Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
GAbout A Boy ( 12) secs (Chris and Paul Weitz. L'K/L'S. 2002) Hugh Grant. Nicholas Hoult. Toni Collette. 101 min. Grant breaks free of his posh fop screen persona to play lay'about Will Freeman in this wining adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel. Supporting a loafers' life of telly. booze and birds with wealth from his late father. Freeman's womanising brings him into contact with Marcus (Hoult). the young son of suicidally depressed Fiona (Collette). who proceeds to change the wastrel's life. The Weitz brothers keep things bright and breezy. but top honours go to Grant and Hoult who spend the film swapping places as the titular character. (ieneral release.
Ali G lndahouse ( 18) coco (Mark Mylod. CK. 2002) Sacha Baron Cohen. Charles Dance. Michael (iambon. 88 min. So da boy from Staines links he cati make it big. y'eah'.’ Cohen has taken his greatest invention; replete with gold and ‘me Julie’ and headed for the corridors of power. From Staines to Westminster and then the world — wicked. All the old tricks. catch phrases - ‘ls it because I is black'.". play with misunderstanding and political incorreetness. are exploited to the max. lt's fantastically hilarious. Pull credit to the writers. Cohen and Dan Mazer. who have worked so hard to keep it fresh (and real. of course). Much respect. Selected release. Alpine Fire (Hohenfeuer) ( IS) (liredi Murer. Switzerland. 1985) 120 min. The story of a brother and sister who live and work with their parents on an isolated farm in the mountains of German-speaking Switzerland. Life is tough for the kids. but one day. on the brink of adolescence. they find solace in a forbidden love. (il’l‘. (ilasgow.
Apple Game ( 18) (\‘era Chytilova. Czechoslovakia. 197(1) 92 min. A feminist comedy about a nurse who seduces a philandering doctor and becomes pregnant. deciding upon single parenthood. Its irreverence. feminine perspective and free approach to film form convinces. Play ed as a farce. it provokes and shocks. Caused real controversy. l-‘ilmhouse. lidinburgh. Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner ( 15) .0... (Zacharias Kunuk. Canada. 2001 ) Natar t'ngalaq. litigene lpkarnak. Pete.r Henry Arnatsiaq. 172 min. This remarkable singular beautiful film is the first to be entirely in the Inuit language. It is quite simply as pure and perfect a piece of narrative cinema as you are ever likely to see today. When an unknown shaman puts an evil spell on a group of nomadic Inuits living off the Canadian Arctic it takes twenty years before two brothers emerge to challenge the evil order. Director Kunuk never lets the stunning scenery overpower the many minute dramas being acted out by a mostly non-professional. though impressive cast. Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy'. Back To The Future Part 3(1’(}) 0.. (Robert '/.emcckis. CS. 1990) Michael J. Fox. Christopher Lloyd. Mary Steenburgen. 1 19 min. After the elongated trailer of B'I‘l’2 we're back in 1885 for the third and absolutely final instalment of the series. in which Michael has to face up to longstanding enemy Biff and save the Doc from certain death. except that the latter is much more interested iii falling for Mary Steenburgen. The end result is not quite a bad film. btit. as with almost every other sequel of a sequel there's an overall slackness which prevents it from lifting off in the way that it should. In almost every sense. we‘ve been here before. New Picture House. St Andrews. The Bad Sleep Well (PG) (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. 1960) Toshii'o Mifune. Kyoko Kagwa. Mori Masaytiki. 151 min. Kurosawa's most socially responsible film - the first he made for his own production company deals with corruption. graft and bribery at the public level. liilmhouse. lidinburgh.
Balsa-Moi (18) so (Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi. France. 2(X)2) Raffaela Anderson. Karen Bach. 87 mins. Based on a novel by Despentes. liaise- Moi depicts the sex-and-killing spree of two nihilistic young women. rape victim Manu (Anderson) and prostitute Nadine (Bach). Blending real sex — Anderson and Bach come from professional hardcore backgrounds — and deliberately stylised violence. liaise-Moi constantly references other movies. whilst being aware of its own shortcomings. Crudely shot on digital video. and accompanied by a thrash metal soundtrack. it lacks aesthetic finesse and intellectual rigour. but its raw anarchic energy is undeniable. See preview and review. Selected release.
