Film Festivals 1997
Yet another all-sorts year with something for all tastes. From Atom Egoyan's controversial "The Sweet Hereafter" and Kirby Dick's provocative "Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Lanagan, Supermasochist" to the warm and witty "Kolya" from the Czech Republic and the harrowing and visually stunning "Zero Kelvin" from Norway. The Wachowski Brothers' stylish contemporary noir "Bound" was good company for David Cronenberg's not-for-all-tastes minor masterpiece "Crash". Peter Greenaway offered up his stylistic "The Pillow Book".
Bound (1996)
7.4/10
Director: The Wachowski Brothers
Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano
Ex-con Gina Gershon falls in love with gangster's moll Jennifer Tilly and the two concoct a risky scheme to steal $2 million from the mob. First-time... Read more
Celestial Clockwork (1996)
7/10
Director: Fina Torres
Starring: Ariel, Ariadna Gil, Arielle Dombasle, Evelyne Didi
This quirky, magic-infused romantic comedy whimsical tale tells of a Venezuelan woman who abandons the altar as she's about to get married, fleeing to... Read more
Fever Pitch (1996)
6.2/10
Director: David Evans
Starring: Colin Firth, Ruth Gemmell, Neil Pearson
Based on the cult novel by Nick Hornby and set against the backdrop of the 1988-89 English football season. This well-written, exuberant and witty num... Read more
Fiesta (1996)
6/10
Director: Pierre Boutron
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Gregoire Colin
Set in Spain during the 1936 civil war and exploring the evolution of two individuals; a young man growing from gilded carefree adolescence into a kil... Read more
Heavy (1996)
4.8/10
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Pruitt Taylor Vince, Liv Tyler, Shelley Winters
This Sundance winner tells the tale of a chubby, balding, hopelessly shy pizza chef who works in a rural eatery run by his widowed mother when his wor... Read more
Hype! (1996)
7.7/10
Director: Doug Pray
Starring: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, The Posies
An absorbing document of the evolution of the Seattle grunge-music scene from it's genesis in the early 80's. Reflected in the ambiguous light of hind... Read more
Kolya (1996)
7.8/10
Director: Jan Sverak
Starring: Zdenek Sverak, Andrej Chalimon, Libuse Safrankova
This warm and witty seriocomedy follows a down-and-out cellist and confirmed bachelor who agrees to a marriage of convenience with a friend's beautifu... Read more
The Pillow Book (1996)
6.7/10
Director: Peter Greenaway
Starring: Yoshi Oida, Vivian Wu, Ken Ogata, Ewan McGregor
Peter Greenaway's bold stylistic experiment has as it's theme, the 'correspondence' between the daughter of a famous writer and a publisher, written o... Read more
Prisoner of the Mountains (1996)
7.6/10
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Starring: Oleg Menshikov, Sergei Bodrov Jr
This devastating drama, based loosely on Tolstoy's Prisoner of the Caucsus, tells of two Russian soldiers captured by Chechen rebels and held in an im... Read more
Rats In The Ranks (1996)
8/10
Director: Bob Connolly, Robin Anderson
Starring: Larry Hand
This bruising political doco follows the squabbles in a Sydney suburb between the Mayor and City Councillors. The filmmakers gained an extraordinary d... Read more