Film INDEX PROFILE
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH Born 27 October 1981, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Background She was Sally Hawkins’ mate in Happy-Go-Lucky, Margaret Thatcher in The Long Walk to Finchley, English Civil War- era crumpet in The Devil’s Whore and busty Brenda in Made in Dagenham. All significant roles, but can you say what Riseborough looks like? No? Well, her latest performance won’t help much: in the remake of Brighton Rock she’s utterly unrecognisable as Rose, the passionate waitress who falls for Sam Riley’s psychotic gangster killer, Pinkie Brown. This is a measure of Riseborough’s talent, and it’s significant that Rose got her nominated for both Best Actress and Most Promising Newcomer at last year’s British Independent Film Awards. That latter nomination’s also a bit daft, given Riseborough, who trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA, was winning prizes for her stage performances for Dog Days, Miss Julie and Measure for Measure – long before she started being noticed for her film work. Still, there’ll be another chance to spot Riseborough in the near future when she’ll be Wallace Simpson in Madonna’s directorial debut, W.E.
What she’s up to now? Preparing to star opposite Guy Pearce in Shadow Dancer, James Man on Wire Marsh’s drama about an IRA terrorist who becomes an MI5 informer.
On Rose’s obsession with murderer Pinkie ‘Rose had a very hard home life and Pinkie is a catalyst to a better life. I don’t think that it was hard for her to leave home. In order to play that, I remembered what it was like to fall in love for the first time. I have very strong memories of that. So much of Rose’s motivation is about the reckless abandon and bravery of first falling in love. It’s like being awakened. And Rose isn’t even ripe. She isn’t even a sexual creature yet.’ Interesting fact One of Riseborough’s first big screen roles was playing an unnamed ‘period film lover’ in ‘luvvy’ drama Venus. (Miles Fielder) ■ Brighton Rock, general release, out now.
50 THE LIST 17 Feb–3 Mar 2011
✽✽ The King’s Speech (15) ●●●●● (Tom Hooper, UK, 2010) Colin Firth,
Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush. 118min. As war approaches, King George VI (Firth) is suddenly placed in a position of power, so hires a speech therapist to cure his speech impediment. Firth’s affable persona lends an edge to the sheer frustration with which the King stumbles his way through public performances and contributes largely to the film’s feel-good twist. General release. A Little Bit of Heaven (12A) ●●●●● (Nicole Kassell, US, 2011) Kate Hudson, Kathy Bates, Gael Garcia Bernal, Whoopi Goldberg. 106min. Above average romantic comedy about an uptight woman dying of cancer who finds the threat of falling in love again worse than death. Gren Wells’ overly talky script is a bit of a drag but Nicole The Woodsman Kassell’s direction is good, as are the New Orleans locations and the performances from Bates, Hudson, Garcia Bernal and Goldberg. A Little Bit of Heaven is a half decent weepie for the early new year. Selected release. Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti) (15) ●●●●● (Ferzan Ozpetek, Italy, 2010) Riccardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Nicole Grimaudo. 113min. Warm-hearted coming-out comedy set in Southern Italy from the director of Hammam: The Turkish Bath, relating the youngest son of the eccentric Cantone clan’s struggles to escape a destiny in the family pasta factory by pretending to be gay. Typically, all does not go as planned. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Lord of The Flies (PG) ●●●●● (Peter Brook, UK, 1963) James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards. 91min. Bold and striking attempt to film William Golding’s novel about the gradual descent into savagery of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a desert island. Part of Youth Gangs on Film season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Madame Curie (U) ●●●●● (Mervyn LeRoy, USA, 1943) Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon. 124min. Garson plays the Madame herself in this Hollywood biopic about the famous scientist and her discovery of radium. A post-screening panel and audience discussion will investigate representations of female scientists in film. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Made in Brittany (7●) (Various, France, 2011) 62min. Showcase screening of short films made by Breton documentary production company Vivement lundi! which began working on animation and stop motion projects in the 90s. Followed by a Q&A with producer Jean-Francois le Corre and one of the films’ directors. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Marmaduke (U) ●●●●● (Tom Dey, USA, 2010) Voices of Owen Wilson, George Lopez, William H Macy. 88min. Crude and unfunny adaptation of popular cartoon strip about the adventures of a clumsy Great Dane dog. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. The Mechanic (15) ●●●●● (Simon West, US, 2011) Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland, Ben Foster. 92min. Arthur Bishop (Statham) is a ‘mechanic’ – an elite assassin with a strict code and a talent for eliminating targets. When his mentor and close friend Harry (Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop wants those responsible dead. Another lively action thriller featuring the ever-dependable Statham. Director West (Con Air) brings a steady hand to proceedings. Selected release. Morning Glory (12A) ●●●●● (Roger Michell, US, 2010) Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford. 107min. Lightweight comedy from Notting Hill director Michell relating the trials and tribulations of TV producer Becky (McAdams) who hires renegade journo Pomeroy (Ford) to salvage the ratings of a moribund breakfast news programme, much to his chagrin. Formulaic but enjoyable. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. My Kidnapper (E) ●●●●● (Mark Henderson/Kate Horne, UK/Colombia/Germany, 2010) 83min. Intriguing documentary in which a backpacker who was taken hostage and held for several months by bandits in Colombia revisits his captors in an attempt to make sense of the experience. Followed by a Q&A with director Mark Henderson. Cameo, Edinburgh. Neds (18) ●●●●● (Peter Mullan, UK/France/Italy, 2010) Martin Bell, Connor
McCarron, Linda Cuthbert. 123min. An ugly, disturbing and deeply felt account of social betrayal set in 1970s Glasgow, starring McCarron as a disillusioned yoof drawn into gangland suburban violence and juvenile delinquency. Clever and caustic filmmaking that works hard to dodge the pitfalls of cliché. General release.
✽✽ Never Let Me Go (12A) ●●●●● (Mark Romanek, UK, 2010) Carey
Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield. 103min. Writer Alex Garland and One Hour Photo director Romanek’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s bleak, existential novel is a triumph of casting, featuring deeply felt performances from Mulligan and Garfield as students of the mysterious Hailsham boarding school. Few details are apparent to start with, and to divulge more would take away from this ambitious, beautiful film. General release. 1937 (E) (Nora Martirosyan, Armenia, 2007) 44min. Director Nora Martirosyan explores collective and individual memories of the Soviet-led ethnic cleansing in Yerevan in 1937, combining interviews with her grandmother – whose husband was arrested for political reasons in the same year - with re-enacted scenes of the time. CCA, Glasgow. Northside (15) (Bruce Strachan, UK, 2009) David Elliot, John Henderson, Lois Creasy. 74min. Drama centred on a young Falkirk man who travels home for a family celebration, which proves a big change from his high-speed life among London’s media types. Hippodrome, Bo’ness. No Strings Attached (15) (Ivan Reitman, US, 2010) Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher. 107min. See review, page 45. General release. 127 Hours (15) ●●●●● (Danny Boyle, US, 2010) James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara. 94min. Accomplished and absorbing filmmaking from the team behind Slumdog Millionaire, relating the gripping true story of mountaineer Aron Ralson (Franco), who was forced to amputate his own arm to save his life following a climbing accident. An intense study of human nature and the will to survive. Dominion, Edinburgh. Oxhide (Nui Pi) (E) (Liu Jiayin, China, 2005) Huifen Jia, Liu Jiayin, Zaiping Liu. 110min. Director Liu Jiayin cast her parents as fictionalised versions of themselves in this docu-fiction about Chinese family life in a tiny apartment in Beijing. Part of Takeaway China festival. CCA, Glasgow. The Pale Hand (Shiroi Te) (E) (Seijirô Kôyama, Japan, 1990) Yôko Minamino, Shô Aikawa, Ken Ishiguro. 100min. Drama about life for a group of boys in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture in the 1950s. Part of a season of Contemporary Japanese Films. Gilmorehill Centre, Glasgow. Patiala House (PG) (Nikhil Advani, India, 2011) Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia. 146min. Cross- generation drama about a second-generation Sikh who gives up his dream in order to save his father’s reputation. Selected release. Paul (15) ●●●●● (Greg Mottola, Spain/France/UK/US, 2011) Seth Rogen, Simon Pegg, Jane Lynch. 103min. Efficient if unadventurous comedy about two English sci-fi nerds who encounter a real-life alien while on a road-trip through America’s UFO hotspots. The fantastically realised CG alien (Rogen) gets the best lines and makes the film worthwhile. General release. Point Break (15) ●●●●● (Kathryn Bigelow, US, 1991) Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey, Lori Petty. 