Film index

The King is Dancing (Le Roi Dance) 1 18) 0.. (Gerard ('orbieu. France. 200l ) Benoit .\lagimel. Boris Terral. 105mm. A look at the relationship between Louis XIV (.\lagimeli and Italian tnttsical maestro (iiovanni Battista Lully tTerralt. Caught between two stories - Louis' and Lully's - the film flashes back frotn Lully wailing about his amputated litnb to his arrogattce at Louis's court. ('orbiatt captures well the preoccupations of French historical cinetna. but fails to tells us what he's getting at beyond Lttlly's obsession with a king who made his career. See review. (3171‘. (ilasgow; Filmhouse. Edinburgh.

Kissing Jessica Stein ( IS) 000 (Charles Hertnan-\\'urmfeld. l'S. 2002i Heather Juergensen. Jennifer Westfeldt. 96min. Westfeldt plays Jessica. a neurotic journalist who's fed up with the string of loser dates she's had in the past. ()n a whim. she answers an intriguing woman seeking woman personal ad and meets Helen (Juergensen ). a sexually curious art gallery owner intending to embark on her first lesbian affair.

The performances are superb with a very strong support cast with some great Manhattan location work tnot an easy achievement in such a visually familiar city). this has oodles of quirky independent appeal. Recommended. Selected release. LA Confidential 1 Isl 00.00 it‘unis Hanson. ['S. 1997) Kev in Spacey. (iuy Pearce. Russell ('row'e. Kim Basinger. l35min. Adapted from James [illroy \ neo- noir novel. the best American film of 19*)? evokes a glit/y post-World War If his Angeles underpinned by an all-pervasive. festering corruption. .-\n intricate. drop-dead brilliant plot links bent cops. good cops. Hollywood star lookalike prostitutes and the mob. The dialogue crackles and the actors burn up the screen: one of the few films one would dare mention in the same breath as the definitive ('ltinutown. .\loviehouse.

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The Lawless Heartt 15» .00

(Tom llttnsinger/Neil llutiter. l'ls'. 2001) Bill \ighy. Douglas Henshall. Tom Hollander. 1 10min. Three overlapping segments. each filmed in a distinctiy e style. show the same tattgled ey ents from the viewpoint of each of the three men: l)an tNighy t. a faithful ftusband and TM ing father: restaurateur .\Jick tllollandcrt. who was Stuart's gay lover: and the way ward Tim tHenshall l. who had been the dead

illitlhs best friend before he left to trawl the

world. Although it would have benefited from some of the melancholic intelligence that informed l)a\ id Kane's similar l'lu's li’ur'x Love. Neil Hunter's script has plenty of wry. tellitig humour. (il’l‘. (ilasgow: i-‘ilmhouse. lidinburgh.

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The Lord of the Rings 0’0» 000.. tPeter Jackson. New Xealand/l'S. 200l l Ian .\lcls'ellen. liliiah Wood. Liv Tyler. (‘ate Blanchett. \‘iggo .\lortensen. 178mm. At long last. a sword and sorcery adventure that really tlcliyct‘s tltc goods. J.R.R. Tolkien's great achievement was to create an linglish mythology. located in a fantastical yet belieyable world. Jackson's great achievement is to bring the author's 1000 page tome to life. not merely realising the fantastic elements with special effects

spectacle tthough they are very spectaculart.

btit through story telling flare and marvellous performances from his cast. Visceral and breathtakingly dramatic. ‘l'lit' l-i’llowslii/t oft/w Ring is an inspired labour of love and a monumental achievement.

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Love Wanders in the Night t 15) (Frieda Liappa. (ireecc. 1980) 90min. .\lelodrama in which two sisters move into an apartment in Athens. Their lives are complicated when the owner. a Frenchman. returns from Paris. and both women fall in love with him. Part of the (ireek Film Season. (il’l‘. (ilasgow; Iiilmhouse. lidinburgh.

Maya 1 15) tl)igvijay Singh. India. 2001) .-\nant .\'ag. .\lita Vasishit. .\'itya Shetty. l0omin. Drama about a woman's transition from childhood to adulthood. and the cruel traditions carried out in the name of religion. Part of lmagineASL-‘s. (ii-'1‘. (ilztsgow.

Minority Report t 12) .00 Spielberg. l'S. 2002t'1‘om('ruise. Samantha Morton. Max von Sydow. 144mm. Submerged beneath Spielberg's patented layer of sentimental schmalt‘l. and another vigorously self-indulgent performance froin (‘ruise is a half-decent futuristic thriller. The scribes get the credit for this: screenwriter Scott Frank and the late writer Philip K. Dick. In the year 305-1 the murder rate in America's crime capital t\\'ashington l)('i has been reduced to zero throuin the introduction of the controversial pre-ct'ime police division. Psychics predict murders before they happen. (’ruise‘s [)etective John Anderton arrests felons for crimes they will tor rather won‘t) comtnit. But when .\lorton's ‘pre- cog' predicts a murder committed by Anderton himself. the Detective goes on the run. See review. (ieneral release. Monster’s Ball t 15»... (Marc l-orster. ['S. 2002) Halle Berry. Billy Bob Thornton. Sean Combs. l l lmin. “allow in the deep South mire with this painful tale of death. bigotry and awkward redemption. This is so bleak it makes Strindberg's .lli.\.\' Julie look like a lake ftill of laughing monkeys. (ireat performances though. (ieneral release.

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