The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 13

MOVIE GUARDIAN Thuwdajr March 13 ini Tha Guardian has been the bnty national newspaper with a page entirely devoted to Its Guardian Lectures, at the National Film Theatre and elsewhere, are also now art institution. The new Guardian Preview Season will Offer readers free tickets 4inr vii ma nf the hflRt mnvlflS duiiid kiiiio 1 before they open. at cinemaf rAtiohaHy. The season kicks off next Tuesday, in London and around the country, with Richard Marquand's Hitchcockian thriller. Jagged Edge, which surprised American distributors by doing huge business right round the States.

The film stars Jeff Bridges and: Glenn Close, seen together, below, as a newspaper publisher, accused of murder and the, unorthodox lawyer hired to defend him. The film was a strong candidate for the Surprise Film slot at the London Festivafbut was edged out by Richard Attenborough's A Chorus Line. The new British film in our first series of previews is Trevor Nunn's Lady Jane, written by David Edgar and starring newcomer Helena Bbnham Carter as Lady Jane 1 Grey the "traitor-heroine of the. Reformation" whose story, though still clouded in mystery, is one of the most extraordinary personal tragedies in British political history. France will be represented by Agnes Varda's Venice prizewinner, Vagabonde, generally regarded as the best lihn she has made for many years.

It not only won the jury's top award but also the International Critics' prize. Other films include Paul Mazursky's Down And Out In Beverly Hills, a great success in America and his- most popular movie for years; Bobby Roth's Heartbreakers, in which an LA film-maker gives the low-down on the propensity for self-deception of LA men, particularly about and Jerzy Skolimewski's first American picture, Tha Liahtshio. starrihd Robert Duvall arid Klaus Maria Brandauer, two of the best screen actors anywhere. ttieko Barada, Lady-fa Of Africa Ia)SlCal9 Jagged Edge previews on the evening rf Tuesday, March. 11 rare scheduled for the following cinemas: Warner West End; Milton Keynes ABC The Point; Oxford ABC George Street; Cambridge ABC; Manchester Odeon; Brighton Odeon; Glasgow ABC; Edinburgh Odeon; Newcastle Odeon; Bristol Odeon Birmingham The Futurist; Cardiff Odeon; heeds Odeon; Reading Odeon.

Tickets for the showings at all these centres wHl be available from Friday onwards. Precise timing of the programmes will be on the tickets. To obtain them take a cbpji of Friday's Guardian, or am subsequent paper, to the named mamas during normal box office hours. This will entitle you to a pair of tickets the limit per person for Jagged Edge (Cert 18) after your Guardian has been stamped at the cmema. Tickets are, naturally, subject to availability and will be dealt with on a first-come first-served basis.

Derek Malcolm reviews Ran, Akir a Kurosawa's latest work, and Bobert ReiStord in Out Of Africa and Qodard's Tf7 SCARWOMIWATIOMl A a BEST PICTURE BEST AGOR-WIILIAM HURT fc 1 Hotel Concorde-Saint-Lazare in Paris and populated by a bevy of it's a thriller of sorts, with the kind of complications that would make The Maltese Falcon's plot look simple and, wouldn't you know it, a treatise as well on film-making itself. A boxing promoter (Johnny Hallyday, the French singer) tries to set up a lucrative match for his protege. detective (Laurent Terzieff), aided by his nephew (Jean-Pierre. Leaud), tries to discover who murdered a Prince in the hotel some time ago. And a husband and wife (Claude Brasseur and Nathalie Baye) seem, to be involved with Alain aged Mafia man.

As the plot thickens, so the 'ir is fillerd with: a. stereo spund-track, seems perhaps the most innovative part of the fUin- Godard dedicates the: whole; to. Eastpdd. and Edgar Ulmerhich is a shaggy dog stoiy in itself, since there are few obvious references to any of themi It ieems much more Uk- witty, at WH pelt'wlwim; happiness, and confusion. Two new mid-size films from Robert Smith and John Davies, makers of Maeve and Acceptable Levels are shown at the ICA.