A Beautiful Mind ( 12) see (Ron Howard. L'S. 2(X)2) Russell Crowe. Jennifer Connelly. Paul Bettany. 135 min. A Beautiful .lrlind once more presents Crowe with the opportunity to alternate his tough guy roles (Gladiator) with ‘serious acting' (see The Insider). Here Crowe plays John Nash. the mathematics genius during his college day s in America in the 1940s. but also a paranoid- schizophrenic. who was nevertheless awarded the Nobel Prize late in his life. On the negative side of the equation. Howard‘s direction stinks. His efforts to make math interesting fail dismally. A for ()scars effort. but C - for contribution to the field of biopic cinema. Selected release.
Before Night Falls(15) coco (Julian Schnabel. CS. 2001) 130 min. This biopic of the gay Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas has been garlanded with praise and awards. including a deserved Oscar nomination for leading actor Javier Bardem. It's more recognition than its subject achieved in his lifetime. an irony the persecuted Arenas might have found wry'ly amusing. Schnabel's film is based on the memoirs Arenas dictated in exile in New York. terminally ill with Aids. before his suicide in 1990. The painter turned director finds a style in keeping with the man and his work. mixing truth. poetic hyperbole and magic realism to dizzying effect. Cameo. lidinburgh.
Behind The Sun ( 12) use (Walter Salles. Brazil. 2002) Rodrigo Santoro. Jose Dumont. Flavia Marco Antonio. 105 min. In a remote northeastern province in Brazil circa 1910. a deadly feud is being waged between two neighbouring families. Tonho (Santoro). the middle son of an impoverished sugar-cane farmer (Dumont). is asked by his father to avenge the killing of his elder brother. A terrified Tonho fulfils his filial duty. but the cycle of violence resumes. Conv incingly acted and impressively shot. Behind The Sun incorporates symbolic elements within the framework of an emotionally engaging storyline. It may draw on an array of sources. not least (ireek tragedy and the American Western. and yet in a world scarred by atavistic conflicts. the film's contemporary resonance is considerable. l’l‘H Cinema. Falkirk.
Bend It Like Beckham ( 12) coco ((iurinda Chadha. CK. 2002) Parminder K Nagra. Keira Knightley. Jonathan Rhy s- Mey'ers. 1 12 min. The parents of Hounslow teenager Jess (Nagra) want her to concentrate on her studies. to learn how to cook traditional Indian food. and to marry a respectable young man. Jess. however. is far more passionate about playing football. and is asked by fellow schoolgirl Jules ( Knightley) to join the local womens' team. As with lihajl ()n The Beach and ll'hat's ('ookinef’. w riter- director Chadha confidently uses comedy to explore social. racial and familial issues. with football a device to investigate what it means to be young. female and self-confident in contemporary Britain. (ieiieral release. Beresina (15) (Daniel Schmid. Switzerland. 1999) 100 min. This black comedy tells the tale of a beautiful young Russian woman who ends up as a call girl in the Alps with a shy'ster law yer-pimp who makes sure she has no shortage of clientele. Meanwhile. back home the girl's family follow her subsequent climb tip the social ladder with great interest. (il’l‘. (ilasgow. Bhopal Express ( 15) (Saiitosh Sivan. lndia. 1999) Nasserudin Shah. '/.eenat Amati. 90 mm. Tells the true story of a tragic gas explosion at a Carbide plant in 198-1. which claimed 10.000 lives. Narrated through the eyes of newlyweds
\‘erma and Tara. and their best friend Bahir this film explores the devastation that such a disaster leaves behind. David Lynch was suitably impressed. (317T. Glasgow.
Black Beauty ( t.') cos (Caroline Thomson. CS. 1994) Sean Bean. David Thewlis. Peter Cook. 82 min. The most famous horse in children's literature returns in a faithful screen version by debut director Thomson. w hose work as a screenwriter -- The Secret Garden. lit/ward Sr‘issorhands'. The Nightmare Before Christmas — taps into a darker current of childhood vision. The pace sets off at a gallop. and should intrigue adults as well as younger viewers. L'CiC Renfrew Street. Glasgow.
Blade "(18).. (Guillermo del Toro. CS. 2002) Wesley Snipes. Kris Kristofferson. Ron Perlman. l 16 min. Where the first mission of the half human. ltalf vampire titular bloodsticker hunter (played by Snipes as a cross between Shaft and Bruce Lee) was confined to a nocturnal world unseen by anyone other than victims. Blade's further adventures take place in a world in which the human race is on the verge ofextinction. And so to are vampires. A mutant vampire known as The Reaper suffers such an insatiable bloodlust that he turns to sucking vampire blood. which creates yet more Reapers to reap unholy bloody carnage. t'nsurprisingly. it falls to Blade to take down these super- suckers. Cool beans. no doubt. (ieneral release.
