FILM listings FILM LISTINGS continued

East It East (15) *ttti (Damien O'Donnell, UK, 1999) Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge. 96 mins. Based on Ayub Khan-Din's play, East Is East draws its perfectly balanced mix of belly laughs and tears from the conflict within a multi-racial family living in Salford in the 703. Head of the Khan household, George attempts to force his sons into arranged marriages in a belated efi‘ort to preserve tradition, but, born in England, the sons are having none of it. Glasgow: Odeon At The Quay, Showcase. Edinburgh: Cameo, Dominion, UCI. Paisley: Showcase. Election (15) **** (Alexander Payne, US, 1999) Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein. 103 mins. Payne's adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel, a comic satire on the 1992 American presidential election campaign set in a high school, focuses on the conflict between Jim McAllister (Broderick), a dedicated teacher who’s also sufiering from a mid-life crisis, and Tracy Flick (Witherspoon), a model but precocious pupil over a student government election. Winning performances and a super sharp script make this the smartest comedy to come out of the States in years. Edinburgh:

Cameo.

The End Of The Affair (18) **** (Neil Jordan, UK/US, 2000) Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea. 101 mins. This is a diary of hate,’ explains narrator Bendrix (Fiennes), as he attempts to piece together the memories of his war-time affair with Sarah (Moore), the wife of high-ranking civil servant Henry (Rea). Jordan captures the rancorous tone and bitter intensity of Graham Grahame Greene's source novel in this potent adaptation, the impact of which is compounded by a trio of commanding performances. General release.

Extreme Screen: Everest 8: The Living

Sea (U) it 40 mins each. Although the lwerks experience impresses on a technical level, neither of these films transcend entertainment as lumbering fairground attraction. Everest is a dry-as- sand account of a recent expedition up the big yin. Filmed in the style of a Sunday afternoon docudrama, it also has the dubious honour of rendering a remarkable adventure mundane. A much better bet is the visually wondrous The Living Sea, an ‘edutaining' look at mankind’s relationship with the sea (with voice-over from Meryl Streep). Edinburgh: Virgin Megaplex.

Fanny And Elvis (15) ti: (Kay Mellor, UK, 1999) Kerry Fox, Ray Winstone. 111 mins. Fox and Winstone play another of those chalk ‘n’ cheese couples loved by makers of romantic comedies. She's a middle-class feminist who's struggling to complete her first bodice-

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ripping novel; he 's a chauvinistic Cockney car salesman, and it's hate at first sight. The feature debut of Kay Mellor, best known for the TV series Band Of Gold, strives hard to give the material an original spin, but despite game performances from the cast, the results fail to rise much above sitcom- level predictability. Stirling: MacRobert. Felicia's Journey (12) it (Atom Egoyan, UK/Canada, 1999) Bob Hoskins, Elaine Cassidy, Peter McDonald. 116 mins. After the sublime heights of the seductive Exotica and mesmerising The Sweet Hereafter, Atom Egoyan has fallen from grace with this clunking adaptation of William Trevor’s novel. Felicia is a young Irish girl who journeys across the sea to England to find the father of her unborn child. Arriving in Birmingham, the naive girl accepts the help of Ambrose Hilditch, a seemingly benign middle-aged bachelor who has more than one skeleton in his closet. Edinburgh: Cameo.

Felix The Cat: The Movie (U) *‘kt (Ttbor Hemadi, US, 1990) 90 mins. From his 1919 debut onwards, Felix the Cat became a cartoon superstar before Mickey Mouse had even been thought of. Now at the age of over seventy, but still in peak condition, Felix limbers up for his first feature length adventure when he's called in to help the Princess of the happy kingdom of Oriana fend ofl a malevolent attack from the unscrupulous Duke of Zill. Glasgow: GET.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (15) tit (John Hughes, US, 1986) Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Grey, Charlie Sheen. 103 mins. A sunny Spring day in Chicago is far too good to spend locked in a classroom so the irrepressible Ferris Bueller feigns a malady, cuts classes and promises his two best friends a day to remember. Characteristically Hughes teen comedy that scores with fresh dialogue and appealing characterisations, but has the drawback of some laboured farce and the need to make meaningful statements. Edinburgh: Cameo.

George 01‘ The Jungle (U) tint (Sam Weisman, US, 1997) Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Holland Taylor. 91 mins. Loincloth-clad hero George (Fraser) saves San Franciscan socialite Ursula (Mann), but his trip to the urban jungle is shortlived when he hears of the kidnap of his hairy sidekick, Ape (voiced by John Cleese). The plot is the usual blend of humour, action, slapstick, adventure and, of course, romance, while the knowing and punchy script is easily up with the best of modern Disney. Motherwell: Moviehouse.

Ghost In The Shell (15) in"): (Mamoru Oshii, Japan, 1995) 85 mins. It’s 2029, and secret service cyborgs are battling with a megalomaniacal super- hacker. The philosophical tracts and techno jargon are a bit of a problem, but the visuals are undeniably impressive. The most expensive feature-length adaptation of a manga comic ever, it’s

(Not a) nice day for a white wedding: Chris O'Donnell is The Bachelor

worth catching on the big screen. Edinburgh: Cameo.

Gregory's Mo Girls (15) tank (Bill Forsyth, UK, 1999) John Gordon- Sinclair, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Carly McKinnon. 104 mins. Gregory Underwood is still the endearing, awkward, immature boy of 1979, although by 1999 he’s a teacher at his old school in Cumbemauld. Forsyth cleverly develops the film’s two plot strands to play on Gregory's emotional immaturity and innocence. In one Gregory avoids the attentions of Kennedy's fellow teacher while fantasising about McKinnon’s school girl; in the other he is reacquainted with old school pal Fraser Rowan (Dougray Scott), an entrepreneur involved in highly unethical business dealings. Edinburgh: Brunton Theatre.

Happy. Texas (12) iii (Mark lllsley, US, 1999) Jeremy Northam, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy. 98 mins. lnto Happy's crime-free smalltown haven roll a pair of escaped convicts (Northam and Zahn) posing as gay directors of a beauty pageant for little girls. The ensuing camp antics and gender bending could have been less funny than a squashed armadillo and as PC as a KKK clan member, but thanks to lively central performances and a light touch from the filmmakers, Happy, Texas jaunts along. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.

tlead On (18) **** (Ana Kokkinos, Australia, 1999) Alex Dimitriades, Paul Capsis, Julian Garner. 104 mins. Head On grips from the start, spending 24 hours with Ari (Dimitriades - remarkable), a messed up nineteen-year- old whose quest for drugs and casual sex is overshadowed only by his own self- hatred. It's an uncompromising look at what it means to be second generation Greek in what is supposed to be one of the most liberal cities in the world Melbourne. It does not flinch from difiicult issues such as the insidious racism and homophobia that seem to breed in any community. Stirling: MacRobert.

Hold Back The Night (15) it (Phil Davis, UK, 1999) Stuart Sinclair Blyth, Christine Tremarco, Sheila Hancock. 104 mins. Road movie meets gritty social drama in this story of three outcasts who become improbable travelling companions: abused Charleen

(T remarco), crusty coo-warrior Declan (Blyth) and terminally ill Vera (Hancock). Steve Chambers's under- developed script fails to do the performers justice and it's not a problem director Phil Davis solves. Edinburgh: Lumiere.

The Horse Thief (15) *‘k** (Tran Zhuangzhuang, China, 1986) Tsehang Rigzin, Dan Jiji. 88 mins. Tibet, 1923. To provide for his poverty-stricken family, Norbu steals horses from wandering nomads and offerings reserved for the gods. His actions earn him the contempt