www.list.co.uk/film Index Film
110min. Based on a true story, Love’s quietly affecting drama depicts the tragic story of a much-admired movie-business figure who keeps his stresses and diminishing fortune under wraps. Part of French Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Father, Son and Holy Torum (E) (Mark Soosaar, Estonia, 1997) 90min. Documentary chronicling the survival of the nomadic Khanty people in Siberia in the face of the exploitation of their lands by Russian oil corporations. Part of Uralic Peoples - Anthropological Film Festival. Gilmorehill G12, Glasgow. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (15) ●●●●● (John Hughes, US, 1986) Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Grey, Charlie Sheen. 103min. A sunny Spring day in Chicago is far too good to spend locked in a classroom so the irrepressible Ferris Bueller feigns a malady, cuts classes and promises his two best friends a day to remember. Characteristically Hughes teen comedy that scores with fresh dialogue and appealing characterisations, but has the drawback of some laboured farce and the need to make meaningful statements. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. Film Discussion Group Meet up with film buffs to swap opinions and perceptions of both art house and big blockbuster recent releases. Held on the second Wednesday of every month. Glasgow Film Theatre. The Fourth Kind (15) ●●●●● (Olatunde Osunsanmi, US, 2009) Milla Jovovich, Carey Johnson, Daphne Alexander. 97min. Alien hokum set in Alaska and based on real-life reports. General release.
✽✽ A French Gigolo (18) (Josiane Balasko, France, 2008) Nathalie Baye,
Eric Caravaca, Isabelle Carré. 104min. Striking an intriguing balance between drama and comedy, Balasko’s film sees Baye give a classy performance as a successful divorced woman who pays young male escorts for sex. Part of French Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. G-Force 2D (PG) ●●●●● (Hoyt Yeatman, UK, 2009) Voices of Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Kelli Garner. 90min. Jerry Bruckheimer-produced comedy adventure about a covertly trained group of guinea pig special agents who are charged with saving the world from disaster. Simple minded and likeable enough. Glasgow Film Theatre. The Gentle Art of Superimposition (15) (Various) 66min. A diverse programme looking at the history of superimposition over 80 years of filmmaking. Curated and presented by David Curtis, Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, featured works include Pat O’Neill’s Easyout, an extract from Viking Eggeling’s Diagonal Symphony and Stan Brakhage’s The Dead. Part of Diversions film festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Germany Year Zero (PG) ●●●●● (Roberto Rossellini, Italy, 1948) Edmund Meschke, Ernst Pittschau, Ingetraud Hinze, Franz-Otto Kruger. 74min. The third part of Rossellini’s WW2 trilogy depicting the struggle for survival in war torn Berlin. Part of Introduction to European Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
The Hurt Locker (15) Wed 11th Nov 7:30pm
2008) 78min. This mould-breaking nature documentary, filmed during a gruelling sixteen month shoot on the salt lakes of Natron in Tanzania, sets out to capture the life cycle of the Lesser Flamingo. Hard facts are jettisoned in favour of an opaque narrative, and the resulting film becomes a visual poem set to a musical score in which the lake becomes another planet inhabited by strange and elusive creatures. Vue Ocean, Edinburgh. Cryptic Nights (18) (Various) 90min. Horror-themed night showing ten earthly and supernatural short films from the BBC Film Network. Programme includes Tristan Versluis’ I Love You, Dominic Hailstone’s The Eel. Sebastian Godwin’s The Rain Horse, Paul Shrimpton’s Teleportal and Mark Cripps’ The Insane. CCA, Glasgow. Dead Man Running (15) ●●●●● (Alex De Rakoff, UK, 2009) Danny Dyer, 50 Cent, Brenda Blethyn. 91min. A loan shark gives an ex-con 24 hours to pay his debt. Disappointing thriller from the writer/director of appalling 2004 boxing comedy The Calcium Kid. Selected release. Deutschlandspiel – The Politics of Unification (Part 1) (E) (Hans- Christoph Blumenberg, Germany, 2000) 90min. Part one of Blumenberg’s docudrama about the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of East Germany, and German re-unification. Goethe Institut, Glasgow. Deutschlandspiel – The Politics of Unification (Part 2) (E) (Hans- Christoph Blumenberg, Germany, 2000) 90min. Part two of Blumenberg’s docudrama combines film footage of the time with subsequent interviews and re-enactments. Goethe Institut, Glasgow. District 9 (15) ●●●●● (Neill Blomkamp, South Africa/New Zealand, 2009) Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt. 112min. District 9 takes place on an alternate-reality earth where an alien race known as ‘prawns’ have arrived only to find themselves decanted by the sinister Multi National United agency into shanty-towns on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Stark, political messages and sci-fi splatter action are comfortably balanced, with the result managing to be at once a moving paean to the importance of human rights and a crowd- pleasing rollercoaster ride. Glasgow Film Theatre.
✽✽ An Education (12A) ●●●●● (Lone Scherfig, UK, 2009) Peter
Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina. 99min. Sarsgaard is on top form as seductive cad David, the older man responsible for educating bright but confused schoolgirl Jenny (Mulligan) in matters of love and life in swinging sixties London. With only a few tired stereotypes to detract from a superbly managed depiction of the central relationship, director Scherfig here combines romantic drama and the coming-of-age tale to wholly enjoyable effect. Selected release. Experimental Films and Videos from Finland (15) (Finland) 67min. A programme of Finnish films that explores the creative depths of celluloid and analogue video. Rigorous experimental approaches such as pinhole serial cameras, emulsion manipulation, signal degradation, image mosaics and flicker effects are explored. Part of Diversions film festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Fame (PG) ●●●●● (Kevin Tancharoen, US, 2009) Kay Panabaker, Naturi Naughton, Kelsey Grammer. 107min. Pointless remake and updating of Alan Parker’s 1982 original film (and subsequent TV series) for the High School Musical crowd. Selected release.
✽✽ Fantastic Mr Fox (PG) ●●●●● (Wes Anderson, USA, 2009) Voices of
George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Adrien Brody. 88min. Anderson’s inspired choice of stop-motion animation pays off in this beautiful and idiosyncratic adaptation of the well-loved children’s tale. While kids may enjoy it, Anderson’s typically arch humour is aimed more at their parents, who will also be impressed by the star-studded voice cast – Bill Murray as a badger lawyer anyone?. General release.
✽✽ The Father of my Children (15) (Mia Hansen-Love, France/Germany,
2009) Chiara Caselli, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Alice de Lencquesaing.
5–19 Nov 2009 THE LIST 49