Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3997 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-09
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 183 minutes

DVD Description
Winner of the Prix Italia. Written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. Starring Lindsay Duncan, Timothy Spall, Liam Cunningham, Billie Whitelaw, Emilia Fox, Arj Baker and Blake Ritson.

As the representative of a US corporation, Christopher Anderson is developing a country house on the outskirts of London into a business school for the 21st century, which would be fine … if it were not the home of a unique photographic collection, cared for by a small but determined staff.

Special Features

• Commentary with Stephen Poliakoff, Adrian Johnston (Composer) and J.P. Kelly (Production Designer)
  
• Interviews with Stephen Poliakoff and cast
  
• Photo Montage

DVD Technical Information:

• Subtitles: English SDH
  
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  
• Region Code: 2, 4
  
• PAL
  
• Audio: Stereo
  
• Disc Format: DVD-9 x 2
  
• Running Time: 194 mins approx.

Synopsis
American property developer Christopher Anderson (Liam Cunningham) has plans to renovate an English country house in order to open a business school. However the staff of the vast photo library already housed there are determined to stop him. It soon transpires that there is a picture of Anderson's mother in the library and perhaps an unusual way of saving the library.

Customer Reviews

A piece of advice!
I have just one thing to add to these thoroughly deserved unanimously glowing reports and it is an important piece of practical advice. Do not start watching this DVD if you do not have a clear three hours or so in front of you. Once you start watching you will have to finish!
Absolutely compelling and highly recommended. A beautiful film.

true love
if i could choose one tv series to watch over and over again until my dying day it would be Shooting the Past. Poliakoff is an absolute master of beauty and atmospheric tension and i adore this series to death. it combines all my favourite things - photos, old paris, murders (you'll know what i mean),memories and the stories that go with fotos. The music is absolutely beautiful and sends shivers down my spine just thinking of it. It is so perectly in time with the story that you would think it was magic. i have not one bad word to say about this film, and it wil be a treasure that will stay with me for always, inspiring me to never give up, no matter how bad the situation seems.

When the past, the present and the future meet up
A unique library of old and modern photographs are put under threat when the building they are housed in is suddenly sold. The new owner of the property, Liam Cunningham played by the able Christopher Anderson, has no interest in the photos and doesn't care what happens to them. In fact most of the photos will be destroyed with the crème de la crème of the collection being sold on. All Liam is interested in is renovating the building and making a hefty profit for the business he represents.

However the library's many eccentric employees won't give up without a fight and from then on a war of wits and determination is played out among a wonderful array of black and white photographs that represent the past, the present and even the future.

The characters in this film are truly delightful, especially Timothy Spall who plays the oddball Oswald Bates, a man with a memory for faces so attuned that he can see resemblances between a person he has only seen once and those whose pictures are imprinted upon photographic paper.

However the battle to save the collection seems doomed, with every attempt the Library staff makes being thwarted but fate has something wonderful in store for Liam Cunningham and it is this wonderful twist in the story that ultimately will save the collection for future generations.

This is a fabulous film, originally a three part series for the BBC in the late 1990s I think it would have been a success if it had been released in Art House Cinemas all over the World.

A final pointer, watch (and listen) out for the superb Lindsay Duncan who plays the diminutive Marilyn Truman, the Head Librarian in the story, she has the most amazing voice and when telling Liam Cunningham stories around certain photographs, she captivates her audience to the point that you think that you are in the same room as her and Liam.

A good musical score, a sound cast, wonderful photography and camera work, "Shooting the Past" is a classic of a film that Stephen Poliakoff has every reason to be proud off. Look out for Poliakoff's other masterpiece, "The Lost Prince" both are worth having in any DVD/Video collection.