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year-old Héran, it sets a carefree tone that contrasts with the high stakes of emerging identity. See preview, page 85. Part of Ten for 11. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Trainspotting (18) ●●●●● (Danny Boyle, UK, 1995) Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller. 93min. John Hodge’s screenplay perfectly captures the desperate humour of Irvine Welsh’s novel, keeping the episodic structure of junkie scenes for the first half before concentrating on Renton in London in the later stages. Fast and with stylish direction, this cinematic blast from beginning to end shows a complex – and true – understanding of the lure and fatal consequences of drug-taking. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ The Tree of Life (12A) ●●●●● (Terrence Malick, US, 2011) Brad
Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain. 139min. The lives of a 1950s family are contrasted with a history of life on earth (including CGI dinosaurs). Soaring music, gliding camerawork, the frequent absence of dialogue and a constant sense of yearning gives The Tree Of Life the feeling of a heartfelt sermon urging a re-engagement with spirituality. See preview, page 85. Part of Ten for 11. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ TrollHunter (15) ●●●●● (André Øvredal, Norway, 2011) Otto
Jespersen, Robert Stoltenberg, Knut Naerum. 103min. A group of students making a documentary about an illegal bear hunter find out there are far more dangerous things in the woods than they imagined in this acclaimed Norwegian monster flick. There are a few good jokes and a handful of very impressive visual effects sequences, but there’s nothing wildly original in this movie that’s neither scary enough for horror nor funny enough for comedy. See preview, page 85. Part of Ten for 11. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ True Grit (15) ●●●●● (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, US, 2010) Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld. 110min. The Coen brothers’ version of Charles Portis’ novel takes an expansive, detailed view of a corrupt, bygone society, seen through the eyes of 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Steinfeld). Eliciting the help of drunken veteran Cogburn (Bridges), she seeks the gang who murdered her father. See preview, page 85. Part of Ten for 11. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (12A) (Bill Condon, US, 2011) Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Nikki Reed. 115min. Domestic bliss remains elusive for Bella Swan and Edward Cullen as a wolf pack and a vampire coven close in on their unborn child. General release. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (18) (Todd Strauss-Schulson, US, 2011) Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris. 90min. It’s been six years since their escapades in Guantanamo Bay. Now the titular stoners cause Christmas chaos by accidentally burning Harold’s father-in-law’s prize tree. Selected release. Vettai (PG) (N Linguswamy, India, 2011) Arya, Madhavan, Amala Paul. Two brothers settle down in a new town and start dating two girls who just happen to be sisters. Selected release from Fri 23 Dec. We Have a Pope (tbc) ●●●●● (Nanni Moretti, Italy/France, 2011) Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa. 102min. Cardinal Melville (Piccoli) has been elected pope, but on the point of his first appearance to the faithful he panics and flees, so the Vatican calls in atheist psychoanalyst Brezzi (Moretti) to talk to the troubled pontiff. Attractively shot and full of amusing touches, Moretti’s downbeat film is surprisingly moving. Filmhouse, Edinburgh; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee.
✽✽ We Need to Talk About Kevin (15) ●●●●● (Lynne Ramsay,
UK/US, 2011) Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly, Ezra Miller. 112min. Smart, thought-provoking adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel about the guilt of a mother whose teenage son went on a school killing spree. Swinton is well cast as the
Mad Love
INDEX Film
The GFT’s season dedicated to cinema’s most reckless on-screen love affairs continues with a quick flurry of passion prior to Christmas: David Lynch’s deranged mind-melter Mulholland Drive (pictured), Joseph H Lewis’ 1950s crime masterpiece Gun Crazy and Milos Cuckoo’s Nest Forman’s tender romance A Blonde in Love. ■ GFT, Glasgow, until Thu 22 Dec.
steely, stoical Eva, writing letters to her absent husband as she attempts to understand her monstrous offspring. See preview, page 85. Part of Ten for 11. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Well Digger’s Daughter (La fille du puisatier) (12A) ●●●●● (Daniel Auteuil, France, 2011) Daniel Auteuil, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Nicolas Duvauchelle. 107min. In this remake of Pagnol’s 1940 melodrama, Patricia (Frisbey), daughter of Provençal well- digger Pascal (Auteuil), falls for a dashing pilot (Duvauchelle) although her father has other plans. Despite his acclaimed performances in Claude Berri’s 1980s Pagnol adaptations, Auteuil plays it safe in his polished but unadventurous directorial debut. Selected release. West Side Story (PG) ●●●●● (Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins, US, 1961) Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno. 152min. Romeo And Juliet revisited against a background of New York gangs. Great songs, classic film. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee. White Christmas (U) ●●●●● (Michael Curtiz, US, 1954) Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera- Ellen. 120min. Christmas staple starring Crosby and Kaye as a song-and-dance troupe who become involved with a sister act. Selected release. The Wizard Of Oz (U) ●●●●● (Victor Fleming, US, 1939) Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton, Toto. 102min. Miserable Dorothy runs away from home but is soon whisked up into a magical land where her adventures teach her that happiness is to be found in her own back yard. Classic stuff indeed, chockful of great songs, characterisation and memorably garish design. Perhaps marginally less enjoyable for the curmudgeonly element rooting for the Wicked Witch of the West, though. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Wreckers (15) (DR Hood, UK, 2011) Claire Foy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shaun Evans. 85min. A couple of newlyweds return to the groom’s childhood village to start a family, but a surprise visit from his soldier brother turns up unpleasant secrets from the family’s past. General release from Fri 16 Dec.
Wuthering Heights (15) ●●●●● (Andrea Arnold, UK, 2011) Kaya Scodelario, James Howson, Nichola Burley. 129min. The director of Red Road and Fish Tank is seemingly more concerned with paying homage to Robert Bresson than with telling a winning story, and while her big, bold move is to make Heathcliff black, she fails to do anything interesting with it. macrobert, Stirling.
15 Dec 2011–5 Jan 2012 THE LIST 89