Edinburgh International Film Festival · 1999
62 films · 62 reviews
Far from dull, not as camp as you might expect, emotionally at a high pitch, expertly directed and nudgingly naughty.
(Country: Spain; Year: 1999; Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Writer: Pedro Almodóvar; Stars: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penelope Cruz, Antonia San Juan, Candela Pena, Rosa Maria Sarda)
What gives the film its strength is Bresson's refusal to compromise truth for the sake of expedience.
(Country: France; Year: 1966; Director: Robert Bresson; Writer: Robert Bresson; Stars: Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, Francois Lafarge, Jean-Claude Gilbert, Philippe Asselin, Nathalie Joyaut, Pierre Klossowski)
The passion and pain are more real than madness.
(Country: Korea; Year: 1998; Director: Je-yong Lee; Writer: Dae-woo Kim, Je-yong Lee; Stars: Lee Jung-Jae, Min Kim, Lee Mi-sook, Song Young-chang)
A remarkably sensitive, three-dimensional portrait.
(Country: USA; Year: 1998; Director: Jennifer Fox; Stars: Karen Wilson, Bill Sims, Cicily Wilson, Chaney Sims)
Brian Kirk's film has a sentimental heart and a lovely performance from 11-year-old Iain de Caestecker, as Billy.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Brian Kirk; Writer: Ed McCardie; Stars: James Cosmo, Iain De Caestecker, Deirdre Davis, Robert Cavanah)
Although the film is nowhere near as terrifying as it's made out to be, its shunning of shock tactics in favour of distant sound effects and creepy environments creates a psychological terror which is far more disturbing.
(Country: US; Year: 1998; Director: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez; Writer: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez; Stars: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard, Bob Griffith, Jim King, Sandra Sanchez)
The character of the players, the vibrant energy of the music, the faded grandeur of a city spared the vanity of restoration gives the film a unique quality.
(Country: Cuba; Year: 1999; Director: Wim Wenders; Stars: Luis Barzaga, Joachim Cooder, Ry Cooder, Julio Alberto Fernndez, Ibrahim Ferrer, Carlos Gonzlez, Rubn Gonzlez, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo)
Strangely compelling and scarily familiar.
(Country: US; Year: 1999; Director: Heidi Van Lier; Writer: Heidi Van Lier; Stars: Scott Benjaminson, Phil Smith, Alicia Hyde, Sarah Willis, Troy West, Bret Grafton, Jill Kraft, Paul Jeans, Cherise Silvestri, Stephanie Caterer, Erin Hayes)
Altman has chosen the perfect cast.
(Country: USA; Year: 1998; Director: Robert Altman; Writer: Anne Rapp; Stars: Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Chris O'Donnell, Charles S. Dutton, Patricia Neal, Ned Beatty, Courtney B. Vance, Donald Moffat, Lyle Lovett, Danny Darst)
The atmosphere of languid role playing, overlaid with a suggestion of promiscuity, seems to float in mist.
(Country: France; Year: 1977; Director: Robert Bresson; Writer: Robert Bresson; Stars: Antoine Monnier, Tina Irissari, Henri de Maublanc, Laetitia Carcano, Nicolas Deguy, Régis Hanrion, Geoffroy Gaussen, Roger Honorat, Vincent Cottrel, Laurence Delannoy, Laetitia Martinneti)
Linstrom ends so inadequately you want to scream.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Eric Styles; Writer: Catherine Linstrom; Stars: Samantha Morton, Lee Ross, Rupert Graves, Miriam Margoyles, Frank Finlay, Nicholas Woodeson, Lauren Richardson)
The comedy is sharp, the acting excellent, the racial harmony likely to splinter as suddenly as family solidarity.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Damien O'Donnell; Writer: Ayub Khan-Din; Stars: Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge, Archie Panjabi, Emil Marwa, Chris Bisson, Jimi Mistry, Raji James, Ian Aspinall, Lesley Nicol, Emma Rydal)
Witherspoon gives one of those performances that obliterates all before her.
