Shooting the Past

Poliakoff's greatest achievement (so far) works perfectly as a thought-provoking and intensely satisfying meditation on the price of progress. The hard-headed, unscrupulous world of big-business is set in stark contrast to the quintessentially English, eccentric and old-fashioned central characters battling against the odds to preserve the collection. With sublime casting, atmospheric use of lighting and a haunting, beautiful soundtrack the production values are magnificent. However, the real stars of the show are the photos from the collection itself - used to relay fascinating, quirky and heart-rending stories from history that would have otherwise been forgotten. The way these stories unfurl are spell-bindingly atmospheric and paced to perfection.