Film index
Finding Forrester ( )2) .0 (Gus Van Sant. CS. 200] ) Sean ('onnery. Rob Brown. I36 mins. A troubled young genius finds a mentor in an older man with demons of his own. Sound familiar'.’ Well. Van Sant's new movie is a blatant copy of his first mainstream success. (inm/ Will Hunting. This time around. however. rather than a maths prodigy and his shrink. the prickly pair are a teenager from the Bronx and a reclusive Salinger-like writer. The ja/l. score is excellent. (‘onnery' breathes life into a character constructed almost entirely from cliches and Brown gives a naturalistic and affecting performance. but the film‘s mix of indie pacing and camera work with Hollywood gloss and sentimentality never really gels. (ieneral release.
The Gift ( 15) 0.. (Sam Raimi. 200l ) (‘ate Blanchett. Keanu Reeves. Katie Holmes. lll mins. lt's murder in the smalltown Brixton. (ieorgia when the sassy daughter of the wealthy King family. Jessica (Holmes), goes missing. Wife-beating redneck Donnie Barksdale (Reeves) looks guilty. especially when local psychic Annie Wilson (Blanchett) has an incriminating vision. However. this being a supernatural whodunnit. all is not what it seems. Billy Bob 'l‘hornton's script leisurely introduces. but never stereotypes the white trash community. while Raimi‘s direction is admirably unobtrusive and the fine cast does its job. But with a convoluted series of plot twists. The (ii/i feels too long. (ieneral release.
Gladiatort IS) 000 (Ridley Scott. L'S. 2000) Russell (‘rowe. Richard Harris. Joaquin Phoenix. [50 mins. Just before dying (‘aesar Atirelius (Harris) charges (ieneral Maximus ((‘row-e) with cleaning up his beloved. but politically corrupt Roine. Aurelius‘ son. (‘ommodus (Phoenix). doesn't take kindly to this and has his rival executed. Btit Maximus survives and. as a gladiator. works his way back to Rome intent on revenge. Parallels tnust be drawn with .S'purlieus and lien Ilur; we‘ve not seen a Roman epic in a long time. Scott‘s is a handsome spectacle and exciting enough. but that's all it is. Selected release.
Gone With The Wind (PG) .0000 (Victor Fleming. US. I939) (‘lark (iable. Vivien Leigh. ()livia de l'lavilland. Leslie Howard. 220 mins. This new print has restored the original colour to the classic. fifty-three-year-old tale that brings alive the era of the civil war through gripping narrative and characterisation. remaining faithful to Margaret Mitchell's powerful novel. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Good Will Hunting (15) 0... (Gus Van Sant. US. I997) Matt Damon. Robin Williams. Minnie Driver. 126 mins. A young college janitor (Damon) with a history of abuse is given the opportunity to fulfil his
potential as a maths geniUs by a kindly therapist (Williams). Hot-shot Damon received ()scar nods as Best Actor and for Best Original Screenplay. but its Williams in an understated performance who steals the show. An insightful script. tenderly acted. ()deon. Kilmamock.
The Grinch (PG) 0.. (Ron Howard. [S 2000) Jim (‘arrey. Taylor Momsen. Jeffrey Tambor. 105 mins. Surprisingly. The Urine/i is the first live action feature lo be adapted from the work of the world's best- selling children's author. Dr Seuss. And beneath sfx magician Rick Baker's green costume Carrey' — the world's highest paid comedian — wrecks glorious havoc on his cloying sweet neighbours. the Whovians of Who-ville. Howard lays the book's moral — Christmas is about family not presents _ and the sickly-sweet sentiment on pretty thick. Toy Story 2 got the cross generational appeal right; golly gosh Howard's (irineh hasn't. (‘arrey's great though. Carlton. Stirling. Hamlet ( l2) .0. (Michael Almereyda. LS. 2000) Ethan llawke. Bill Murray. Kyle MacLachlan. Sam Shepard. Jtilia Stiles. Diane Venora. l I 1 mins. American indie director Almereyda thrusts Shakespeare's best-known play into the modern world. a New York of penthouse apartments and stretch limousines. of cut- throat big-business and claustrophobia- inducing technology. Denmark is now a multi-national corporation. MacLachlan's (‘laudius its new president — having succeeded the recently deceased (‘E() -~ and the dead man‘s son. Hawke‘s moody Hamlet. a Generation-X slacker. Almereyda finds novel. off-kilterjuxtapositions of words and images that defamiliarisc lines we‘ve heard dozens of times before. Not everything works (the actors have variable success with the verse). but when the ideas come off. we see the play afresh. Cameo. Edinburgh.