120min. Director Bigelow (Blue Steel, Near Dark) takes on Hollywood’s action/adventure big boys at their own game and comes out on top. Reeves is the eager young FBI recruit on the trail of a group of latex-masked bank robbers who are known to be surfers. Bigelow tackles cliches of buddy partnerships, macho bullshit and thriller shoot-outs with fresh energy, creating a terrific movie that has one foot in reality, the other in an absurdist world. Cameo, Edinburgh. Rabbit Hole (12A) ●●●●● (John Cameron Mitchell, US, 2010) Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest. 90min. Shortbus director Mitchell’s third feature avoids the pitfalls of TV melodrama through excellent writing and memorable performances. Kidman and Eckhart play a couple grieving for their young son and
struggling to hold things together. Thoughtful characterisation and engaging dialogue help Rabbit Hole succeed where so many Hollywood films fail. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Red River (PG) ●●●●● (Howard Hawks, US, 1948) John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan. 133min. A classic Western about the establishing of the Chisholm Trail, which closely examines Wayne’s heroic image by pitting him against the more liberal viewpoint of surrogate son Clift. On another level, it pre-dates all those 80s male bonding movies and also has the benefits of an epic backdrop. A must-see. Part of Hawks season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Repulsion (18) ●●●●● (Roman Polanski, UK, 1965) Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser. 105min. Left on her own in her sister’s flat for a few days, a sexually repressed young woman gradually deteriorates towards complete mental breakdown. Polanski’s first English language movie remains one of his best, a genuinely disturbing exploration of intense paranoia and claustrophobia that unflinchingly picks at the audience’s deepest neuroses. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Rite (15) ●●●●● (Mikael Håfström, US, 2011) Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga. 113min. See review, page 46 and DVD panel page 47. General release from Fri 25 Feb. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (15) ●●●●● (Jim Sharman, UK, 1975) Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meat Loaf. 100min. The cult film to end all others, this rock spoof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies, and packs them in at late shows everywhere. The film has its moments, and Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Frank N Furter. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Sanctum 3D (15) ●●●●● (Alister Grierson, US/Australia, 2010) Ioan Gruffudd, Richard Roxburgh, Alice Parkinson. 108min. Australia-set action/adventure which brings together Avatar director Cameron’s obsession with 3D technology and his fascination with underwater adventures in one enjoyable, if formulaic, package. General release. Shahada (15) (Burhan Qurbani, Germany, 2010) Carlo Ljibek, Jeremias Acheampong, Maryam Zaree. 88min. Three Turkish immigrants struggle to reconcile their religious beliefs with life in permissive, secular Berlin. Part of the Middle Eastern Film Festival. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Shootist (PG) ●●●●● (Don Siegel, US, 1976) John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard. 100min. Wayne’s final film, in which he plays a dying gunfighter who just has to win one last shootout, is a gentle, elegiac hymn to the old West (as portrayed in the Hollywood’s Golden Age anyway) from a star who epitomised it and a director who helped sound its death knell. Cameo, Edinburgh. Skyline (PG) ●●●●● (Colin Strause/Greg Strause, US, 2010) Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Scottie Thompson. 92min. Horror adventure film in which a group of party- hardy friends fight an otherworldly force sucking the entire human population off the face of the earth. Empire, Clydebank. The Social Network (12A) ●●●●● (David Fincher, US, 2010) Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake. 120min. Dramatisation of the story behind the founding of the world’s most ubiquitous stalking vehicle, starring Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard nerd who may or may not have backstabbed his way into becoming a billionaire. An interesting examination of the nature of modern friendship and the emotional cost of enormous financial success. Odeon, Edinburgh. Some Like it Hot (PG) ●●●●● (Billy Wilder, US, 1959) Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe. 120min. Two impecunious male musicians inadvertently witness the St Valentine’s Day Massacre and take refuge in Florida with Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators, an all-female band. Brilliant, brittle, crackerjack farce with all concerned at a peak in their careers. Sloans, Glasgow. Son of Babylon (15) ●●●●● (Mohamed Al Daradji,