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DRAMA COMEDY LET’S TALK ABOUT THE RAIN (PARLEZ-MOI DE LA PLUIE) (12A) 100min «o

In an interview to promote their 2001 feature Look at Me, the French

actors filmmakers Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri felt that they couldn't pitch their frims at Hollywood meetings. and their latest collaboration let's ’lalk About the Rain again defies high-concept classification. Feminist writer Agathe :Jaour'i returns to her childhood home in the south of France. partly to announce her political candidacy at an electoral rally and partly to help her married stster Florence lPascale Arbillotl sort through their late mother's affairs. The family housekeepers son Karim (Jamel Debbourei and his director pal Michel dean-Pierre Bacrii ‘.'.’£tl)l to make a documentary about Agathe: however their amateurish filming is affected by

romantic complications.

Taking its title from the lyrics of a George Brassens song. this romantic roundelay contains the familiar Jaoui Bacri ingredients episodic. lowkey storytelling. droli dialogue. and a preference for medium over close-up shots. engagrngly naturalistic performances. Linking these characters is their shared perception that they are victims. whether it’s of racism, sexrsm. or parental favouritrsm. There are amusing encounters here. such as Agathe. Michel. and Karim berng forced to shelter wrth a DEW 0f holshy farmers (fulfill) 2‘ rainstorm. and Jaoui and Bacri remain generously tolerant of the feibles and imperfections of their creations. but somehow let's Talk About The Rain is less emotionally affecting than their previous coilat)orations.

iTom Dawsoni

I Fl/Ili/lOl/SO. Edinburgh from Fri 7 Nov. GFT. Glasgow from Fri :3 Dec.

' Family Diary --

PREVIEW FILM SF ASON

ITALIAN STALLION

Pasquale lannone programmer of a new season of films by Valerio Zurlini gives a beginner’s guide to the little known director.

In one of his last-ever interviews, Italian director Valerio Zurlini discussed his life-long passion for Leo Tolstoy. ‘What I find extraordinary in his work,’ Zurlini observed, ‘is the remarkable fusion between public and private history’. Zurlini never managed to adapt Tolstoy. In the light of his filmography, it remains as tantalising an unmade project as Luchino Visconti’s Proust.

Born in 1926, Zurlini’s career in the cinema began in the late 19403 when he found himself, by chance, at the helm of a publicity short being filmed in Bologna. Once behind the camera, Zurlini recalled, ‘I felt I knew exactly what to do even though I had had no formal training.’ In 1954, Zurlini was given the chance to direct his first feature, The Girls of San Frediano, a deceptively light, picaresque tale set in Florence charting the adventures of a local lothario.

Zurlini’s second film, Violent Summer (1959), came after a five-year period of relative inactivity (rumours had begun to spread that the director was ‘difficult’).

Set during the fateful summer of 1943 and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, the film is the first in which Zurlini, in the spirit of Tolstoy, fuses public and private history.

The late 1950s to early 19605 became Zurlini’s most prolific period: The Girl With the Suitcase (1961) was followed up by Family Diary (1962). The latter film was the first feature in which Zurlini’s love of painting came to the fore, his framing and composition inspired by the work of Ottone Rosai.

The Camp Followers (1965) and Black Jesus (1968) were followed by his two final films. Deeply existential in tone with an acute awareness of the importance of landscape, they both recall Antonioni at his best. The Professor (1972) features Alain Delon and Giancarlo Giannini whilst The Desert of the Tartars (1976) assembles a stellar European cast for an adaptation of the acclaimed 1937 novel by Dino Buzzati.

Generally misunderstood by Italian critics, it would take more than 20 years for Zurlini to be reappraised, his body of work to be admired as more than deserving of comparison with that of Antonioni or Visconti.

I Valor/o Zurlini season, Fil/rihouse. Edinburgh from Mon 3 Nov. Gl-"l, Glasgow from Sun 5) Nov.

The Midnight Meat Train

(18) 97min .0. Brutal and kineticain visceral New York subway set horror which pits a meek professional photographer against a murderous butcher. Based on Clive Barker's short stOry of the same name and directed With style and economy by Japanese cult filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura ioften called ‘the Sam Raimi of Japan'l, the B-iist cast includes Vinnie Jones (pictured). Selected release from Fri 37 Oct.

Pride and Glory (15) 130min 00 Hackneyed police procedural abOut a good cop Ray Tierney (Ed Norton) tOrn between duty to his family ia long line of copsr and his duty to uphold the law. A top notch cast which includes Colin Farrell and Jon VOight fail to bring anything to this tedious and underdeveloped thriller from writer Joe Smokrn' Aces Carnahan and director Gavin O'Connor ('l'urnb/eweeds. Miracle). No wonder this film has been on the shelf for two years. General release from Fri 7 Nev

Scar 3-D (18) 90min .0 A psycho torturer starts killing again to years after his last vrctrm thOught she had stopped him in his tracks. Commendably nasty addition to the torture porn canon with added incentive of three~drmensional technology. Unfortunater bad acting, poor plotting. terrible dialogue and wretched direction undo any splatter gore potential. Selected release from Fri 7 Nov.

(it) ()(:I ll) Noy 9008 THE LIST 45