Shooting the Past (1999)

A US property developer realises that he has a battle on his hands when he tries to renovate a London building containing a vast photographic collection and discovers that the library ... See full summary »

Director:

Stephen Poliakoff

Writer:

Stephen Poliakoff

Stars:

Lindsay Duncan, Timothy Spall, Liam Cunningham

4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lindsay Duncan	...	Marilyn Truman
Timothy Spall	...	Oswald Bates
Liam Cunningham	...	Christopher Anderson
Billie Whitelaw	...	Veronica
Emilia Fox	...	Spig
Arj Barker	...	Garnett
Blake Ritson	...	Nick
Sheila Dunne	...	Molly (as Sheila Dunn)
Jean Channon	...	Dinner Lady
Jennifer House	...	Dinner Lady
Geoffrey Beevers	...	Doctor (as Geoffery Beevers)
Lesley McGuire	...	Nurse (as Leslie McGuire)
Andy Serkis	...	Styeman

Storyline

A US property developer realises that he has a battle on his hands when he tries to renovate a London building containing a vast photographic collection and discovers that the library employees will resort to anything to thwart him.

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Plot Keywords:

developer | battle | library | employee | photograph | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official PBS/Masterpiece Theatre Web site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Valokuvien vangit

Company Credits

Production Co:

TalkBack Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

182 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The fictional photographic collection is based on (and the pictures seen are taken from) the BBC Hulton Picture Library (which began as the photographic archive of the famous Picture Post magazine). This collection is now part of Getty Images.

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Alternate Versions

Two different versions were released: a UK version consisting of one 70-minute episode and one 152-minute episode and an overseas version consisting of three 75-minute episodes.

User Reviews

A gem of a movie.

This movie crept up on me. Timothy Spall is simply riveting and slowly charms you into his viewpoint. He seems at first to be a shabby cynic, but as time goes on you see that he is also a nerdy genius. Though slow at first, it is an example of very good story-telling and ends up making you feel very good about mankind and really aware of how diverse are the circumstances of life and the souls who step up to the challenges they present. The title has two meanings in that we are dealing with photos collected and arranged in categories that only Spall's character can really navigate expertly. Also, we find, in following his character (Oswald Bates) through the archive -- intent on following a thread -- that we are traveling in a viscous medium and find ourselves shooting the rapids of accumulating facts, inferences and dates.