Hannibal ( )8) 0.00 (Ridley Scott. US. 2001 ) Anthony Hopkins. Julianne Moore. (iary ()ldman. 131 mins. The follow-up to 1991 's The Silence 0/ The lxmihs places Dr Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins gleefully reprising his Oscar-winning role) centre stage and makes the predator the prey as the ‘retired' cannibal killer is hunted down in Florence by his only surviving but hideously disfigured victim. the millionaire Mason Verger (a superb.uncredited and unrecognisable ()ldman). Verger's manhunt alerts Clarice Starling (Moore replacing Jodie Foster). whose FBI career continues to be hampered by male prejudice. to Lecter's whereabouts. Though there are detours from the novel. most notably the extraordinary ending. here made more palatable for cinema audiences. the performances. pacing and cinematography are flawless. And though it's a conventional thriller rather than
Top notch performance from Lena Endre playing an adulterous wife in Liv Ullman’s film from the late Ingmar Bergman’s
34 THE LIST 15-29 Mar 2001
autobiographical script Faithless
a chiller. it's still a hearty slice of modern (iothic. (ieneral release.
Happy Together ( )5) 0000 (Wong Kar-Wai. Hong Kong. 1997) Leslie ('heung. Tony Leung. (‘hang (‘heii 96 mins. Two gay guys from Hong Kong try to make a fresh start in Buenos Aires and disrupt their routine of breaking up and getting back together again. Narrativer simpler than Wong's previous movies ((illllll‘k'kflle Express. Fallen Angels ). btit certainly not devoid of distinctive directorial style. lluppv Together features a colourful collage of ama/ing cinematography. A truly thrilling piece of cinema. ('ameo. Edinburgh.
High Fidelity ( 15) 0... (Stephen Frears. LS. 2000) John ('usack. lben lljejlc. Jack Black. ll3 mins. Nick llornby's story of a vinyl junkie w ho‘s more interested in his music collection than his relationships with women is practically a British institution. Yet. (‘iisack and co- writer/producer pals [).\'. l)e\"incentis and Steve Pink - have drawn on their own pasts to make a film that's as funny and profound as the book. But the great script. cast and music wouldn’t have meant a thing without a filmmaker of Frears' calibre taking charge. Edinburgh Film (iuild at Filmhousc. Edinburgh.
Himalaya (P0) 000 (Eric Valli. France/Sw'itzerland/l'K/Nepal. 2000) Thilen Lhondup. (itirgon Ky'ap. Lhapka 'l'samchoe. I04 mins. In the high mountains of the Himalayas. a village prepares for the annual yak caravan to market. However. the young chieftain has been killed and the old clan head. refuses to recognise the hot-headed Karma as his successor. A worthy insight into the lives of a hardy people. the landscape is breathtakingly shot. and the attention to local detail feels authentic. The plot has less going for it. being at heart a fairly hackney'ed story of an heir to the throne having to prove he is worthy of the crown. Adam Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy'. His Girl Friday ([7) CC”. (Howard Hawks. L'S. 19-10) (‘ary (irant. Rosalind Russell. Ralph Bellamy.. 92 mins. Hawks's dynamic comedy is one of the best Hollywood ever made. (irant and Russell are simply fantastic as the sparring newspaper editor and top reporter drawing battle line sin their professional and personal lives. Hecht and MacArthur's script from their original play The Front Page. spits out a series of rapid-fire quips and cross-cutting gags. but allows the supporting characters to have their scene-stealing moments too. Don't miss it. Edinburgh Filtn (iuild at Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Holy Mary (Ano Mariano) ( 15)
0.. (Karra Elejalde/Fernando (iuillen ('uervo. Spain. 2000) Elejalde. (‘uervo. Manuel Milanifizt. 90 mins. N‘lariano is a loser who haunts the backroads of Spain eking out a living selling music tapes to seedy roadside dives. But when he crashes his car during a drunken binge concurrent with the incineration of a marijuana field. he meets the Virgin in a vision. It's not long before he finds fame and fortune as a holy man. (‘heeeli & (‘hmig meets The Life 0/ Brian in the social-religious satire. Part of the gVival Spanish Film Festival. (il’l'. Glasgow; Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
The Hundred Steps (I Cento Passi) (15) (Marco Ttillio (iiodana. ltaly. 200l) mins. ()ne of a nutnber of new Italian films engaging with the legacy of Mafia corruption. this contender for this year's Best Foreign Film ()scar concerns a young Sicilian man who turns his back on the Mafia values that infest his village. With unsurprisingly dire consequences. GET. Glasgow.