Smith's Intimate Strangers is about a woman and her son who' move into a derelict house, find, an outside threat to their already difficult relationship. Davies'. Ursula and Glenys has two' estranged sisters, one of them a' prostituted brought together by a summons from their lone-absent father. KUROSAWA and Shakespeare fit well together, at where the tragedies are concerned, with their epic battles for the soul, of man, tortured by greed' and ambition. Both Macbeth and Lear are encapsulated in Ran (Cur-zon "West End, Screen on the J0U1, Gate, Netting Hill, 15).

But this leo-minute homage is. not just" a mirror image of Shakespeare heightened by 'Jits' translation into -the destructive -era of Japanese warlords. -Ran. 'whicn can "best be' 'called' 'Chaos in is also Kurosawa's own angry rumination on what happens when a complex system of family obligaf tions is 'brought -down; oy hubris and distrust v. Within the groaning of foolishness and, perv--ifidy, in and about it, there is for -practically everything for which, this great director isiioted; from huge set-pieces which bathe the eye in sumptuous visuals to most intimate; of detail illuminating v.

-individual "character. If there is nothing r. new-to the; Kurosawa canoto -in 4he: film, illustrates general xtebt and the, cinema itself, nloL Take the attack on. the Third Castle. Masterly as it is merely as a feat of organisation and dramatic editing, vwihb bVit w.b.uld flare to allow it be encompassed largely, in silence, 5ave for.

the counterpoint of 'brv Takemitsu's percussive score? Who but Kurosawa could have so successfully contrasted the carnage of the encounter with what goes on in the mind of Lord Hidetora, the old warlord, as he realises first that he has been ritetrayedrthen that he is de-; feated and; finally he cannot even end nis life HidetbrarEear, of course, i has to and does dominate the Sicture, even though Tatauya rakadai, possibly limited by his.Noh-sle make-up, can: not always make his descent ant-V 'p-V JTti fashioned: a kind of romance his audiences and backers, thinking perhaps about The Way we Were, must have prayed for. It is Robert Bedford, lone white hunter and quasi-mystic, versus Meryl Streep. the beautiful writer who wants to be more than a kind of colonial mistress. In between flits Klaus Maria Brandauer's ex-husband, a man for most seasons with just a hint of malice mixing with his cheeriness. The film isn't quite brave enough to be dubbed an art-movie nor crass enough to be hugely commercial.

But, in occupying the middle ground so cleverly, will probably gather a host of Academy Apart' from Africa, about which' it has nothing much to sav excent" in the form of ippi sKpIki Atty mmwwmwmi i iw ii i iii I aeianeo aunospnere, me luiapuntisn Us PREPARE TO SrAl. tiUlE TOffi 'in-: structure and detail of which improves on a second viewing. It is absolutely logical, it is at times highly imaginative and, in spite of some, longueurs (what Lear hasn't got has a scale and grandeur it is impossible to deny. You can't say quite the same about Sidney Pollack's long-heralded out of Africa (Empire, PG) which is the same length as Ran but so determinedly linear in its honest search for the essence, of Isak Dinesen that it sometimes threatens to disappear out of the mind and into the horizon altogether. Almost, but not totally.

This amalgam of Dinesen's Out of. Africa, her many letters and Judith Thurman'8 biography does at least do one thing commendably well. And that, is to make Africa, into arguably the most important character of all, as Dinesen did herself. The photography, soft-hued and with a real feeling for, the African light, is particularly fine, the attitude generous and unassuming. You do feel the magic of an alien but uniquely fascinating world.

Elsewhere, Pollack and his writer, Kurt Luedtke, have Kldus Maria Brandauer htma aaamst the cltehes. icture by Martin Argles Connection as a double agent. Unimpressed by the experience, he returned to the Burgtheatre of Vienna where he worked as an actor and director exclusively until Mephisto cropped! up, seven years later. Created by his friend 4 Istvan Szabo, Mephisto was the perfect vehicle for Brandauer's highly developed theatrical style: and shot him into the international league of movie actors; a position which has been consolidated by his performance, in Out of While ihe is concerned to maintain 7 the pins Meryl Strep Detective "complex, dark personality" Pollack speaks of. so admiringly.

