list.co.uk/fi lm festival celebrates the best of Italian cinema, bringing it across the waters and all the way up to Scotland. As usual, a mix of classic and contemporary cinematic delights makes up the programme. See preview, right. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, Fri 7–Thu 20 Mar; Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 7–Thu 20 Mar. Jack Strong (15) (Wladyslaw Pasikowski, Poland, 2014) Marcin Dorocinski, Maja Ostaszewska, Patrick Wilson. 128min. History-based spy thriller about a man who challenges communism by cooperating with the CIA, putting himself and his family in danger. Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh, Thu 20 Feb; Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Thu 20 Feb. Jaws (PG) ●●●●● (Steven Spielberg, US, 1975) Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss. 125min. Shark meets girl, shark eats girl, shark meets cop. When peaceful Amity Island is terrorised by a rogue great white, police chief Brody (Scheider), oceanographer Hooper (Dreyfuss) and seadog Quint (Shaw) take to the hunt. Restored and digitally remastered, Spielberg’s thriller balances ingenious terror with likeable characterisations and remains exceptional entertainment. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Sat 15 Mar. Kaleidoscope A weekend of experimental film. Featuring 6mm Film Poems by Telemach Wiesinger, John Smith: Recent Shorts and Sarah Pucill’s Magic Mirror. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 27 Feb–Sat 1 Mar, Kings (15) (Tom Collins, Ireland/UK, 2007) Colm Meaney, Donal O’Kelly, Brendan Conroy. 89min. Mid-1970s. A group of young men leave their homes in the West of Ireland and sail to England in the hope of making their fortunes and then returning West. Thirty years later, at the wake of one of their friends, the group are forced to confront their suffering and alienation as long term emigrants. Followed by a discussion with the director Tom Collins, and Alex McDonnell, coordinator of the Aisling Return to Ireland Project. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sat 1 Mar. Kyss Mig (15) (Alexandra-Therese Keining, Sweden, 2011) Ruth Vega Fernandez, Liv Mjönes, Krister Henriksson. 105min. Swedish romantic drama about two women who meet as their parents are getting married and begin an unconventional relationship. Followed by a discussion about LGBT women in cinema. This event is for all LGBT women who predominantly identify as women. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, Edinburgh, Fri 7 Mar. Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine (15) (Marion Cajori, Amei Wallach, US, 2008) Pandora Tabatabai Asbaghi, Jean- Louis Bourgeois, Louise Bourgeois. 99min. Louise Bourgeois’s work and play is documented here. Her connection with childhood traumas fuelled much of her work, including her famous huge spiders. Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Thu 20 Feb. Madagascar (U) ●●●●● (Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, US, 2005) Voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith. 86min. ‘Madagascar’ opens with steak- loving lion Alex enjoying his pampered existence in New York’s Central Zoo. His friends, Marty the zebra (Rock), Gloria the hippo (Smith) and Melman the hypochondriac giraffe (Schwimmer) discover that the crafty penguins are planning a breakout, and set off for Africa to re-connect with their inner animals. But interaction with a tribe of lemurs uncovers the bitter truth about Alex’s carnivorous nature. Thoroughly enjoyable, blackly comic DreamWorks animation musical. Burrell Collection, Glasgow, Sun 9 Mar. La Maison de la Radio (tbc) (Nicolas Philibert, France/Japan, 2013) 99min. Doc offering a snapshot of Radio France,
capturing its activities over 24 hours. See preview, page 59. Institut Français d’Ecosse, Edinburgh, Tue 4–Wed 5 Mar. Malcolm X (15) (Spike Lee, US/Japan, 1992) Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo. 202min. Biopic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader. In aid of HOMS Film Night for Syria. The Brass Monkey, Edinburgh, Thu 20 Feb. LIVE SCREENING Metropolitan Opera: Prince Igor (tbc) (US, 2014) 270min. HD screening of Borodin’s Russian epic, bass-baritone Ildar Abdrazakov stars in the title role. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Sat 1–Tue 4 Mar; Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Sat 1 Mar. LIVE SCREENING Metropolitan Opera: Werther (tbc) (US, 2014) 195min. Screening of Massenet’s tragic romance starring Jonas Kaufmann. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Sat 15–Tue 18 Mar; Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Sat 15 Mar. Mirror Lands (tbc) An exploration of the Black Isle in the Highlands through film and sound by Mark Lyken and Emma Dove. Preview featuring conversations with the artists. CCA, Glasgow, Thu 6–Sun 9 Mar. The Missing Picture (L’image manquante) (12A) (Rithy Panh, Cambodia/France, 2013) 96min. Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 20 Feb. The Muppets (U) ●●●●● (James Bobin, US, 2011) Amy Adams, Jason Segel, Chris Cooper. 103min. When Muppet fans Gary (Segel), his girlfriend Mary (Adams) and brother Walter (a puppet) learn that oil millionaire Tex Richman (Cooper) plans to demolish the Muppet theatre, it’s time to reunite the original cast. If the plot could be fresher, the well-chosen guest stars, self-referential humour and old- school bonhomie should raise a smile. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sun 23 Feb. LIVE SCREENING National Theatre Live: War Horse (tbc) (2014) Screening of the stage version of Michael Morpurgo’s novel about WW I, featuring life-sized puppets created by the Handspring Puppet Company. General release. Nitro Circus: The Movie (15) (Gregg Godfrey, Jeremy Rawle, US, 2012) Travis Pastrana, Tommy Passemante, Jeremy Rawle, Jolene Van Vugt. 92min. A staggering number of idiotic stunts from Pastrana and crew, shown in glorious 3D to almost make up for those disappointing disclaimers about ‘not trying this at home’. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Fri 28 Feb. Patema Inverted (Sakasama no Patema) (tbc) (Yasuhiro Yoshiura, Japan, 2013) Nobuhiko Okamoto, Shinya Fukumatsu, Masayuki Katô. 99min. A girl survives in a tunnel network below ground until one day her world is literally turned upside down. Followed by a Q&A with the director. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sat 22 Feb. Peter Pan (U) (Clyde Geronimi/ Wilfred Jackson, US, 1953) Voices of Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried. 77min. Disney classic adaptation of JM Barrie’s beloved story. Wendy and her brothers are whisked away to the magical world of Neverland with the hero of their stories, Peter Pan. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Sun 16 Mar. LIVE SCREENING Royal Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty (E) (UK) The Royal Ballet performs its signature work, the classic fairytale of Aurora and her prince, in a version revitalised by Monica Mason and Christopher Newton in 2006 for the company’s 75th anniversary, and since reworked further by top choreographers. General release. The Royal Tenenbaums (15) ●●●●● (Wes Anderson, US, 2002) Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow. 110min. The
Index | FILM
ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL Various venues nationwide, Fri 7–Thu 27 Mar.