(Country: USA; Year: 1999; Director: Alexander Payne; Writer: Jim Taylor, Alexander Payne, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta; Stars: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein, Jessica Campbell, Phil Reeves, Molly Hagan, Delaney Driscoll, Mark Harelik, Colleen Camp, Frankie Ingrassia, Joel Parks)
Hoskins is at his best here, controlled and manipulative.
(Country: US/UK/Canada; Year: 1999; Director: Atom Egoyan; Writer: Atom Egoyan, based on the novel by William Trevor; Stars: Bob Hoskins, Elaine Cassidy, Arsinee Khanjian, Sheila Reid, Peter McDonald, Gerard McSorley, Brid Brennan, Claire Benedict)
Shot in handheld black and white with an obviously-low budget, it might seem rough – but what we’re watching is still pure Nolan.
(Country: UK; Year: 1998; Director: Christopher Nolan; Writer: Christopher Nolan; Stars: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell, John Nolan, Dick Bradsell, Gillian El-Kadi, Jennifer Angel)
Even though the film is immaculately shot and has an outstanding cast, there's nothing really at the heart of the film for the audience to connect with.
(Country: Canada; Year: 1999; Director: Jeremy Podeswa; Writer: Jeremy Podeswa; Stars: Mary Louise Parker, Daniel MacIvor, Gabrielle Rose, Molly Parker, Nadia Litz, Phillipe Volter)
The humour is fast, the car chases hairy, the characters way wicked, the venues seedy, the fun accident prone, the sex tantric and the chance of living until tomorrow slim.
(Country: US; Year: 1999; Director: Doug Liman; Writer: John August; Stars: Katie Holmes, Sarah Polley, Suzanne Krull, Desmond Askew, Nathan Bexton, Robert Peters, Scott Wolf, Jay Mohr, Timothy Olyphant, Jodi Bianca Wise, William Fichtner)
The problem lies with the script, which is credibility shy and littered with loose ends.
(Country: UK; Year: 1998; Director: Bill Forsyth; Writer: Bill Forsyth; Stars: Carly McKinnon, John Gordon Sinclair, John Murtagh, Hugh McCue, Dougray Scott, Martin Schwab, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Alexander Morton, William Harkness, Albert Coulson, Paul Birchard)
(Country: Germany; Year: 1999; Director: Volker Koepp; Stars: Martin Zwilling, Rosa Roth Zuckermann)
What lifts the film above the level of Horse Thief and Kundun is the wonder of the cinematography and the spirit of a unique people.
(Country: France / Nepal / Switzerland / UK; Year: 1999; Director: Eric Valli; Writer: Eric Valli, Olivier Dazat; Stars: Thilen Lhondup, Gurgon Kyap, Karma Wangiel, Lhapka Tsamchoe, Karma Tensing Nyima Lama)
A film of extraordinary power.
(Country: France; Year: 1999; Director: Bruno Dumont; Writer: Bruno Dumont; Stars: Emmanuel Schott, Sverine Caneele, Philippe Tullier, Ghislain Ghesquiree, Ginette Allegre)
Nicola Bruce resurrects the art film with scrupulous credentials and a beautiful score.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Nichola Bruce; Writer: Nichola Bruce, based on the novel by Timothy O'Grady; Stars: Dermot Healy, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Brenden Coyle)
The film has a Wendy Mitty charm, although precious little else.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Clare Kilner; Writer: Clare Kilner, Ben Hopkins; Stars: Eileen Walsh, Rhys Ifans, Patsy Kensit, David O'Hara, Sandra Voe, Frances Grey, Zittar Sattar, Amelia Curtis, Mossie Smith, Sarah McVicar)
Ustaoglu doesn't fake it for entertainment's sake. She's the real thing.
(Country: Turkey/Germany/Netherlands; Year: 1999; Director: Yesim Ustaoglu; Writer: Yesin Ustaoglu; Stars: Nazimi Oirix, Newroz Baz, Mizgin Kapazan, Ara Guler)
A celebration of middle-class miasma.
