FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Kolya (l2) (Jan Sverak. Czech. I996) Zdenek Sverak. Andrej Chalimon. Libuse Safrankova. l05 mins. Womaniser and batchelor Louka marries a Russian woman who wants a Czech passport and. when she skips the country. is left to look after her five-year-old son. Separated by language. nationality. age and blood. surrogate father and child discover how to care and love across such divides. This winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is a resonant mix of gentle humour and weepy emotion. with fine performances and brilliant crafting. Glasgow: GFI‘. Edinburgh: Cameo. Larger Than Life (PG) (Howard Franklin. US. I996) Bill Murray. Janeane Garafalo. Tai the elephant. 93 mins. Popular theraptist Jack Corcoran (Murray) inherits his father's circus elephant Vera. and aims to sell her to a heartless Hollywood animal trainer. But on their journey across America. Jack becomes a better person. 'Ihis loosely plotted odyssey is drowned in mindless elephant worship — there are only so many times you really want to see a performing pachyderm stand on three legs — and the results are truly desperate. Edinburgh: Odeon. Others: Ayr Odeon. Irvine Magnum.
Liar Liar (I2) (Tom Shadyac. US. I997) Jim Carrey. Jennifer Tilly. Amanda Donohoe. 87 mins. After the bewilderineg ill-focused Cable Guy. Jim Carrey delivers a likeable. effective. but decidedly mainstream comedy with a set-up that's blissfully simple — a birthday wish by Carrey‘s son means lawyer dad must stop telling lies for a single day. A very workable springboard for Jim Carrey‘s usual repertoire of play-dob facial tics and energetic slapstick. General release.
Local Hero (PG) (Bill Forsyth. UK. I983) Peter Riegert. Burt Lancaster. Denis Lawson. lll mins. One of Bill Forsyth's most sure-footed ventures. and one in which his eye for charm balances with his love for whimsy. An ambitious executive of an American oil company is sent to btty an entire Scottish town for a future drilling project. bttt soon finds himself falling in
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love with the place. while being hoodwinked by the community. Producer David Puttnam talks after the screening. See preview. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Looking For Richard (IS) (Al Pacino. US. I996) Al Pacino. Winona Ryder. Alec Baldwin. ll2 mins. Pacino investigates his passion for Shakespeare by scurrying around New York. interviewing ordinary people and famous thespians about the Bard‘s appeal. When he gets together his chums to chew over the text and enact some scenes from Richard III however. his offbeat film goes sadly off the rails and resembles a Higher English lesson. A noble effort that‘s too self-indulgent to secure an new audience or further enlighten Shakespeare fans. Kirkcaldy: Adatn Smith. Stirling: MacRobert.
Macbeth (l2) (Jeremy Freeston. UK. I997) Jason Connery. Helen Baxendale. Grahatn McTavish. I35 mins. 'lhe makers of Chasing The Deer redeem themselves with a version of the Shakespeare tragedy — shot on location in Scotland — that leaves behind the stagey stuffiness of old BBC adaptations. Connery and Baxendale play the murderers as a young. sexy team. treating the lead character as a man caught up in cruel. unescapable fate. The acting by a group of Scottish stage veterans gives the film weight. See review. Glasgow and Edinburgh: UCls.
Margaret’s Museum (IS) (Mort Ransett. Canada/UK. 1995) Helena Bonham Carter. Kate Nelligan. Clive Russell. 95 mins. Based on short stories by Sheldon Currie. Margarers Museum is set in the late l9-l()s in a windswept and isolated corner of Nova Scotia. where Bonhatn Carter's feisty woman makes her lover promise not to work down the mines that killed her father and brother. Yes. the scenery is lovely and the music is evocative. but the feeling persists that the predictable story could have been squeezed into a half hour. Glasgow: Gl-‘I'. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Microcosmos (U) (Claude Nuridsany/Marie Perennou. France. I995) 75 mins. A bug- eyed look at the world of insects. this
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OPEN I IAM-SI’M ADMISSION ADl‘lfl‘ c2 FAMILY L3 (1HII.I)/(.0N(.liSSl0N Ll T D _ mm mm UN DERG ROU ND
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I-‘rench one-off falls somewhere between a narrativeless documentary and an ensemble piece for its array of tiny characters. What unfolds is a kind of Iife-in-a-day between the blades of grass in an overgrown meadow. The award-winning macro- photography and imaginative sound evoke and surpass the artificial worlds created in all those science fiction movies. See review. Glasgow: (il’l'. Iidinburgh: liilmhouse. Moll Flanders ( l 2) (Pen Denshatn. US. I996) Robin Wright. Morgan Freeman. Stockard Channing. l23 mins. Less true to Daniel Defoe's classic novel than the recent TV series. this feature film filters Moll's story through the telling of her diaries to her young daughter. Sadly. this method of narration ntunbs the effect of Moll‘s proyocative character. as the audience receives her story second-hand. However. as the rags-to-riches tale of an 18th century woman. Moll l’ftlllt/(‘IIV certainly entertains. (ilasgow: ABC Film Centre. (‘oatbridge Showcase. Iidinbtu'gh: UCI.
