FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
The Chamber (12) (James Foley. US. 1997) Gene Hackman. Chris O'Donnell. Faye Dunaway. 117 mins. A rookie lawyer (O’Donell) prepares the final appeal for a Death Row inmate (Hackman) - an unashamed racist awaiting execution for the murder of two Jewish children 27 years before — who happens to be his grandfather. In a story that swings between being the fascinating and the tedious. Hackman is a joy. and the film only ever really comes alive during his scenes. Glasgow: ABC Film Centre. Odeon Quay. Showcase. UCI Clydebank. Edinburgh: UCI. East Kilbride: UCl. Paisley: Showcase.
Con Air (15) (Simon West. US. 1997) Nicolas Cage. John Malkovich. John Cusack. 112 mins. Sit down. strap yourself in. stick your head into the roar of the jet engine of this noisy. stretch-the-credibility movie. Cage plays a manslaughter parolee whose prison plane ride home is hijacked by vicious convict Malkovich. so he draws on his military training and strong sense of honour to save the innocents in the air from certain death. Even under a constant attack of big bangs. action set-pieces and dry one- liners. the audience can't help but wrinkle its collective brow at the plot‘s illogical hiccups. General release.
Crash (18) (David Cronenberg. Canada. 1996) James Spader. Holly Hunter. Elias Koteas. 100 mins. Finally passed uncut. Crash is not — as the Daily Mail and local councils would have you believe — a film which will inspire copycat car crashes or copulation amidst the ensuing wreckage. Instead it is a cool. insidiously disturbing study of an evolving human pathology based on eroticised car crashes and techno- fantasies. Every hetero and homosexual permutation is explored as the fixed boundaries of ‘normal‘ sexuality give way to a creatively ‘perverse' fluidity. Provocative. extreme and intellectually exhilarating. Edinburgh: Cameo. East Kilbride: UCl.
The Crucible (12) (Nicholas Hytner. US. 1996) Daniel Day Lewis. Winona Ryder. Paul Scofield. 124 mins. Arthur Miller adapts his classic stage play based on the 17th century Salem witch trials and it still questions many of today's irrational and hysterical belief systems. The finger- pointing is done by a spurned young woman. who accuses her ex-lover‘s wife of witchcraft. and soon an all-cosuming tide of evil and hypocrisy is devastating their village. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith. Dangerous Game ( I 8) (Abel Ferrara. US. 1993) Harvey Keitel. Madonna. James Russo. 107 mins. Keitel is directing a movie called Mother Of Mirrors. starring Madonna and Russo; as filming continues. the relationship between him. his wife and his female star increasingly parallels that between Russo and Madonna. A film about three people tearing each other apart while making a movie about the same thing; as intense and claustrophobic as Ferrara‘s best
work. but with more meaning for those involved than anyone else. Glasgow: Gl’l‘. The Day The Sun Turned Cold (12) (Yim Ho. Hong Kong. 1994) Siqin Gowa. 'l'uo Zhong Hua. Ma Jing Wu. 99 mins. A young man presents police with the evidence that his mother killed his father a decade ago in this highly accomplished study ofjealousy. murder and filial turmoil. Sympathies shift from character to character as director Yim Ho deals impassively with the unfolding plot. Stirling: MacRobert.
The Devil's Own ( 15) (Alan J. Pakula. US. 1997) Harrison Ford. Brad Pitt. Ruben Blades. 111 mins. His father a victim ofthe 'security forces'. Pitt is driven into the IRA. but escapes to America. where he plots a daring revenge from the sanctuary of Irish- American NYPD man Harrison Ford's home. The tension between the dedicated terrorist and the family nest is the film's strongest suit; almost everything else is disastrous. not least the virtually unquestioned acceptance of the IRA cause. General release.
Donnie Brasco (18) (Mike Newell. US. 1997) Al Pacino. Johnny Depp. Michael Madsen. 127 mins. Depp plays a federal agent who gains the confidence of mob underling Al Pacino as part of a major surveillance operation in late ‘70s New York. but their growing bond threatens the forthcoming bust. Through his eyes. we learn the language. rituals. and economic realities of being a made man. The violence and setting might not be new. but the
Shore leave: Rupert Graves in Intimate Relations
28 THE LIST 27 Jun—10 Jul 1997
filmmakers play with genre expectations. Glasgow: Odeons. Showcase. Edinburgh: Cameo. UCI. Paisley: Showcase.
Drifting Clouds (15) (Aki Kaurismiiki. Finland. 1996) Kati ()utinen. Kari Vaananen. 96 mins. The Scandinavian director's most sumptuous work to date (warm blues. lush reds and deep greens) tells the tale of a couple and their struggle against stagnation both economic and emotional. While Kaurismaki may not come across as the partying kind. his films continue to offer warmth. wit and subtlety. See preview and review. Glasgow: (ll-’1'. lidinburgh: Filmhouse.
