Cinema China

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From the Far East comes the biggest and best art house cinema season of the year. Cinema China is a huge, pulsating nationwide festival of cinema old and new from the People’s Republic, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Things get off to an excellent start on the first

night with the 1992 film Centre Stage, a lush biopic of the Chinese Greta Garbo, Ruan Lingyu, the star of legendary 1934 realist masterpiece Goddess. The mighty Maggie Cheung plays Lingyu (pictured) and she will be in Scotland to introduce a screening of Goddess on the second night. On top of that there’s certified Chinese masterworks Crows and Sparrows, Spring in a Small Town and King l-lu’s blinding A Touch of Zen. Plus there are more Zhang Yimou films (including his two latest) than you can shake an old piece of wire at. If that isn’t enough there are lectures, masterclasses and special events by the teahouse-full. If you love cinema, it really does not get any better than this. I GFT, Glasgow, Fl/thUSG, Edinburgh from Fri 9 Mar.

>t= A City of Sadness ( 15) «0

(Hon llsaio-Hsien. llong Kong/Taiwan. l‘)89) Tony Leung. (‘hiu Wai. lkuyo Nakamura. 158mm. (‘hinese born director llou's touching portrayal of Taiwan‘s post war history won the I989 Golden Lion in Venice and broadly depicts the lives of four brothers battling to retain their integrity as organised crime moves from the Chinese mainland to influence the local community. llou‘s vision is a genuinely poetic deliberation of a people and their land. Part of (‘inema (‘hina festival. Film/rouse. Edinhurgh.

Click ( IZA) 0. (Frank (‘oraci. US. 2006) Adam Sandler. Kate Beckinsale. Christopher Walken. l()7min. Stressed out architect Michael (Sandler) doesn‘t have enough hours in the day to meet all his many commitments. Then he meets a weird electronics salesman who gives him a

l‘liohlanc ' 52007

46 THE LIST 1—15 Mar 2007

universal remote control. Another mildly pleasant. schematic Sandler comedy with the requisite amount of laughs. Gl‘osvenor; Glasgow

Climates ( 15) O... (Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Turkey/France. 2006) [£er (‘eylan. Nuri Bilge Ccylan. Nazan Kirilmis. l()2min. A thoughtful portrayal of a disintegrating relationship. this won the Fipresci Prize International (‘ritics’ Award at Cannes 2006. Reviewed next issue. Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow.

>6 Crows and Sparrows (U) 0000 (Zheng Junli. China. 1949) Dan Zhao. Yin Wu. Daoling Sun. l13min. An almost Dickensian depiction into Chinese politics in the l930s. And what a time: this was made before under the rule of both the KMT and the Communist Party. managing to remain critical of politics throughout. Part of Cinema China season. Eilrnhouse. Edinburgh.

Cyberworld 30 (PG) (Various. US. 2000) Jenna Elfman. Matt Frewer. Woody Allen. 44min. Jenna Elfman is the cyber- host who introduces us to various unrelated segments of cyber animation. The .S'irnpsons and Antz. make 31) appearances in a spectacular display of today‘s most impressive graphic technology. IMAX Theatre. Glasgow

Dave Chappelle’s Block Party ( 15) 0... (Michel Gondry. US. 2005) 103mm. Chapelle used his massive Stateside pull to lure some of the biggest names in hip hop to this Brooklyn street concert in 2004. Video director Gondry places the emphasis firmly on the musicians for an enormously likeable documentary record of the gig. Quite simply irresistible. Cameo, Edinburgh. Deck the Halls (PG) 0 (John Whitesell. US. 2006) Danny DeVito.

Matthew Broderick. Kristin Davis. 92min. 9 Lame. unfunny and forgettable family comedy about one-upsmanship. jealousy. clashing neighbors. home decoration . . .

and the true spirit of the holidays. The

leads (Broderick and DeVito) look bewildered by the depths to which they

have sunk. ( 'inmi'or'ld Park/wad. Glasgow; (‘inaworld Edinburgh. Edinburgh.

Dirty Dancing ( l5) 0... (limile Ardolino. US. l987) Jennifer (irey. Patrick Swayze. Jerry ()rbach. l00min.

Remarkany ordinary but staggeringly popular ‘girl meets boy from the wrong

side of the tracks’ musical set in an

American summer camp in the year 1963. Gr‘osvcnor: Glasgow:

Diva ( 15) O... (Jean-Jacques

Beineix. France. 1981) Frederic Andrei. Roland Bertin. Richard Bohringer. l 17min.

The twisted fate of two tapes. one an illegal