REJSSUE BELLE DE JOUR (18) 99min Co...
The very great Spanish filmmaker and surrealist Luis Bufiuel wrote in his fantastic autobiography My Last Breath that Belle de Jour was ‘my biggest commercial success, which I attribute more to the marvellous
whores than to my direction.’
Self effacing and scandalous to the end, Bufiuel knew very well that his 1967 taboo busting film about a beautiful, faithful and bored young housewife, Séverine (Catherine Deneuve), who finds her inner fetishist in the brothels of her small town, was a turning point for him. First of all, it was the film that cemented his union with French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere (they had previously worked together on the equally controversial Diary of a Chambermaid). Following the success of that film, they went on to make another four movies
unconvincingly teenage Patrick Swayze). meets misunderstood. frustrated guest girl, Baby (a very unconvincingly teenage Jennifer Grey). Boy teaches girl the delights of hip grinding as a means to communicate aforementioned frustration when she fills in for his regular dance partner who needs time off to get a backstreet termination. Nice. Baby emerges sassier and the elders accept Johnny as a good egg. despite his throbbing pelvis.
Yeah. so Dirty Dancing is full of cringeworthy racial stereotyping. bad dialogue and a pre—teen sugar coated prurience which belies its title. But. 20 years on. Dirty Dancing still has the ability to send a generation gooey. This film‘s influence is almost immeasurable; legions of girls felt their hearts beat faster as Johnny got his rocks off to ‘Do You Love Me’. It's naff
together, including 1972’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Arguably more important, however, was that this was the point at which Bufiuel moved away
from the surreal, tragic comings and goings, pilgrimages and sequestrations of his Mexican cheapies (El, Nazarin, The Young One) and his 603 French work (Viridiana, The Exterminating Angel)
towards a less palatable eroticism.
(Paul Dale)
and it's fun and worth revisiting. Not for nothing is it referred to in the trade as ‘the Star Wars for girls‘.
(Morag Bruce)
I Cinewor/d Rentrew Street and selected cinemas from Fri 9 Feb.
COMEDY FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION (12A) 86min .0
The law of diminishing returns finally hits ChrisIOpher Guest and the team who have worked together since This Is Spinal Tap reconfigured the rockumentary back in 1984. Encouraged by the success of that film. which. despite being directed by Rob Beiner. contained much material scripted and developed by him. Guest went on to write and direct. among other things. the enjoyany silly. if frequently undernourished. comedies. Waiting For Gull/nan. Best in Show and A Mighty Wind.
With For Your Consideration Guest returns. thematically at least. to his debut feature. the equally ill thought out The Big Picture. in which a promising young film student (Kevin Bacon) suffered the iniguities of Hollywood. Here it is a bunch of actors
Séverine’s dreams of humiliation perforate the narrative with a clear regularity, in adapting Joseph Kessel’s excellent novel Bufiuel builds up a singular and unforgettable portrait of the bourgeoisie as dissolute and moribund. Forty years on, this wonderful film is still shocking, funny, clever, sexy and peculiarly familiar. Don’t take our word for it, go and see it. It’s good old fashioned arthouse porn for heaven’s sake.
I Fi/mhouse. Edinburgh. Fri 9—Wed M Feb only.
and the humiliations are heightened because it is the lead up to Oscar season.
Despite some good work from Guest regulars Catherine O'Hara. Harry Shearer. Fred Willard. Eugene Levy and many other very recognisable faces this is a dispiriting watch. Satirising media hysteria and the effect it has on fragile egos is one thing. but. as usual. Guest doesn't want to get his hands too dirty just in case he can't get his next film funded, so there is more wish and wash than venom in this poison pen letter. Worst of all there's an awful cameo from Ricky Gervais that will have you begging for his passport to be revoked so he can stay in the UK and do what he does best. (Paul Dale)
I General release from Fri 9 Feb.
Film
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Hannibal Rising (18)
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Reef (U) 78min 0
Another rubbish cartoon about a plucky little fish and his adventures in the deep blue. Freddie Prinze Jr and Rob Schneider are on voice duty. General release from Fri 9 Feb. Blood and Chocolate (12A) 99min .0 Likeable but uninspired adaptation of Annette Curtis Klause‘s cult book about the amorous adventures of teenage werewolf on the run, Vivian (Agnes Bruckner). The highly obsessive young fans of the book will probably be appalled. General release from Fri 9 Feb.
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