Film index
PERT
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( or THE ARTS
7.30pm Wednesday lSth May
bob geldof
RAB NOAKES & the VARAFLAMES
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yen 10am to 6pm
EATHESON
h High Street near.
River Tay
34 THE LIST 9—23 May 2002
Charlotte Gray (15) eee (Gillian Armstrong. UK. 2002) Cate Blanchett. Billy Crudup. Michael Gambon. 121 min. There's a fundamental flaw in this adaptation of Sebastian Faulks‘ novel about a young Scots woman who is trained as a spy by the British Army during World War II and dropped into occupied France to work with the Resistance movement: it‘s about as tense as an episode of “Alla. ‘allo. The film focuses too much on the characters and not enough on the action. In contenting himself with character are and rites of passage narrative. screenwriter Jeremy Brock — and Armstrong — have abandoned the heightened drama of the story. Fine performances. though. Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy.
The Cider House Rules (12) eee (Lasse Hallstrom. US. 2000) Tobey Maguire. Michael Caine. Charlize Theron. 126 min. Maguire takes the lead as Homer Wells. an orphan who grows up to continue the worthy work of his mentor and surrogate father. Dr Larch (Caine). On route to manhood. Homer undertakes a small-scale odyssey around 1940s New England. during which time he works on an apple farm and has an affair with farm owner Candy Kendall (Theron). Somewhere between Irving‘s screenplay and Hallstrom's direction there's an overabundance of sentimentality which undermines Irving's brand of tragi-comedy. Cineworld. Falkirk.
The Closet (15) eee (Francois Veber. France. 2002) Daniel Autieul. Gerard Depardieu. Michelle Laroque. 85 min. Francois (Autieul) is a company man perceived as bland and one-dimensional. But he's seen differently when a touched up photograph suggests that the straight Francois frequents some risque gay nightclubs. Everybody at the condom factory where he works ( Depardieu. Laroque. boss Jean Rochefort) sees a new man. as if finding something of their own possibilities within Francois‘ apparently libertine behaviour. The Closet does a surprisingly skilful job of suggesting that gayness can be a healthy if virtual mode of being. while also. in Francois‘ employment anxieties. attaching itself to the workplace film that so preoccupies French cinema at the moment. See Gay preview and Film review. Selected release.
Collateral Damage (15) e
(Andrew Davis. CS. 2002) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Elias Koteas. Francesca Neri. 108 min. In his new action flick Arnie plays a Los Angeles fireman who. upon witnessing his wife and son killed during a terrorist action and subsequently written off as 'colIateral damage' by the government. takes it upon himself to head off for Columbia to hunt down the murderous mastermind known as The Wolf. Although. post-September l I it might seem Collateral Damage has a good deal of contemporary relevance (an unfortunate coincidence — the film was completed in August 2001). this is merely another dumb Schwarzenegger actioner. Highland Theatre. Oban.
The Count Of Monte Cristo (PG)
0. (Kevin Reynolds. US. 2002) James Caviezel. Guy Pearce. Richard Harris. 13l min. As swashbucklers go. Alexandre Dumas' yarn rollocks the socks off most. boasting high drama. romance and adventure in equal measure. The tale. which turns on a man's desire for revenge. concerns young sailor Edmond Dantes (Caviezel) who is betrayed by his childhood friend Fernand Mondego (Pearce). There's a lot of story to get through in just over two hours. and it shows. Badly. The pacing of Reynolds' film is shot. To squeeze in the twists and turns of Dumas‘ plot. Reynolds gallops through the events. barely allowing his quite decent cast to perform. nor the action sequences to flourish. General release.
Crossroads (PG) ee (Tamra Davis. US. 2002) Britney Spears. Kim Cattrall. Dan Aykroyd. 94 min. It's very difficult to review Crossroads as it‘s not a normal film. but simply another part of the Britney Spears World Domination Plan. And. disappointingly. this is not the turkey we secretly hoped for. Britney doesn't act so much as pretend to be someone she‘s not — she's built her career on it. and has become
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Images speaking louder than words in the iranian drama Delbaran
very good. Yes. this is cheesy and completely lacking in originality. but then this is a teen movie. If you go to see this film. you're not coming for the film. but for an extra large dose of Britney. And that's exactly what you‘ll get. General release.
The Day I Became A Woman (L') C... (Marzieh Meshkini. Iran. 2000) 9-1 min. One of those small films which takes on the big issues. this Iranian movie presents an intimate three-part portrait of different women. Nine-year-old Havva is introduced to the dark side of Islamic law; married woman Ahoo is indulging in a women-only bike ride when her husband shows up; and an old lady goes on a mass shopping spree. Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy.