Blue Planet (1') (2001 ) An awesome trip around. above and beyond our planet on the lMAX giant screen which prompted the llavhineton Fox! to w rite: ‘lf a picture is worth a thousand words. one image from Blue Planet is worth a zillion'. lMAX. (ilasgow. Borders Shorts (the) (various. t'K. 2002). Locally made anthology of short films. Pavilion. (ialashiels.
Braveheart( 15).... (Mel (iibson. LS. 1995) Mel Gibson. Patrick McGoohan. Sophie Marceau. 177 min. Mel (iibson‘s long and bloody account of the life of Scottish warrior hero William Wallace boasts some remarkable battle scenes and great performances. Aiming to entertain on a wider scale than the more literate Rob Roy. Brai'e/ieart's Scottish passion is tempered by a few Hollywood moments - touches of sentimentality and ‘dramatic' historical inaccuracy. Nevertheless. it's a fine. full- blooded attempt to tap into the spirit that fires Scotland's history and heroes. Pavilion. (ialashiels.
Buenos Aires, My History (Buenos Aires, Meine Geschichte) & Vacancyi 15) (German Kral/Matihias Muller. (iermany. 1999/1998) 89/15 min. lntimate autobiographical sttidy of the universal problem of relationship and family breakdowns. Film student Kral returns to Argentina in search of his father who abandoned him 25 years ago to find out the reason his parent's marriage failed. Honest and emotive to powerful effect. laeaniy takes a critical look at capital city Brasilia. originally designed as an urban utopia. (il’l‘. (ilasgow.
A Bug’s Life (1') C... (John Lasseter. l'S. 1998) Voices of: Dave liolcy. Kev in Spacey. David Hyde Pierce. Denis Leary. 95
Daniel Auteil and Gerard Depaieu come out of Th
index Film
e Closet
min. Made by Pixar Animation Sltidios (lov Story). A Bug '.v Lite takes (is to Ant Island.
w here the colony is being oppiessed by a gang of menacing grasshoppers. When inventive but clumsy worker ant l'lik incurs the wrath of gang leader Hopper. he heads off to find help heavyweight help in the battle against his oppressors. t'(iC. lidinburgh. Bully ( 18) 0... (Larry Clark. 2002) Nick Stahl. Brad Renfro. Rachel Miner. l 12 min. If you can get past the fact that Clark is the biggest paedovoyeur working today then there is lots to enjoy in the new movie from the director of Kids. Bully is based on the true story of Bobby Kent w ho was murdered in Florida in 1993 by a group of teenagers led by his best friend Marty Puccio. As you would expect from this legendary photographer. Bid/v looks great and is naturalistically paced and acted. No one catches seedy suburban teenage nihilism better than Clark. Cameo. lidiiiburgh.
The Business Of Strangers 1 15) .0. (Patrick Stettncr. CS. 2002) Stockard Channing. Julia Styles. 1"rcd Weller. 83 min. Chaniiing's Julie Sty ron is a workaholic businesswoman who finds herself stranded in an airport motel when her plane is cancelled. Also stranded is her assistant Paula (Styles). who recognises a man (Weller) who she say s raped her friend at college. The rapist turns out to be a corporate head-hunter ofJulie's acquaintance. and. outraged. the women decide to exact some revenge. So far so fascinating. The btiild tip to the first of a number of revelations is well-handled by Stettncr. But the film fails to deliver its initial promise. Still. the cast play this dark thriller perfectly. Selected release.
Buttoners (Knoflikari) ( IS) (Petr Xelenka. Czechoslovakia. 1998) 10-1 min. A film about spitting on trains. bad weather. the atom bomb. shooting sperm into space. infidelity and murderers. A kaleidoscope of eccentric characters in a cruel worlds where everything is connected with everything else. livents repeat themselves and black humour is every where. (il’l‘. (ilasgovv; l-‘ilmhouse. lidinburgh.
Thu 9th May
Charlotte Gray (15) 7 303m Sun 72th May
Harry Potter (PG) 2 300.2“ New Waterford Girl (15) 6 00.9.“. Tue 74m Ma; 7 300m
Programme of Local Archive Films (U) Tue 2 (st May
Behind the Sun (12) 7 303,“
Tickets and further information from The Steeple Box office
(Tel: 01324 506850)
or on the day from the hall
9—23 May 2002‘ THE LIST 33