Elvira Madigan (PU) (Bo Widerberg. Sweden. 1967) Pia Degermark. 'l‘hommy Berggren. lennart Malmer. 95 mins. Pretty pictures. charming music. but otherwise an empty tale of a tightrope walker and a soldier who elope in 19th century Sweden. Glasgow. Gl-T.
Fallen Angels ( l5) (Wong Kar-Wai. Hong Kong. 1995) Leon l.ai.'1‘akeshi Kaneshiro. Michele Reis. 94 mins. Similar in setting and style to arthouse hit ('luuieking [zit/nests. this tale of love and death in the neon- soaked nights of Hong Kong is much darker in tone. with characters that seem just a little more psychologically disturbed. ()verlapping lives of a hitman. his female boss. a petty thief and a distraught woman are filmed in a distinctive style that skewers both the frame and the emotions. Stirling: MacRobert.
Fargo (18) (Joel (Toen. US. 1996) Frances McDormand. Steve Buscemi. William H. Macy. 97 mins. Hoping to make some bucks. a car salesman attempts to have his wife kidnapped by hitmen: but quickly blood is spilt. As the pregnant police detective on the case. McDormand provides a warm-hearted centre for the movie. while the absurdist plot and weird local colour gain momentum. lidinburgh: Cameo. Feeling Minnesota (15) (Steven Baigelman. US. 1996) Keanu Reeves. Cameron [)iaz. Vincent 1)'()nofrio. 99 mins. White trash cliche Freddie (Diaz) is due to tnarry sleazy loser Sam (1)'()nofrio) but falls for her fiance‘s brother Jjaks (Reeves) when he appears on the scene. An unforgivably shallow American independent movie that's filled with trite. pretentious dialogue that only serves to make the stars seem like the dim. wooden pawns we always feared them to be. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Fever Pitch (15) (David livans. UK. 1996) Colin Firth. Ruth Gemmell. Neil Pearson. 105 mins. The film of Nick Hornby's book switches the emphasis from the actual matches to the relationships which suffer due to one man's undying obssession with football. ('olin Firth plays schoolteacher Paul Ashwortli. whose life is both enhanced and debilitated by his passion for Arsenal. and whose relationship with a colleague dips
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Braving the storm: Kari Vaananen and Kati Outinen in Drifting Clouds
and peaks in direct proportion to the 1988/89 season. Evans‘s film captures the wit and misery of the book: there is no substitute for this in the world of the football film. so don‘t miss it. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
The Fifth Element (12) (Luc Besson. France/US. 1997) Bruce Willis. Milla Jovovich. Gary ()ldman. 127 mins. New York City in the 23rd Century. and cabbie Korben Dallas (Willis) picks up an unexpected passenger in the shape of lceloo (Milla Jovovich) — an alien who holds the key to saving the world. Besson‘s second linglish language film — following the excellent [rim — is a colourful jumble of camp designs (by Jean-Paul Gaultier). self- indulgent performances and genre rip-offs which plays for laughs as genuine sci-ft ideas run dry. General release.
Four Weddings And A Funeral (15) (Mike Newell. UK. 1993) Hugh Grant. Andie MacDowell. Kristin Scott Thomas. 117 mins. Sweet but stuffy Englishman Charlie (Grant) is convinced that he is not the marrying sort. but when he keeps meeting the alluring American Carrie (MacDowell) at an assortment of church ceremonies. he begins to doubt his resolve. The sort of charming British comedy that was destined to storm America. but which adds a little grit to the glamour of the pretty settings thanks to Richard (Blacker/(IN) Curtis's script. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
Hamlet (U) (Kenneth Branagh. UK. 1996) Kenneth Branagh. Julie Christie. Kate Winslet. 238 mins. Four hours long (with interval). but strong performances. visual delights and hearty portions of sex. violence. horror and intrigue all combine to make Branagh's Hum/e! worthy of its extreme duration. The story of the paranoid prince's revenge on his murderous uncle is freshened by its updating to the 19th century. while the glorious widescreen photography and succession of clever cameos also keep the audience on their toes. Glasgow: G171”. Hannah and Her Sisters (15) (Woody Allen. US. 1986) Mia Farrow. Michael Caine. Barbara Hershey. 107 mins. An achineg funny. insightful and well cast celebration of some surprisingly upbeat romantic perambulations within a family circle as only Woody knows how. Glasgow: (5171‘.
Harriet The Spy (PG) (Bronwen Hughes. US. 1996) Michelle 'l‘rachtenberg. Rosie O'Donnell. Gregory Smith. 102 mins. Precocious schoolgirl Harriet. convinced she has a future as a writer. notes down the minutae of daily life in her journal; but when her classmates discover her criticisms of them. she has to work hard to win back popularity. Trachtenberg gives a fresh. sparky performance. but the teacherly tone won't amuse accompanying grown-ups. Edinburgh: ()deon. lrvine: Magnum.