Delbaran (PG) 0... (Abolfall Jalili. Iran. 2002) Kaecm Alizadeh. Rahmatollah Edrahimi. Hossein Hashemian. 96 min. Of all Iranian filmmakers. Jalili seems to let beautifully rendered images speak more loudly than words. and allows the visual element to take precedence over narrative development: the present moment is what counts. Thus. sympathy's often elicited in the immediate action. In one scene. for example. we see the young Afghan refugee at the film's centre using all his strength to lift a cluster of bushes onto his back. IfJalili justifies the subjective plea of his own closing comment ‘I dedicate this film to all the children of war' it lies in the relative objectivity of the images he's created. See review. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
0 Dog Soldiers (15) eeee (.\'eil Marshall. CK. 2002) Sean Pertwee. Kevin McKidd. Emma Clcasby. 10-1 min. This British werewolf movie delivers flesh-ripping gore. cdge-of—the-seat sUspense and wicked black humour. leaving one drained but thor- oughly entertained. Yet it never short-changes its deftly drawn characters. a squad of British soldiers on manoeuvres in the Scottish Highlands who fall prey to some lanky lycan- thropes. Pitting down-to-earth soldiers against down-and-dirty werewolves. director Neil Marshall strips away any superfluous supernatural dressing. Ironically. the scarier the film gets. the funnier it becomes — you laugh out loud just to release the tension. See review. General release.
Dolphins (L') (2000) The producers of the most successful IMAX movie ever. Everest. take us undersea into the aquatic home of dolphins. With narration by Pierce Brosnan and music by Sting. IMAX. Glasgow. Drunken Angel ( 15) (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. 1948) Takashi Shimura. Toshiro Mifune. Michiyo Kiguri. 98 min. A cocky young gangster comes to rely upon an alcoholic doctor in Kurosawa and Mifune‘s first collaboration. Part of the Akira Kurosawa season. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (L') 0... (Steven Spielberg. L'S. 1982/2002) Dee Wallace-Stone. Henry Thomas. Peter Coyote. 120 min. For the twentieth anniversary of this fable about a peaceful .ilien marooned on Earth. Spielberg has dusted off his beloved original and re-rcleased it in a new and improved form featuring digital tinkering (ET's eyes. for example. have been ‘enhanced‘ to make him appear
more alien) and never before screened scenes such as ET having a bath. But most interesting is the excision of all the firearms — the American authorities chasing ET and his human friend Elliot are now armed with nothing more threatening than mobile phones. There‘s something a bit precious about this kind of cleansing of the film. Still. as a fantasy adventure for kids and 'adult kids' alike. [:‘T remains some kind of modern classic. Selected release.
Edinburgh On The Cinema Screen (L') (Ian Rintoul. CK. 2002) min tbc. Does jUst what it says on the tin. representations of Edinburgh on film. St Bride's Centre. Edinburgh.
Emporte-Moi ( l5) (Lea Pool. Canada/France/Switzerland. 1999) Karine Vanasse. Pascale Bussieres. Miki Manojlovic. 9-1 min. This drama of identity and displacement centres around 13—year-old Hannah who. growing up in Montreal in the early 1960s. experiences an epiphany of sorts when she sneaks into a cinema and watches Godard‘s classic Vivre Sa Me. With its citing of the French New Wave. it might be seen as a less harsh. female retelling of The 400 Blows. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Enigma ( 15).... (Michael Apted. CK. 2001) Dougray Scott. Kate Winslet. Saffron Burrows. 1 17 min. Tom Jericho (Scott). a crack WWII codebreaker. is called back from premature retirement to break the Nazis‘ new cypher. ()n his return. he discovers that Claire (Burrows). the woman who broke his heart. has gone missing and. with the aid of her housemate (Winslet). begins to discover that she was not entirely what she seemed. Apted's screen adaptation of Robert Harris's best-selling novel is. rarely enough. both relatively faithful and rather good. though scriptwriter Tom Stoppard increases the love interest and fiddles the plot a little. but the mixture of cynicism and heroism that characterised Harris's characters is undiluted in the film. Burgh Hall. Pceblcs.
Experiments In Terror (tbc) (Various. Various. 2002) min the. Selection of short films made by experimental filmmakers working within the horror genre. CCA. Glasgow.
The Flutter ( 18) 0. (Wash West and Richard Glatzer. LS. 2002) Michael (‘unio Scott Gurney. Roxanne Day. 93 min. Sean (Cunio) rents (incur Kane from a video store only to be given ('ili:en ('mn by mistake. The star of the porno. Johnny Rebel (Gurney). subsequently becomes Sean's ‘Rosebud'. Obsession drives Scan to get a job at the film production company that employs Johnny. and Sean soon becomes Johnny's favourite ‘fiuffer' (being the individual who arouses a porn star for the camera). The Flu/fer tries to break all of Hollywood's rules about what a gay man should be like. L'nfortunately. the film disappoints by doing the one thing that porn is not supposed to do -— it leaves you feeling frustrated. Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy. From Here To Posteritydfi (Various) min tbc. Compilation of short films put together by the Scottish Screen Archive reliecting the history of lilmmaking in Scotland. I’I‘H ('inema. Falkirk.