Evening Standard from London, Greater London, England • 7

STONING STANDARD WEDNESDAY JANUARY 8 1 CDDnemma adwttoseinnieiniiL with the films such as Bonnes and His latest film: Les Biches 'X9 in colour (Cinecenta 2) is somewhat different from his earlier films The entertainment value is much higher although he still makes his point The story is woven around a very beautiful dyke (Stephane Audran Chabrol's wife who incidentally won Best Actress of the Year at Berlin for this film) who picks up a young Bohemian artist (Jacqueline Sassard) and seduces her After some time the young artist Jean Louis Trintignant -(Acclaimed for his film Homme et Une whom she eventually slews with The dyke (Stephane Audran) sleeps with him too and then the artist finds herself in the unlikely position of being in love with the man and the woman Coldly one could be amused at this However Chabrol has brought it into perspective The pure beauty ofa hisa photography adds a charm which isa as involving as the itself 1 the entertainment value is good but also he has man- Dhave been asked to write an honest and unbiased account of the first four films to appear at Cinecenta As a professional advertising writer it is a very strange feeling to be given the chance to say what I like and what I like about a product advertising The owners of Cinecenta are particularly anxious that their films should be accepted on their merit not on ballyhoo First a few words about Cinecenta itself Cinecenta will open on January 13th a large building in Pmton Street near Leicester Square containing four separate viewing theatres each showing a different film -at the same time This peculiar arrangement allows the management to offer you alargechoiceof interesting films possible because each theatre only seats about 1 50 So if one film very popular then no fear of going real breakthrough for the independent cinema be some very unusual and original films to be seen I might be tempted to say that Cinecenta is for minorities But we all members of some minority? At one time or another most of us have had a yen to go back to our old school and make a film about our experiences If we tried the result would no doubt be a whole load of nonsense The only thing that would be common to most would be the times when we provoked the teacher beyond endurance In Who Saw Him Die? (Cinecenta 4) we see the other side of the story The director Jan Troeli has gone back to the School in which he used to teach He has used actual pupils as the cast and has achieved an air of unnerving reality Per Oscarsson (Best Actor Award Cannes 1 966) plays the teacher a very good performance from perhaps the best actor in Sweden His pupils are insubordinate and for a while he despises them' Later he begins to examine thejr grievances and he knows that it is his weakness that has turned these children into enemies Troeli uses black and white rather than colour film This and the use of real children rather than actors were just two of the master strokes which helped this film win the most coveted prize in Europe: The Golden Bear Award in Berlin I would say this is the best film I have seen in the last twelve months Honestly Cinecenta 12 3 4 Performances daily at 1000 1200240440600 840 1000 (Fridays and Saturdays extra midnight performances) Sundays-200 400 640 8001000 Cinecenta Europe's first 4-in-1 cinema Panton St Leicester Square 01-930-0631 Opening on Monday cinecenta His portrayal of an eccentric professor who falls in love with a super dolly-model (Miss Birkin) after seeing her through a hota in the wall of his flat was totally believable Poor Oscar (the professor) becomes completely involved with thea life and loses control The director has done some brilliant work on the fantasy sequences in fact the colour throughout the film is used very imaginatively The Harrison score has just been released as Apple's first LP 1 thought it was so original that I even went to the trouble of getting one It's good To sum lip: basically a fantasy satire on the lack of communication between young and old Executed in a very original way ged to create a situation which to most of us would seem evil farce and has made it a real episode of life A subtle punch in the face for anyone who ever laughed at the word Lesbian And a piece of cinema that will be remembered long after Chabrol has gone fPhe third film was made from II Swedish author Stig Dagerman's earthy novel about a young boy who falls in love with thewoman his father takes as a second wife The Sinning Urge in colour (Cinecenta 3) wasn't really my kind of film A lot of sex and a lot of beautifully shot scenery were my two main impressions out the story for me was lacking The father (Bente Dessau) is having an affair with Bent (Marie Goranzon) when his wife dies He takes Berit as his wife and his son resents it Slowly the son's emotions reverse and he falls in love with her all over the lakes and islands of Sweden To sum up: A highly spiced ordinary dish Rr ust admit I was a little appre-IIVII hensive when 1 went to see the first film colour (Cinecenta 1) It was the first film from unknown director Joe Massot of whom 1 knew very little except that he wasa one time protege of Koman JPoIanski And the additional information did nothing to help my feelings Score by Beatle George Harrison Sets by Assheton Gorton Knack'and and And starring one of the dolly-girls Qane Birkin) that had so much fun David Hemmings with in To top it all (excuse phrase) at the bottom of my information sheet it said Clore Yes Son-of-Charlie Happily I was wrong It was one of the most interesting a British films 1 had seen in a long while Jack Mac-Gowran who stars with Miss Birkin Is a really formidable character actor Claude Chabrol taught himself film-making simply by going to the cinema Since then he bias developed into the most skilful of the directors from the French.