Denys Finch Hatton, English aristocrat, war hero and white hunter, can't possibly have been much like this. But then nor can Dinesen have been quite as Streep plays her. Not that it matters. The book and its. characters are simply not translatable to the and what we get is a sufferable alternative.

It is orchestrated by Pollack, with what can only be called an audacious disregard for the blasting narrative drive considered imperative in Hollywood today. You can bathe in this film if you want to, and fill in the gaps "I liked your film. But I didn't understand it," some body told ammguisnea Well, I must have' done something right at last then," reolied the director in uestion, explaining that lms are something like life, or ought to be enjoyable $ut incomprehensible. Godard's Detective (Camden Plaza and Metro, 15) is rather Pike that Filmed in and around the Best Films The Empty Table (Academy): Kojbayashi's long story of pateimnilias with terrorist sonln trouble '-with familv and societv when I. he refuses to apologise for htm: Crazy Family (Metro): Sogo Ishi's mordant farce on Jananese family life.

Cruel but very funny; Year or toe yutet sun (kja: Zanussi's moving story of East. European refugee's love affair wjrh American soldier itf the aftermath of war. "Venice grandiRrlae winner. (Academy): Best Foreign' Film Oscar last iyear'Svfiss story of chess between dissident df Russia-hh'eroi with EJmcnei.riccnifT. May-fiwF GaviamiUar and Dennis Potter's beguiling story' of Dodgson and' his flashing back from Alice as adult- Best on twelve Angry Men (Saturday, BBC-2, 2 0): Martin Ritts famous' 1957 jury drama with Fonda and co, followed by John Ford', and Mervyn LeRoy's 1955 Mr Roberto, with Fonda again plusCagney and combat nday.i BBck 3W: Jyleitj Dassin's cjassic 1954' thriltet with virtuqjofbbbery Jean, Servais as chfefxrook.

The PobwUb Pater; C4, 10153: Fine (Ban: Mason; in Finter-'scripted Jack A Film by Klaus Maria Drandauer, Dror Blixen in Out Of Africa, talks to NeU Norman KERKUROSAVVA into madness as; complete as that of other Lears one has seen. Balancing, though, is then extraordinary performance of Mieko'. Harada as Lady. wife of the Not many Lady Macbeths could equal this combination of eroticism, determination' andialoe-eyed spite. Yet she also remains one of the most sympathetic charac- ters in Ranrsipce her reasons for undermining Lord Hidetora his whole brood are so obviously just It is the chaos of their lifestyle that has ruihed hers.

The other innovation is Shinnosuke Ikehata's trans-vestite Fool. And brilliantly though this Michael Jackson-like pop singer swishes through his part, I am not particularly happy with it The Fool is as much at the centre of Lear as Lear himself; and this one buzzes like a maniacal gadfly around the periphery. There are occasions whin you want to swat lijke Lady iKaede swots the insect in her remarkable seduction scene with her brother-in-law. All in all, though, this is a pretty, astonishing film, the those, hard DlayinMaxi never: uiuwu iub first: JameS Bond villain who Was 1 believably sociopath! which hot only gilded his nos trils out. naa ine aaqitionai bonus of brmging him" to the Attention director.

Sidney: Tollack who was casting Out Of Africa. In the role of Bror Blixen, Karen Blixen's recalcitrant: Brandauer brings the full weight of his experi-' enceSas. a theatre actor to bear on a tricky role. The result is a devastatingly' watchable and understated performance that is at least equal to the StreepRedford combo at the heart of the film. 1 "One; thing I appreciate very much is that Bror is not a liar," said Brandauer when; I asked him how he managed to make a potentially unlike-able man so attractive.

"He is able to tell the truth. In our. world, of big that is fan He is also in a certain, way iftnqcent which I allowed for res- iSct to be developed between Biandauer made his stage; demit in 1963, and has pursued' continuous and distinguished career in Germany 2nd; hisVinative Auatria, maklne his first break with the; theatre in 197? when he BV ht SO jBSfsa. BE ASIOSIISHED SIl (SICINEMA nmicin -AU-SCAISIOOKAZtS Featuring 23 films, the season includes WOMAN OF THE MIST, AN INN AT OSAKA, ELEGY OF THE NORTHS REBELLION OF JAPAN. Membership from 70p weekly Tickets: 2,75 2.20 (standby) Notiohol nfiriTheotrt.