I Could Head The Sky ( 15) 0.. (Nicola Bruce. Ireland. I999) 86 mins. Based on Timothy ()‘(irady and Steve Pyke's collaborative photo-novel. I Could Read The Sky centres on an old Irish exile in a Kentish Town bedsit as he reminisces about his childhood in the West of Ireland. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
In The Mood For Love (PG) com (Wong Kar-Wai. Hong Kong. 2000) Maggie Cheung. Tong Leung. 97 mins. ln Kar-Wai's new film. set in 60s Hong Kong. an adulterous romance is happening elsewhere
- between the husband of secretary (‘heuiig and the wife of Leting's journalist. Kar-Wai's interest lies with the cuckolded. and the way that something even more intense. personal and fortuitous develops out of their shared 'adulteree' status_ With Nat King (’ole on the soundtrack. regular ('hris Doyle behind the camera and beguiling wardrobe design. Kar- Wai offers a seductive surface texture that's undercut by the director's trademark emphasis of the accidental ov er the clearly intentional. Subtly stunning filmmaking. Selected release.
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (PG) .00 (Steven Spielberg. l'S. I989) Harrison Ford. Sean ('onnery. Alison Doody. Denholiii Elliot. 127 mins. The third and supposedly final instalment of Spielberg's blockbuster series. in which the archaeological adventurer is joined by his father ((‘onnery ) for a romp through the Middle East in search of the Holy (irail. hotly pursued (as ever) by the Na/is. A rather dodgy quasi-Christian morality and a more-of—thc-same-ish plot are offset by strong performances from Ford and (‘onnery' and technical bravura. New Picture House. St Andrews.
Into The Arms Of Strangers (PG) .0. (Mark Jonathan Harris. LS. 2000) Narrated by Judi Dench. I I7 mins. As a result of the brutal anti-Semitic persecution in the late l930s. the [K took in l0.()()() unaccompanied Jewish children froin central Europe before war began to erupt across the (‘oiitinent At times the focus on personal testimonies in this generally diligently researched documentary means that a broader socio-political context gets glossed over. Nevertheless. given the current climate of xenophobia. it's timely that the poignant stories and memories of an earlier generation of immigrants are expressed. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Irony Of Fate ( 15) (Various. (iermany. 1998) mins. Eight (ierman short comedies featuring the tale of a chainsmoker. and out« of—luck bricklayer. an illegal Polish worker arid a parody of Hollywood movies. (ioellie lnstilul. (ilasgow.
Judgement At Nuremberg (Pti) moo (Stanley Kramer. LS. 196] ) Spencer Tracey. Montgomery ('lift. Maximillian Schell. I90 mins. Perhaps the courtroom drama to end them all. Kramer's depiction of the Nazi war trials is filled with star performances and brief cameos as judge Tracey weighs tip whether or not defence attorney Schell's clients ‘were only obeying orders‘. But the film has more texture that) just its courtroom scenes and we really do get a vivid impression of a patchwork of victims and survivors. Edinburgh Film (iuild at Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Kishiwada Bad Boys ( 18 ) COO (l/.utsu Kaluyuki. Japan. I996) mins. Kazuyuki's eccentric rather than realistic depiction of the lives of Japan's poor kids is both visceral and melancholy.
(iilmorehilKi l 2. (ilasgow.
Krampack ( IS) 00 ((‘esc (iay‘. Spain. 2000) Fernando Ramallo. Jordi Vilches. Marieta ()rozco. 89 mins. (‘omic tale of friendship. love and that tricky transition to adulthood revolving around a couple of sixteen-y'ear-old boy's spending their holiday at a parent's seaside home. The usual girl dating is complicated by one of the boys realising he's gay and stepping out of that old closet. Part of the jVivaY Spanish Film Festival. (BET. (ilasgow'; Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
The Last Metro (PG) 0000
(Francois Truffaut. France. I980) Catherine Deneuve. (ierard Depardieu. Jean Poiret. l3] mins. In the occupied Paris of 1942. Deneuve takes over the running of a Montmartre theatre while her Jewish hUsband is in hiding. Meanwhile the company includes a number of performers who are also in their own ways under threat from the Na/is. (ilossy and well cast wartime drama. with Truffaut working in his most entertaining and commercial vein. FilmhoUse. Edinburgh.
0 Last Resort ( )5) COO. (Pawel l’awlik0Wskl. CK. 2001 ) Dina Korzun. Paddy (‘onsidine 76 mins. In a rundown seaside resort on England's south coast that