(Country: US; Year: 1997; Director: Eric Mendelsohn; Writer: Eric Mendelsohn; Stars: Barbara Barrie, Bob Dishey, Edie Falco, Aaron Halnick, Madeline Kahn, Ane Meara, Julie Kavner)
(Country: France; Year: 1999; Director: Thomas Vincent; Stars: Amar Ben Abdallah, Sylvie Testud, Richard Boidin, Clovis Cornillac, Dominique Baeyens, JeanPaul Rouve, Thierry Bertein)
Fraught with anguish, the film is enhanced by uninhibited performances of an exceptional nature from Charles Berling and Sophie Guilemin
(Country: France; Year: 1998; Director: Cedric Khan; Writer: Laurence Ferreira Barbosa, Cedric Khan, based on the novel by Alberto Moravia; Stars: Charles Berling, Sophie Guilemin, Arielle Dombisle, Robert Kramer, Alice Grey, Maurice Antoni, Tom Ouedraogo)
Light Sleeper doesn't belong in any oeuvre. The feeling is personal, introspective, wounded.
(Country: US; Year: 1992; Director: Paul Schrader; Writer: Paul Schrader; Stars: Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany, David Clennon, Mary Beth Hurt, Victor Garber, Jane Adams)
John Sayles... ability to create flawed romantics with brooding secrets that lurk in the shadow of danger is remarkable.
(Country: US; Year: 1999; Director: John Sayles; Writer: John Sayles; Stars: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, David Strathairn, Vanessa Martinez, Kris Kristofferson, Casey Siemaszko, Dawn McInturff, Kathryn Grody, Tom Biss)
Lancelot and Guinevere's passion comes across as cold water over grey slate.
(Country: France; Year: 1974; Director: Robert Bresson; Writer: Robert Bresson, based on the story by Chrétien de Troyes; Stars: Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan, Vladimir Antolek-Oresek, Patrick Bernhard, Arthur de Montalembert)
This is a mood piece.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Deborah Warner; Writer: John Banville; Stars: Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Jane Birkin, Keeley Hawes, Fiona Shaw, Lambert Wilson)
Deeply depressing.
(Country: Germany; Year: 1999; Director: Kutlug Ataman; Writer: Kutlug Ataman; Stars: Gandi Mukli, Erdal Yildiz, Baki Davrak, Inge Keller, Celal Perk, Mesut Ozdemir)
Mackenzie has a terrific feel for comedy and the performances are beautifully understated.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: David Mackenzie; Writer: Bill Chamberlain; Stars: Edward Woodward, Sheila Donald, Kevin McKidd, Marsali Stewart)
The performances are generous and affectionate.
(Country: Denmark, Sweden; Year: 1999; Director: Soren Kragh Jacobsen; Writer: Soren Kragh Jacobsen; Stars: Anders W Berthelsen, Iben Hjejle, Jesper Asholt, Sofie Grabel, Emil Tarding, Anders Hove)
Bresson is doing what he loves to do, throwing salt into the wounds of romance.
(Country: France; Year: 1967; Director: Robert Bresson; Writer: Robert Bresson, based on the book by Georges Bernanos; Stars: Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Maria Cardinal, Paul Herbert, Jean Vimenet, Marie Susini)
This is not so much a love story as sex warfare.
(Country: France; Year: 1999; Director: Catherine Corsini; Writer: Catherine Corsini, Marc Syrigas; Stars: Karin Viard, Pierre-Loup Raiot, Catherine Frot, Sergi Lopez, Mireille Roussel, Nozha Khouadra, Laurent Lucas, Valentine Vidal)
Unfortunately, it's still very difficult to get away from the fact that this is a film primarily about bulldozers.
(Country: France; Year: 1999; Director: Emilie Deleuze; Writer: Emilie Deleuze , Laurent Guyot, Guy Laurent ; Stars: Samuel Libihan, Marcial di Fonzo Bo, Catherine Vinatier, Claire Nebout, Fabien Lucciarini, Candice Dufour)
What The Personals really lacks is any clear moral.