VdteitW.SEI i cumoHwatrjon TEL: 4394805 SEr.ramiUONorsuN)4joaM AU StUS BOOKABLE jff5TCUltt2073GOCnaTCAID gjeHJ5iWB0CKAU) wM'iTWAS, rentdidn oTnv smkiYik Sepv.tfiecjr roaj iniiffnier: oriu nai whs vnoc me: inacwBSiBror It ia a comment on cinema audiences that- they often-associate, cluuactei' aie is playing and it is; -hot thei fiirstr time 'that Brandauer has 'experienced the laziness that typecasts actors in certain roles. After his widely acclaimed performance in Mephisto he was inundated iwittecWpts from "I offers toplay Nazi jKnerws men ind 'wvoifiijtti' havies I could 15veKfea-fitldeo nose in the eddmotnical senifie but I Snei ha'fjiiiv Both bf autifully shot, particularly fjieatter and the playg, is cellint The hintTofence' istitaBgi Die, ail me oeuer oecause iv created from within-the sftAn Tnther than on Familv life, in fact! as of horror story which enrobe completed without catharsis. jnoi quite xaixe leign Territory, but nearly. Clayton sixties summation of disintegrating marriage a la bourgeoisie. EyginMlon, (Saturday, C4, 30): 1838 Version of girBS.

splendidly, iacted by Leslie Howard Wendy Hiljer- and Wi)fridi Lawaoto. hd the best, Shaw cihema; adaptation Special interest TONIGHT at the National Film Theatre, the first part Of Claude Lahzmann's remarkable Shoah is presented as part of the second annual Jewish Film Festival. The second part of the film, which tells the story of the through witnesses, without the use of a single atrocity picture, js on Sunday, On the following Thurs day. JnzmAnnBgives GuaraiaLectureiTeew-ish Festival continues to the end of the month; Also at the NFT this month is -the. season, devoted to Japanese director Heinosuke Gosho who made 100 -films between 1925 and 1968 of which only a (third survive 23 are presented; the 'largest retrospective yet mounted outside Japan.

All ate superbly shot and he was very much an actor's director. Outside London, Manchester's new three- screen CornerhoUse Centre continues to prosper. The cinemas areshowing.Szabo Colonel Redl, one of the best1 but attractive A ieC Two, Noughts and shorter runs of Sally Potter's Gold Diggers and examples of Derek DarehMsxIcolB. develops its. theme of emw tional commitment versus ai free spirit, with at least a-, little eloquence, though at times Streep appears to be.

laying for alt her worth over Bedford's left Mostly, he just' stands there' and pregnant with' meaning but delivering less than one had hoped for of the quality of his work within any, given framework, Brandauer. admitted to enjoying the: money and the travel that film-making affords. "It is not so often that German-speaking Austriarg actor hasr the chance to gejg into international moyip business and: I am curious' enough totry it if I cam? i'iciearly, though, the theatrft' "'ls hls' Tirst love. Currently Playing Hamlet at the Burgtheatre, Brandauer attempts to bring the special quality of 'the stogepeHbr-' mance to the film set, utilis-, ing: the film crew, as partici-; pants in; the -event because; as he work is tor. ah ithRobert Diivall ISrSfitttfiird lilm vith'zabo i.to -form the cqncu1q4ng' chapter of the trilogy begun, with Mephisto and Colonel Redl.

A late entry to screen stardom, Brandauer, still maintains the belief in the event of performance and the mystery of his art 'The situation of a creating actor is very schizophrenic. You have to believe that you are the character but also that you are Brandauer at the same time. You cannot explain it There are so many books about acting, directing and the theatre but they only -get -close to the final decision: We don't know "What does Hamlet say? There are more things in Heaven and- Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. That is my credo. Otherwise I wojuld rbel-in a differ en.

'V. 1 swords JLL HEINOSUKE GOSHO AT THE NFT 41 iVtarch The NfTHs pTed'sed to present the biggest retrospective vet held In Europe of one of Jqpor greatest directors, HEINOSUKE GOSHO. appeareu-. in xne oaizourg.