Scotland Film Event Highlights – November 2015

German Cinema

German cinema is celebrated this month in new season Fokus, a joint venture from Glasgow’s Goethe-Institut and Edinburgh’s Filmhouse. There are two mint fresh Berlin odysseys in the programme getting Scottish premieres: breakneck thriller Victoria, which was shot straight through in one take with no edits (20 Nov), and documentary B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989, a vibrant look at the underground music scene of the German capital in the years before the fall of the Wall. Fokus also pays homage to Rainer Werner Fassbinder with airings of two of his masterpieces, Fox and His Friends (25 Nov) and The Marriage of Maria Braun (26 Nov). As well as Filmhouse, you’ll find other Fokus screenings at venues across Scotland. For full listings, go to filmsfromgermany.co.uk

Sunset Song

Keen to see Terence Davies latest masterpiece a month before the rest of the UK? The Scottish premiere of Sunset Song takes place 11 Nov at Filmhouse, with Davies and his stars Agyness Deyn and Kevin Guthrie in tow to present the film. Those on the West Coast can catch it the following night at GFT, which will also include a Q&A. We called Davies’ film “a Scottish answer to Gone with the Wind.” Don’t miss it.

Classic Cassavetes on 35mm

Another unmissable screening is GFT’s showing of John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence (15 Nov), one of the very best films of the 70s, from 35mm. It's the story of a married couple (played by Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk) where the wife is edging towards madness, and Cassavetes probing camera rings every inch of drama and turmoil from the simple setup.

Apocalypse Now

An equally potent representation of madness is captured in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (Filmhouse, 1 Dec), which sees Martin Sheen’s Captain Willard track Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz up the rivers of Vietnam. You need to see this big to appreciate its sound and fury. There’s another chance to get inside Brando’s head with ace new doc Listen to Me Marlon, which also plays Filmhouse 23-26 Nov.

Star Wars Holiday Special

And finally, to whet your appetite for the release of a certain space epic set a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the fellows over at Watch Bad Movies with Great Comedians (CCA, 2 Dec) have got their hands on the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special (George Lucas evidently failed in his attempt to “smash every copy with a sledgehammer”). If you haven’t seen the bootleg on YouTube, imagine Attack of the Clones, but even clunkier, with added songs and loads of incomprehensible proto-Skype calls with Chewbacca’s family.