Tangerines
four stars
Dir: Zaza Urushadze
With: Lembit Ulfsak, Mikheil Meskhi
Runtime: 96 minutes
DON’T let the bucolic title fool you - this is a tight as a drum war drama, leavened by bleak wit. Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) has stayed behind in war-torn Abkhazia to help his friend with the tangerine harvest. Though keen to keep his distance, Ivo takes in two wounded fighters - sworn enemies - on his doorstep. Director Zaza Urushadze has a simple but powerful tale to tell about the madness of war and the cost of peace, and he and his cast barely put a boot wrong.
Glasgow Film Theatre and Edinburgh Filmhouse, from tomorrow; DCA and Belmont Aberdeen, October 2; Eden Court, Inverness, October 23
Horse Money (12A)
three stars
Dir: Pedro Costa
With: Tito Furtado, Antonio Santos
Runtime: 105 minutes
PEDRO Costa’s Colossal Youth of 2006 was about a man, Ventura, wandering from his old life in Portugal to a new one. This sequel, some eight years later, finds Ventura still journeying, though this time he is stuck in hospital and it is his mind doing the travelling, back into a rich and troubled past. Visually striking, but the pace is hard going.
Glasgow Film Theatre, September 18-24
The Messenger (15)
two stars
Dir: David Blair
With: Lily Cole, Joely Richardson
Runtime: 98 minutes
JACK sees dead people. Dead people who want him to pass on messages to the living. Understandably he is rather upset by all this death and trauma. Can his psychiatrist (Joely Richardson) and sister Emma (Lily Cole) help? David Blair’s drama has a fine central performance from rising star Robert Sheehan as Jack. Alas he is the only selling point in an otherwise creaky and unconvincing piece.
Infini (15)
two stars
Dir: Shane Abbess
With: Daniel MacPherson, Grace Huang
Runtime: 106 minutes
SPACE, the 23rd century, where no-one can hear you scream, “Haven’t we seen all this before?” There is more than a whiff of deja vu as a mission is launched to save a stray space cop and avoid the destruction of Earth. Director Shane Abbess provides plenty of Alien-style creeping through badly lit corridors, but there is no sign of a gripping plot.
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