Mon Homme ( l S) (Bertrand Blier. I-‘rance. I996) Anouk (irinberg. (ierard l.anvin. Mathieu Kassovitz. 98 mins. Blier‘s off-tite- wall tale follows desperate-for-love prostitute Marie ((irinberg) as she stumbles over battered down-and-out Jeannot (Lanvin). falls in love and enlists him as her pimp. Fans of the director will know what to expect. but those less accustomed to his roundabout ways may find his politically incorrect style difficult to take. See preview arid review. Iidinburgh: Cameo.
Night Of The Twelve ( l 2) (Hans Scheikart. Germany. I945) l()() mins. A gigolo exploits a series of lonely women. and plots the death of a wealthy older woman in order to win the contents of her vs ill. (liven the time and atmosphere the Iilm was made under. it's no surprise that anyone seen to act outside the norm — like the protagonist -- and particuarly in a sexual way w ill be spotted by the authorities. lidinburgh: l-ilmhouse 101 Dalmatians (to (Stephen Herek. tiS. I996) (ilenn (Jose. Joer Richardson. Jeff Daniels. Ill} mins. Disney turns one of its favourite animated films into a live action pantomime with spodges of Home li/(lllt' buffoonery. making sure there are plenty of dogs to make the kids go ‘aaahhh‘. The story remains pretty much untouched -- vile villainess Cruella De Vil (Close) kidnaps enough spotty pups to make a stunning coat. btit the animal world gets the better of her - bttt so does the old-fashioned morality. which stresses the sanctity of marriage and that a woman's place is by her man's side. Glasgow: Virgin l’arkhead. ()thet‘: I)unfermline Robins.
The People vs Larry Flynt ( IS) (Mllos I’orman. L‘S. I996) Woody Harrelson. Courtney love. lidward Norton. |_‘~() mins. Following the rise of pornography publisher Larry l-lynt from htunble beginnings through court cases and an assassination attempt. The People \‘.\ Larry /'-/'\III is about a lot more than politics. 'I'hat's not to dismiss the film’s central argument ~ that the right of free speech is absolute — but it is Courtney Love as l‘lynt‘s junkie wife Althea that you won‘t be able to take your eyes off. Glasgow: ()deott Quay.
The Portrait Of A Lady ( l2) (Jane Campion. (ES. I996) Nicole Kidman. John Malkovich. Barbara Hershey. l44 mins. Campion's follow-up to The l’itum is a dark
and difficult adaptation of Henry James's novel which stays true to the original‘s subtle psychological observations. Kidman — at once proud. naive. sensitive and determined - is excellent as the young woman almost destroyed by a disastrous marriage. while Malkovich is a little too cold and ambiguous. Beautiful. but emotionally remote. Glasgow: OFT.
Pulp Fiction (18) (Quentin 'l‘arantino. US. I994) John 'I'ravolta. Samuel Jackson. Uma 'l‘hurman. Bruce Willis. l50 mins. Much tnore ambitious than Reservoir Dogs. the most awaited second feature of the 90s has many scenes that crackle with Tarantino wit. and a few others that fall flat as the writer- tlirector bravely experiments. Interlocking stories in the pulp crime manner concern hitrnen. ailing boxers. gang bosses and their molls. drttg fiends. and assorted riff-raff. A surprise Cannes Palrne d'Or winner is a trip. all the way. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Relic (l8) (Peter Hyams. US. I996) Tom Sizemore. Penelope Ann Miller. Linda Hunt. 109 mins. Never more than functional. but never less than mindlessly enjoyable. this surprisingly nasty horror movie blends elements of the haunted house. serial killer and monster mayhem sub-genres as a mythical beast with enhanced DNA rotnps around a New York museum. Miller has the depth and presence to convince us she's smart enough to survive this night of terror. while Sizemore carries off his first leading man role with confidence. See review. General release. Return Of The Jedi (PG) (Richard lylarquand. US. I983) Mark Harntnill. Harrison Ford. Carrie Fisher. I32 mins. l-‘amily relationships are neatly tied up in the final part of George Lucas‘s original Star llitrs trilogy. while the matinee-style action quota is kept high as the forces ofevil are vanquished at last. This is much tnore of a kids film than the others — as evinced in the cutesy liwoks — bttt the final confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader has more emotional impact than anything else in the series. General release.
Ridicule ( l S) (Patrice Leconte. I-‘rance. I996) Charles Berling. Jean Rochefort. lianny Ardant. I02 mins. A young engineer travels to the court of Louis XVI to secure funding for a drainage project and discovers a cruel society where savage wit can open doors or slain them in your face. Verbal duels give the film a literate spark. and the portrait of a decadent world manages to achieve several contemporary parallels. A costume drama with depth beneath the costumes. Iidinburgh: Cameo. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Romeo And Juliet (12) (Bar. l.uhrmann. Australia/US. I996) Leonardo DiCaprio. Claire Danes. Pete Postlethwaite. |20 mins. 'I‘he .S‘triti/y Bill/mom director's treatment of the Shakespeare tragedy is a magnificent riot of colour. action and sexy teen romance. without any need to sacrifice the text. To call it ‘M'I‘V filtnmaking' misses the point that the camera tricks and iii-jokes don't in arty way distract from the fact that I.uhrmann has completely grasped the issues at the centre of the play. An intoxicating. breathtaking mix of Catholic iconography. high camp and street violence that‘s both deliciously feverish and stttdiedly cool. General release.
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Brilliant crafting: Zdenek Sverak and Andrei Chamlimon in Kolya