(Country: Taiwan; Year: 1998; Director: Rene Liu; Writer: Kuo-Fu Chen, Shih-chieh Chen; Stars: Rene Liu, Chen Chaojung, Wu Pai, Chin Shihchih, Ku Paoming, Shih Yinan)
Molotnikov's confidence in shooting out-of-doors is admirable.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Justin Molotnikov; Writer: Justin Molotnikov; Stars: Louise Goodall, Iain Robertson, Malcolm Shields)
What keeps the film one step away from Slush City is the crackling dialogue and the performances.
(Country: USA; Year: 1999; Director: Mike Newell; Writer: Glen Charles based on the article by Darcy Frey; Stars: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Jake Weber, Kurt Fuller)
Despite all the right elements, something doesn't quite gel.
(Country: Australia; Year: 1998; Director: John Curran; Writer: Andrew McGahan, adapted from his own novel; Stars: Peter Fenton, Sacha Horler, Marta Dusseldorp, Joel Edgerton, Yvette Duncan, Ray Bull)
Best part of the film is the extremely stylish opening credits: don't arrive late.
(Country: Australia; Year: 1998; Director: Jon Hewitt; Writer: Jon Hewitt; Stars: Belinda McClory, John Brumpton, Frank Magree, Peter Docker, Anthea Davis, Neil Pigot, Damien Richardson, James Young, Robert Morgan, Pauline Terry-Beitz, Daniel Wyllie, Chris Hatzis)
The acting is patchy and, at times, wooden.
(Country: UK, Canada; Year: 1999; Director: Shane Meadows; Writer: Paul Fraser, Shane Meadows; Stars: Martin Arrowsmith, Dave Blant, Darren O. Campbell, Paddy Considine, Shaun Fields, Julia Ford, Ladene Hall, Frank Harper, Nicholas Harvey, James Higgins, Bob Hoskins)
A masterpiece of realist cinema.
(Country: Belgium; Year: 1999; Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne; Writer: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne; Stars: Emilie Dequenne, Fabrizio Rongione, Anne Yernaux, Olivier Gourmet)
There is an artistic sensibility in Ramsay's approach to film.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Lynne Ramsay; Writer: Lynne Ramsay; Stars: William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews, Michelle Stewart, Lynne Ramsay Jr., Leanne Mullen, John Miller, Jackie Quinn)
Far from being the pastiche of a voodoo-style horror flick, this is intelligent, wonderfully acted by the African cast and genuinely absorbing.
(Country: France, South Africa; Year: 1999; Director: Gavin Hood; Writer: Gavin Hood; Stars: Gavin Hood, Nigel Hawthorne, Janine Eser, Nandi Nyembe, Ian Roberts, Vusi Kunene)
The film's strength is its refusal to take its eye off Marie. No concessions are made.
(Country: France; Year: 1999; Director: Catherine Breillat; Writer: Catherine Breillat; Stars: Caroline Ducey, Sagamore Stévenin, François Berléand, Rocco Siffredi, Reza Habouhossein, Ashley Wanninger, Emma Colberti, Fabien de Jomaron, Carla, Pierre Maufront, Antoine Amador)
Works both on a technical level and as sheer entertainment.
(Country: Germany; Year: 1998; Director: Tom Tykwer; Writer: Tom Tykwer; Stars: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri, Armin Rohde, Joachim Król, Ludger Pistor, Suzanne von Borsody, Sebastian Schipper, Julia Lindig, Lars Rudolph)
What gives this film an edge over conventional rites-of-passage movies is its oddity.
(Country: USA; Year: 1998; Director: Wes Anderson; Writer: Wes Anderson; Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox, Mason Gamble, Sara Tanaka, Stephen McCole, Connie Nielsen, Luke Wilson, Dipak Pallana)
Both actresses give performances that touch the heart.
(Country: Sweden/Denmark; Year: 1998; Director: Lukas Moodysson; Writer: Lukas Moodysson; Stars: Alexandra Dahlström, Rebecka Liljeberg, Erica Carlson, Mathias Rust, Stefan Hörberg, Ralph Carlsson, Maria Hedborg, Axel Widegren, Jill Ung, Lisa Skagerstam, Josefine Nyberg)
As an example of comic ideas going to waste, Aussie actor John Polson's directorial debut is a good one.
