bond of friendship reveals a hopelessness in modern society. Bleak. shocking btit undeniably real. Also available to buy. priced £15.99. (Tartan)
I Voodoo ( Is) The weirdness of [S college fraternity initiation takes a supernatural turn as (‘or'ey heldirran stumbles on a murderous cult when transferring education institutions to be with his girlfriend. This is voodoo as cheap liokuni. not the anthropological horror of The Serpent And The RHlll/Hlil'. but li‘eldnian is more relaxed than usual and there is a decent thematic undei'tow about the fear of not belonging and the power of the group. But as Till/I l’euks's Jack Nance says. ill the .St'imllt‘ “(in Old- niaii-with-warning role. 'I know this is hard to believe. . . ' (l-‘irst Independent)
I la Separation (PG) The breakdown of a marriage is familiar enough fare in cinema. but rarely ts it described in such a compellineg real. beautifully detailed manner. Daniel Auteutl and Isabelle lluppert are at their best as the couple who can't quite cope w itli the fact that they 've grown emotionally apart. despite the loy e and brotectiverress (and self- c‘c‘llll'c‘tlIICss) they feel towards their son. A feelbad movie of real quality. Also available to buy. priced “5.99. (l‘ox (iuild)
I Peeping Tom t is) Like the greatest artists and their works. Michael Powell's l’ee/n'ne 'linn was reviled on its original release. but is now regarded as a masterpiece: a sharp psychological study of a disturbed murderer. air aesthetic examination of voyeurism (and the role of film as an active participant in the action) and the reference point for the modern serial killer movie. Available on video for the first time. it retains a perverse streak. but is amazingly
VIDEOS
compelling. enjoying darkly humorous dialogue and drenching itself in lurid colour. ('l'erroi‘ Vision £10.99)
I Ugly, Dirty And Bad (I?) Not. as the title might suggest. a spaghetti western or a top shelf naughty. but the winner of the Best Director pri/e at (‘arines in NW). Perhaps the jury were impressed by littore Scola's long. tracking takes and theatrical ensembles because. in terms of tone. the film is a mess. A large dysfunctional family in a shanty town on the edge of Rome turn against the lecherous father; there are glinimei‘s of a better movie that fully recognises the backdrop of poverty. but they're squashed under bad taste domestic farce. We're not laughing with these unfortunates. we're forced to laugh at them. (Arrow U599)
I Faraway So Close ( tSi \Vim Wendei‘s's sequel to Hines (1/ Desire is at its best when matching the visual style of the original. but it also has new points to make about (iermany since the Wall came down. l’ost- reunification. Berlin is a riiore materialistic place: there's a sense ttl' personal and national despair and the relationship between the angels and humanity is lessgjoyous. l'iifortunately. the poetic struggle for the soul of former .riigel ()ito Sander is tarnished iii the later stages by a convoluted black market plot. but \Venders does bring social depth to his beautiful images. ((‘oiinoisseur'
L‘ | 5.99)
I Dr Who And The Daleks (l'i In the Time Lord's first cinema adventure. our hero. his two granddaughters and a clumsy young suitor t Roy (‘astlei end up on Skaro. where the nasty Daleks are at war w tilt the peace- loving Thals. l’eter (‘tishirig plays the Doctor as an absent-iiiiiided professor. the kind of grandfather you always wished you'd had. while the story splits at a tangent from the TV style to a fairytale approach to the battle between good and evil. This colourful
La Separation: ‘real quality‘
\\'t(lt‘sc‘lc‘clt \ itlet) ll'allslt‘t' (complete with original trailer) will please the fans. bill also proves to be an enjoyable kids movie in itself. (Beyond Vision £12.99)
I Time To Kill ( IS) Nicolas (‘age stars as a sullen lieutenant stationed in lithiopia with the Italian army. who meets. rapes and accidentally kills a native girl while lost on the way to camp. As the result of his guilt and growing paranoia. he believes that he's now suffering from leprosy. The liurope/Africa culture clash is well handled in an unpatronising fashion. and director ('iuilario .‘ylontaldo ensures the story is always interesting on a psychological level. An lialiaii film in its English language version. (Arrow £15.99)
I Wes Craven’s New Nightmare ( 18) Yes. horror movies can be far- lclc‘llcd (lllt/ clever. \Ves ('raven. creator of the lz'lni Street series. restores potency to the l‘reddy Kruger icon in a plot that analyses the myth (and merchandising) of the blade-fingered bad guy while delivering plentiful lil'c'sll SL'dl'L‘S. Actress lleather langencanip plays herself. unsure whether to start a iiew movie with (‘raveri as i'Il'L‘tltl} seetlls it) be spilling from fiction into the real world and tei‘rorising her son. ()tit goes the iokiiiess that marred the later sequels; lll comes an edge that sets the heart pumping from the first frames. The best horror movie in years. (\'('I £12.99)
I The Slingshot ( t3) the Swedish seem to have a knack at hitting exactly the right tone with coming-of—age movies (remember .llv Life As A Uriel). and Ake Sandgi’en's surprise l'S bos office hit is no exception. In l92()s Stockholm. young Roland feels doubly singled otit because his mother is Jewish and his father is a Socialist; his method of fighting back is to invent a heavy-duty Sllllg‘lttil from a couple of condoms and a piece of wire. lirriiny and uiisentiinental. ((‘onnoisseur L‘ l 5.99)