Shooting the Past: I'm still haunted by this 12 years after I first saw it. The combination of story, acting, cinematography, direction, and something I can't even put into words, means I keep going back to the DVDs over and over.
It starts with the superb writing and directing of Stephen Poliakoff. Since Shooting the Past I've seen other films by him, and have learned to expect this kind of quality from him. When I first saw Shooting... I wasn't yet familiar with his work. Shooting the Past is a great introduction to Poliakoff! The story is challenging and demanding of the viewer, being told as much through the use of black and white photos as through dialogue.
Eccentric, complicated characters, a desperate situation in what at first seems an improbable story, a plot that takes unexpected directions, slow, long, sometimes quirky scenes punctuated by lingering looks at strings of photos, all punctuated by narrative advances of the plot. As a formula it should be a dismal flop. As a film, Shooting the Past is inexorably gripping, sucking viewers into its world and freezing them there like one of the stunning photo-images that drive the story line.
I always find Lindsay Duncan's acting compelling, but in Shooting the Past she outdoes herself. She plays a woman responsible for saving a photo library. She is cornered in a situation she doesn't understand, but nevertheless tries to cling to her integrity as she looks for a solution. Whether she can succeed depends upon whether or not the eccentric but astute Oswald, played brilliantly by Timothy Spall, is able to find what is necessary to prove that the collection of photos in the photo library is worth saving.
Poliakoff's creation of Oswald by is brilliant. The portrayal of Oswald by Timothy Spall is inspired, astonishing. Spall achieves an amount and quality of acting in full-face close-ups that has to be seen to be appreciated. I'll skip the clichés like "he inhabited the character" and just say that Spall's Oswald is so much more than Oswald might have been if played by another actor. I've even re-watched this film just so I could pay special attention to Spall's portrayal.
Liam Cunningham captures the intricacy of his character Christopher Anderson, who is served up to us as the bad guy. Like nearly everyone else in Shooting the Past, Anderson turns out to be a real person, full of contradictions and complexity. (This is yet another feature of the film that makes it so compelling.)
I haven't mentioned the other actors: even the minor characters play their characters to perfection. The atmosphere of this film is so intense that mistakes by them would have jarred. They never put a foot wrong.
Last but not least, the music is perfect. It never cuts across the story or intrudes, but there's never a weak moment.
It starts with the superb writing and directing of Stephen Poliakoff. Since Shooting the Past I've seen other films by him, and have learned to expect this kind of quality from him. When I first saw Shooting... I wasn't yet familiar with his work. Shooting the Past is a great introduction to Poliakoff! The story is challenging and demanding of the viewer, being told as much through the use of black and white photos as through dialogue.
Eccentric, complicated characters, a desperate situation in what at first seems an improbable story, a plot that takes unexpected directions, slow, long, sometimes quirky scenes punctuated by lingering looks at strings of photos, all punctuated by narrative advances of the plot. As a formula it should be a dismal flop. As a film, Shooting the Past is inexorably gripping, sucking viewers into its world and freezing them there like one of the stunning photo-images that drive the story line.
I always find Lindsay Duncan's acting compelling, but in Shooting the Past she outdoes herself. She plays a woman responsible for saving a photo library. She is cornered in a situation she doesn't understand, but nevertheless tries to cling to her integrity as she looks for a solution. Whether she can succeed depends upon whether or not the eccentric but astute Oswald, played brilliantly by Timothy Spall, is able to find what is necessary to prove that the collection of photos in the photo library is worth saving.
Poliakoff's creation of Oswald by is brilliant. The portrayal of Oswald by Timothy Spall is inspired, astonishing. Spall achieves an amount and quality of acting in full-face close-ups that has to be seen to be appreciated. I'll skip the clichés like "he inhabited the character" and just say that Spall's Oswald is so much more than Oswald might have been if played by another actor. I've even re-watched this film just so I could pay special attention to Spall's portrayal.
Liam Cunningham captures the intricacy of his character Christopher Anderson, who is served up to us as the bad guy. Like nearly everyone else in Shooting the Past, Anderson turns out to be a real person, full of contradictions and complexity. (This is yet another feature of the film that makes it so compelling.)
I haven't mentioned the other actors: even the minor characters play their characters to perfection. The atmosphere of this film is so intense that mistakes by them would have jarred. They never put a foot wrong.
Last but not least, the music is perfect. It never cuts across the story or intrudes, but there's never a weak moment.