(Country: Australia; Year: 1999; Director: John Polson; Writer: Max Dann, Andrew Knight; Stars: Linus Roache, Danielle Cormack, Ian Bliss, Roy Billing, Alan Brough, Rebecca Hobbs, Terry Kenwrick, Deidre Rubenstein, Peter Hosking, Victoria Eagger, Robert Menzies)
Another example of a film which looks good, sounds good, has a great cast, and is utterly boring.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Ben Hopkins; Writer: Ben Hopkins; Stars: Noah Taylor, Stuart Townsend, Sean McGinley, Embeth Davidtz, Amanda Ryan, Rutger Hauer, Ian Holm, Terence Rigby, Toby Jones, Jim Dunk, Ursula Jones)
What's really spectacular is not the functional script but the tremendous action set pieces.
(Country: France; Year: 1998; Director: Gerard Peres; Writer: Luc Besson; Stars: Samy Naceri, Frédéric Diefenthal, Marion Cotillard, Manuela Gourary, Emma Sjöberg, Bernard Farcy, Georges Neri, Guy Quang, Maurice Murcia, Sabine Bail, Dan Herzberg)
The performances by mainly young unknowns are excellent and the script is the best Boyd has done.
(Country: UK, France; Year: 1999; Director: William Boyd; Writer: William Boyd; Stars: Paul Nicholls, Daniel Craig, Julian RhindTutt, Danny Dyer, James D'Arcy, Tam Williams)
Trick features something previously thought impossible: a delightful performance from Tori Spelling.
(Country: US; Year: 1999; Director: Jim Fall; Writer: Jason Schafer; Stars: Christian Campbell, John Paul Pitoc, Tori Spelling, Lorri Bagley, Brad Beyer)
It is a measure of Brosnan's understated qualities as an actor that you never think of James Bond.
(Country: US; Year: 1999; Director: John McTiernan; Writer: Leslie Dixon, Kurt Wimmer, based on the story by Alan Trustman; Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary, Ben Gazzara, Frankie Faison, Fritz Weaver, Charles Keating, Mark Margolis, Faye Dunaway, Michael Lombard, Bill Ambrozy)
Performances by the two teenagers, Lara Belmont and Freddie Cunliffe, who have never acted before, are remarkable.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Tim Roth; Writer: Alexander Stuart; Stars: Tilda Swinton, Ray Winstone, Lara Belmont, Freddie Cunliffe, Aisling O'Sullivan, Kate Ashfield, Ray Winstone, Colin Farrell)
This shows what can be done with a low budget, imagination and balls.
(Country: US; Year: 2000; Director: Tony Markes, Adam Rifkin; Writer: Adam Rifkin based on the story by Tony Markes; Stars: Angie Everhart, Nick Decker, Adam Rifkin)
Slowly raises the tension as the body count rises.
(Country: South Korea; Year: 1998; Director: Park Ki-hyung; Writer: In Jeong-ok, Park Ki-hyung; Stars: Lee Mi-youn, Kim Kyn-li, Choi Sae-yun, Park Jin-hee, Yoon Ji-hae)
The performances electrify.
(Country: UK; Year: 1995; Director: Donald Cammell; Writer: China Kong, Donald Cammell; Stars: Christopher Walken, Anne Heche, Joan Chen, Steven Bauer, Allen Garfield, Adam Novack)
There are too many characters doing not very much.
(Country: UK; Year: 1999; Director: Michael Winterbottom; Writer: Laurence Coriat; Stars: Enzo Cilenti, Shirley Henderson, Gina McKee, Molly Parker, Ian Hart, John Simm, Stuart Townsend, Kika Markham, Jack Shepherd, Sarah-Jane Potts, David Fahm)
David Mamet's adaptation is short on surprises.
(Country: USA; Year: 1999; Director: David Mamet; Writer: David Mamet based on the play by Terence Rattigan; Stars: Nigel Hawthorne, Jeremy Nathan, Rebecca Pidgeon, Gemma Jones, Guy Edwards, Matthew Pidgeon)
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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