Video

Rip It Up, Issue 117, 1 April 1987, Page 4

Video

Raging Bull (Warner Home Video) ' Boxing becomes the perfect metaphor for life in Scorsese’s brutal adaptation of middleweight champ Jake La Mottass life, basically a portrait of an artist as a fat fuck. De Niro plays La Motta as a senseless animal, in the ring a lithe killing machine, shot by Scorsese in a mixture of poetic imagery and newreel realism. When he is fighting, the soundtrack blares out animal noises and the punches sound like gunshots — simply the rawest and truest cinema ever conceived.

De Niro won the Academy Award for his performance, having to put on so much weight and then take it off, it almost killed him. He is perfect as La Motta, and brings chills when performing the down and out boxer attempting to rescue his existence by doing standup comedy and speeches from Shakespeare. The last scene is scary, La Motta mumbling the monologue from On the Waterfront — “l coulda been a contender” he says, looking at his crumbling image in the mirror. One of the most important films ever made. Don’t miss it. Kerry Buchanan ‘ Hannah and Her Sisters (RCA/Columbia/Hoyts) ; Woody Allen proves his auteur status once and for all with this touching study of three sisters and surrounding family. Some people love Allen, and others find his Jewish intellectual focus hard to take. He moves from the pretentious (Interiors) to the bourgeois (Purple Rose of Cairo) and then makes this wonderfully mature piece of work. Self-consciously arty, with interior dialogue, obtruse quotes and once again a Bergman stylistic look. But also very human, with Michael Caine playing the role of, his life, and all the women incredible, especially Mia Farrow. The soundtrack is a joy, with the main theme being ‘Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered; commenting on the characters’ strange games. Woody Allen is great as the hypochondriac Mickey, who turns a small sperm count into a brain

tumour within a couple of frames. Also the desire to change religions is real funny, a Jew becoming a Catholic already! Beautiful, poetic, funny, intelligent, and just too good to miss. Kerry Buchanan

The Passenger (Warner Home Video)

Wow, just love these art flicks, real intense camera moving real slow (I mean real slow) and not a word spoken. Jack Nicholson looking lost as a TV reporter changing his world for that of a gun runner — a passenger in someone else’s life. Also featuring Maria Schneider from Last Tango, who also sleepwalks through the film. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni who made Zabriskie Point about furniture blowing up. Written by Peter Wollen, film intellectual and author of Signs and Meaning in Cinema, but if this is anything to go by, can't write a good film script to save himself. Swollen and pathetic attempt to get some money from art lovers — hardly any sex or violence in evidence, so it won't grab the real cinema fans, but maybe if you like long shots of Arabs in the desert, this is your sort of flick. Kerry Buchanan et

Absolute Beginners (Virgin) Absolute trash. Directed by media brat and wunderkind Julian Temple with as much care and intelligence as a pest exterminator. The birth of the teenager set against Britain's new world of confusion and defeat, the new capitalism with all its joys, take racism for

example. : But there has to be a way out — let's dance!

And dance they do, flinging their bodies like so many commodity heat-seeking missiles. Bright young things like Patsy Kensit, with cheeks sucked in like Bardot, and an acting style like a goldfish. There are a few bright bits, the slimy homosexual Henley of Mayfair, played by James Fox; the MclLuhanesque ad man, played by Bowie. And the cameos of real 60s people like Mandy Rice Davies and Sandie Shaw.

Clean like a soap commercial and about as empty. Pity, because it could have been good, but it ends up looking like a British West Side Story without any good music. Kerry Buchanan

Ozzy Osbourne Bark at the Moon Live

(Polygram) Eighty minutes from 1984 of the master himself live in concert performing the best of his Bark at the Moon material, early classics like ‘Revelation’ and ‘Mr Crowley; plus his well-known Black Sabbath tunes ‘lron Man’ and ‘Paranoid’

Ozzy stalks the stage like a crazed wildcat, descending the huge gothic staircase, punching peace signs into the air and generally making sure everyone's having a real good time. He creates an awesome atmosphere over the audience, and of course all the while singing in his unique Ozzy style. Other highlights are Tommy Aldridge’s drumming and Juke E Lee's devastating guitar solo in

‘Suicide Solution. Well worth buying and essential viewing for everyone into Ozzy. Geoff Dunn

Saxon, Live (Polygram)

Full-on metal from Biff and the Boys that doesn't let up for the whole hour of playing time. If you don't know what a Saxon concert would be like, this video sure lets you know as they power through ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ to ‘Wheels of Steel, faithfully aided by their large backline of Marshall stacks. Live and loud! _ GD Venom Live — the Seventh Date of Hell (Polygram)

~ Watch as the self-named Mantas, Cronos and Abaddon possess your TV and issue forth their noise of demonic black metal. What Venom lack in musical talent, they compensate for with lots of really evil lyrics and various ways to destroy their instruments. Definitely an acquired bad taste. GD

Fab Four: the Beatles (Liberty) Australian rock magpie Glenn A Baker collects millions of feet of Beatle film, newsreel and video footage, much of it worthless and unwatchable. He chops it up into a million pieces, throws into the air, and glues them together randomly, with bootleg quality music and hyperbolic narration on top. Pads it out to two hours with rapid-fire collage of Beatle images. Of most interest: John’s sideburns at Shea Stadium and a promo clip for A Hard Day's Night. Avoid this at all costs; hire The Compleat Beatles instead.

CB