Last Resort

LAST RESORT / (2001) ** (out of four)

By Blake French:

"Last Resort" suffers from exactly the opposite problem that agonized "Surveillance." That film had a really interesting style, part documentary, part detective story, totally photographed with a variety of digital cameras, giving the movie an authentic sense. The movie failed because the filmmakers did not put enough energy or effort into the script. "Last Resort" has a heartbreaking, oddly engaging story, but its style keeps the viewer distant and distraught. As I left this movie, I felt cheated out of what could have been a very good film.

Pawel Pavlikovsky, the Polish writer and director, certainly avoided the usual clichés involved here. He creates focused characters who define their environment and determine their own future. Most of the movie is unpredictable and hidden, we are unsure where things are headed from the first shot. Pavlikovsky combines psychological truth and realism in the film's visual style; there are frequent switches between hand-held shots and static composed wide shots. It's as if the characters are submerged in a dreamlike documentary reality.

The movie tells the story of Tanya (Dina Korzun), and her son Artiom (Artiom Strelnikov). Tanya leaves Moscow with her street wise 10 year old to meet her fiance in England. When he is not at the airport, she requests political asylum. The two confused individuals find themselves virtually imprisoned in a deserted seaside resort where all refugees are forced to reside. There are no privileges, no money, and no means of escape.

With failed attempts to get a hold her alleged finance, Tanya finds herself in a strange relationship with a nice man named Alfie (Paddy Considine). Tanya is not really eager to start a new relationship though, being betrayed by her fiancee and all. Her complications deepen when Artiom becomes friends with the wrong kids, and as a means of making money to pay for her passport, she becomes involved with an Internet pornographer, challenging her morality and conscience, as well as jeopardizing her relationship with Alfie.

Dina Korzun's performance is interesting because she bases every scene on the fact that she is a stranger in an unfamiliar area. The rest of the characters cannot really do much with the material because it is so focused on the gimmick. Pawlikowski injects a fun subtle terror through a carnival funhouse atmosphere, but the movie never takes off with the material; success would be unequivocal if the film was created in a typical Hollywood fashioned rather than Pawlikowski's attempt at new and original filmmaking techniques.

This film has ample potential and an interesting premise, but it is so depressing when director's noble intentions get in the way of an otherwise captivating motion picture.

Excellent film that rightly received awards in independent categories. Throughout there was an unpretentious feel to this film that shows the directors craft and subtle methods. Made without a script this simply highlighted the talent of the actors. Considine as ever delivers a simple yet compelling performance and the young Artyom also showed a maturity beyond his years. Again credit must be given to the direction and the subtle use of light that created the feeling of isolation and solace as well as an other wordly dream like paralysis. Really well crafted and paced and beautifully shot. Enjoyable and compelling and worth a watch.

I don't write a lot of details in my reviews because I personally don't like to know a lot more about a film I'm about to see. This film is definitely worth your time. The story is amazing. The actors are perfect. It's extremely human and about what humans do. I don't know how it could've been better. I suppose that means I should give it a 10 but maybe there's a work of art that's better that brings out the 10. One thing I like about this is I had no idea what was going to happen. There were so many possible outcomes I could not of guessed. This is not a love story where you just say well these people don't seem like they fit together and then they're going to end up together. It's not that story. I can just promise you if you like stories about people that are not just the same story you've seen so many times, this is definitely a winner.

A young Russian woman Tanya and her son arrive in England and claim political asylum in order to be allowed to stay. They are then put in a holding area in a sea-side town in Northern England and told they must wait for 12-16 months while their claims are processed. They find their situation and the town to be equally bleak and look for a way out. Two options present themselves - the kindness of arcade owner Alfie and the well-paying exploitation of pornographer Les.

This is a little gem of a film - very short but strong in almost every other area. The plot is not a typical life of an asylum seeker in the UK but it allows us to see life from their point of view. This doesn't mean that it's all bleak - Tanya sees humanity, exploitation, hate and indifference (the officers just doing their job who can't look into everyone's needs). The story is quite straightforward and at times doesn't seem to be going anywhere - the conclusion is pretty open, it's clever but it isn't satisfying for those wanting an end to the story. It's more a character piece that also looks at the UK's asylum policy. However it doesn't judge anyone or anything - it is wonderful in the way it simply presents the story with little sentiment or emotion and without pointing fingers at anyone or any situation. It could have easily been very preachy.

The cast are great. Korzun is a great actress and brings her character's vulnerability through. Strelnikov is also good as her son although doesn't have as much to do. Considine is excellent as Alfie - at first his character just seems to be a wide-boy type, saying "man" every few words and boasting about his fights and stuff, but his character is deeply written and is well brought out. The surprise performance for me was the role of Les, the internet pornographer who offers good money to Tanya for some strip work. It was a surprise because he was played by real life pornographer Steve Perry (his porn name is Ben Dover - quite famous in the UK) - although here he is credited as "Lindsey Honey", a made-up name. The fact that he essentially plays himself (just in terms of his job) but allows himself to be judged by the audience makes it an excellent, brave performance and he deserves recognition for it.

The film's weaknesses are minor but the fact that it is so bleak may be a turn off for those not willing to look past the surface. Also it moves quite slow and may frustrate at times. The way the scenes fade to black give it a bad TV feel - it feels like it was made to fade out to commercial breaks. Also the way that the seaside town is portrayed as "big brother" style town where the authorities see and know everything is at times a little hard to swallow.

Overall it is a great character piece that also gives a view of the UK from an foreigners point of view. It's slow, thoughtful and non-judgemental.

A glowing review of this film on the radio enticed me. The review, I recalled in retrospect, was about the film's technical points. I experienced the film as a sad and predictable home movie about a Russian woman and child, who simply do not know what they are doing with their lives. The one counterpoint character in the life-in-the-gulag story line, played very well by Paddy Considine, kept the film alive, in my opinion. I was impressed with the film's ending. There was a message about responsibility and self victimization that was very refreshing. I did not feel that the film offered entertainment, even in my broadest definition, but it did offer a look at poverty, brutish bureaucracy and the consequences of ignorance in the whole realm of illegal immigration. Perhaps it could be shown regularly at airports in developing countries.