Federico Fellini is a towering figure in Italian cinema, so it’s apt that the 20th anniversary of his death is met with some fanfare by the Italian Film Festival 2014. As well as screenings of Ettore Scola’s documentary How Strange to be Named Federico and Fellini’s own hometown drama Roma (pictured), audiences will have the chance to enjoy some excellent Italian cuisine alongside special screenings of La Strada and The Swindle, courtesy of Edinburgh restauranteurs Valvona & Crolla.
There are other classics on the programme as well – namely Luchino Visconti’s Sandra and Mario Monicelli’s The Great War – but the IFF is largely about introducing British audiences to great modern Italian movies, and as such there’s a healthy display of new and established contemporary talent. Actor / director Luigi Lo Cascio features twice in the programme: once for his directorial debut The Ideal City (a thriller in which an idealistic architect is embroiled in a murder conspiracy), and again as a supporting character in Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza’s Salvo (‘a slow-burning Sicilian homage to Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï’). A Street in Palermo, the film debut by writer / director / star Emma Dante, is a satirical black comedy in which a minor traffic dispute escalates into a siege-mentality stand-off. Perhaps more familiar to British audiences will be the faces of Toni Servillo (from Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty), who plays both an uninspiring politician and his unstable twin in comedy Long Live Liberty, and Geoffrey Rush, who stars in the English-language debut by Giuseppe Tornadore (Cinema Paradiso). The Best Offer is an elegant mystery in which art historian Virgil Oldman (Rush) becomes infatuated with client Claire (Sylvia Hoeks). Fans of Daniele Luchetti’s My Brother is an Only Child, meanwhile, should check out his return to the autobiographical 1970s, Those Happy Years. (Niki Boyle)
Tenenbaums are no ordinary family. Descended from a long line of overachievers, these New York geniuses are now in stultifying decline. Odd tale of an awkward family and its members’ impossible magnetic attraction to each other. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Mon 24 Feb. Space Station (U) (Toni Myers, Canada/US, 2003) 47min. Narrated by Tom Cruise, this big screen IMAX 3D presentation follows real astronauts into the big blue. Impressive, but not as awesome as it should have been. Cineworld IMAX, Glasgow, Thu 20 Feb. Turbo (U) ●●●●● (David Soren, US, 2013) Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, Michelle Rodriguez. 96min. Reynolds voices Turbo, a garden snail who, thanks to a freak accident, dreams of being the fastest snail in the world. Odeon Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, Thu 20 Feb. Under the Sea (U) (Howard Hall, UK, 2009) 65min. Jim Carrey narrates an underwater 3D look at the impact of global warming upon the diverse coastal regions of Southern Australia, New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific areas. Cineworld IMAX, Glasgow, Thu 20 Feb.
Vertigo (PG) ●●●●● (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1958) James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes. 128min. Detective Stewart, a man afraid of heights, falls in love with a woman who apparently commits suicide. When he meets her double, he becomes obsessed with the possibility that she is still alive. Extraordinary plotting in this undervalued Hitchcock study of romantic mania, with Stewart memorably cast against type as the distinctly on-the-edge cop. The Bernard Herrmann score is simultaneously lush and disturbing. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Sun 2 Mar. The Warriors (18) (Walter Hill, US, 1979) Michael Beck, James Remar, Thomas Waites. 94min. Stylised gang warfare flick that avoids the temptations of graphic violence and instead lifts the subject matter to something approaching medieval myth: the New York streets are labyrinths, the gangs are decked out in tribal dress, and a dangerous nighttime journey across the city becomes a heroic quest. Moments of humour and a great soundtrack add to the enjoyment of what is one of Hill’s best achievements. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, Sat 1 Mar. 20 Feb–20 Mar 2014 THE LIST 61