SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1985
16
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS AT IFF
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AUDIENCE WILL BE ABLE TO ENJOY FIVE MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS SCHEDULED FOR THE CITY HALL THEATRE AT 11.30 PM DURING THE NINTH HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.
THE FILMS, PRODUCED BY VARIOUS COUNTRIES, INCLUDE SOME STUNNING THRILLERS.
A SCIENCE-FICTION HORROR, +DEATH WARM UP+ SETS OUT TO BOTH SHOCK AND ENTERTAIN. THE PLOT INVOLVES A GENETIC SURGEON, WHO ELIMINATES HIS RESEARCH PARTNER BY PROGRAMMING THE VICTIM'S SON TO KILL HIS PARENTS. AFTER SEVEN YEARS IN AN ASYLUM, THE YOUNG AVENGER TRACKS DOWN THE MAD DOCTOR ON AN ISOLATED ISLAND, WHERE HE EXPERIMENTS ON TURNING HUMANS INTO MUTANT KILLING MACHINES.
LATE ASIAN MASTER GERARDO DE LEON'S +48 HOURS+ IS ABOUT A MAN UNJUSTLY CONVICTED OF HAVING MURDERED HIS WIFE ESCAPES FROM PRISON. SEVERELY WOUNDED AND HUNTED BY THE POLICE, HE SETS OUT TO TRACK DOWN HIS WIFE'S MURDER AMIDST THE RUINS OF POST-WAR MANILA.
WITH VISUAL BRAVURA, BLACK HUMOUR AND A SERPENTINE PLOT, + BLOOD SIMPLE+ TELLS OF A WEALTHY TEXAN WHOSE WIFE HAS AN AFFAIR WITH A BARTENDER. WHEN HE HIRES A SLEAZY DETECTIVE TO KILL THE RUNNAWAY COUPLE, THE PERFECT MURDER BACKFIRES HORRIBLY.
WINNER OF GRAND PRIX TECHNIQUE, CANNES JOSEF VON STERNBERG PRIZE, MANN HEIM AND SILVER HUGO, CHICAGO, THE ELEMENT OF CRIME+ WAS MADE IN ENGLAND BY A YOUNG DANISH FILM-MAKER. IN THEIR FUTURISTIC THRILLER, DETECTIVE FISHER HAS BEEN SOUGHT TO SOLVE CRIME BY ASSUMING THE CRIMINAL MIND. RETURNING TO CAIRO AFTER A TRAUMATIC ASSIGNMENT, HE CONSULTS AN ARAB DOCTOR, AND UNDER HYPNOSIS, RETURNS TO A DECAYING EUROPE.
EX-FILM CRITIC CHRIS PETIT'S +FLIGHT TO BERLIN+ IS FULL OF REFERENCES TO OTHER THRILLERS BY GODARD AND FASSBINDER. WITH A JAZZ SCORE BY IRWIN SCHMIDT AND STYLIST LOCATION CAMERAWORK BY MARTIN SCHAFER, THE FILM TELLS OF A WOMAN WHO TRIES TO ESCAPE HER PAST BY RUNNING TO BERLIN BUT WRITES HERSELF INTO ANOTHER STORY.
THE FILMS WILL BE SCREENED ON MARCH 30, APRIL 4, 5, 6 AND 7 RESPECTIVELY.
TICKETS AT $20 ARE NOW ON SALE AT THE CITY HALL, SPACE MUSEUM, QUEEN ELIZABETH STADIUM, HONG KONG COLISEUM AND KO SHAN THEATRE.