FOR PARENTS MAROONED WITH THEIR BABIES, STARVED OF THE CHANCE TO SEE EXCELLENT FILMS FOR MONTHS ON END, COMES FOR CRYING OUT ALLOWED. ONCE A MONTH, THE IFI WILL PUT ON A SPECIAL SCREENING FOR PARENTS-WITH BABIES.
Simply bring your bundle with you, park your buggy or pram with us, and enjoy the best film we have on that week. As the title suggests, there is no need to worry about the noise. Baby-changing facilities are provided, and we have a cafe for lunch afterwards. Babies must be 12 months or younger, and adults pay normal admission price. RESERVATIONS STRICTLY REQUIRED: 01-6795744

AUGUST SCREENING: THE WALKER

AS IN PREVIOUS PAUL SCHRADER FILMS LIKE AMERICAN GIGOLO (1980) AND LIGHT SLEEPER (1991), THE HERO OF THE WALKER IS A SMOOTH OPERATOR WHO WARILY KEEPS LIFE AND LOVE AT ARM’S LENGTH.

‘Is there a name for what you are?’ enquires an aggressive district attorney of Carter Page III (Woody Harrelson), who is in the frame as a murder suspect. Carter is a ‘walker’, someone who accompanies rich and powerful ladies of the Washington elite to social occasions that their husbands avoid. Living balefully in the shadow of his late, politically revered father, he is a gay gossip with a talent to amuse but with little social or personal sense of purpose. A possibility of redemption occurs when he covers up for one of his society lady friends (Kristin Scott Thomas) who fears scandal when she discovers the murdered body of her lover.

The Walker’s most powerful scene comes early on when, alone in his elegant surroundings, Carter ceremoniously removes his hairpiece: a moment of self-disclosure, a glimpse behind the mask. Neither the murder mystery nor the political sub-text really grips, but seasoned professionals like Lauren Bacall and Lily Tomlin sparkle; Kristin Scott Thomas brilliantly suggests a heart of steel behind a veneer of brittle femininity; and Woody Harrelson’s performance is a subtle study of someone who, one feels, would prefer dispensing polished aphorisms to grasping the nettle of his own personality. ‘I’m not naive,’ he boasts at one stage, ‘I’m superficial’. One might conclude the same about the film, but its quality of wit, characterisation and ideas still puts it a comfortable notch above most contemporary mainstream cinema.—Neil Sinyard.