Colin MacCabe Movies
- 1989
The line between story and reality is blurred in this arch drama. While waiting for a plane at an airport on an island in the Scottish Outer Hebrides, a group of would-be passengers are entertained by a stranger's long tale of a romance in Venice between a secretary and a singing Italian peasant, illustrated by his on-the-spot screening of his black and white film about that romance. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John H.M. Berger, Tilda Swinton, (more)
- 1988
- PG13
Set in 1940s England, Distant Voices/Still Lives is a compassionate look at a radically dysfunctional family. The son and his mother must endure the casual and overt cruelties of the bull-necked father. The ongoing abuse takes its toll in the form of failed marriages and misguided attempts at seeking security outside the family unit. As was the case with his earlier short subject trilogy (The Children, Madonna and Child, Death and Transfiguration), director Terence Davies based much of the material on his own life, combining rheumy-eyed cynicism with soft-edged nostalgia (the musical track, drawn from popular wartime songs, is particularly evocative). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freda Dowie, Pete Postlethwaite, (more)
- 1988
Filmed on location in Wales, On the Black Hill is adapted from the novel by Bruce Chatwin. This is the story of two Welsh brothers, identical twins. The film covers 80 years in the sibling's lives, touching upon their hopes, disappointments, romances and political entanglements. Rather than going the traditional split-screen route, two genuine twins are cast in the leads: Mike and Robert Gwilym. The stellar supporting cast includes Gemma Jones and Catherine Schell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Gwilym, Robert Gwilym, (more)
- 1987
The conflict in Palestine during the '70s provides the setting for this challenging political sci-fi film that centers on an alien woman from a distant galaxy who has come to make peace. As the tale begins, archival films of the "Black September," battles that leveled Amman, Jordan are shown. The PLO then blows up a jet and as the smoke billows in the background a woman is questioned for being there without a passport. A nearby journalist (with sympathy for the PLO) intervenes and takes her back to his hotel. She tells him of the mission and the two have a long and fascinating dialogue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paterson, Tilda Swinton, (more)
- 1986
- R
Writer/director Derek Jarman injects his patented iconoclasm in this biography of Renaissance artist Michelangelo Merisa da Caravaggio. Nigel Terry plays the title role, whom (according to Jarman) essentially told his own life story in his paintings. Caravaggio travelled among thieves and prostitutes, many of whom were his models. He once killed a man, kept a deaf/mute child as a virtual slave, and squandered every penny he ever made. That we should care anything about so miserable and obscure a personality is a tribute to Jarman's filmmaking savvy--and the number of elements from his own well-publicized life that he injects into the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, (more)
