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LAST RESORT
Paul Pawlikowski, UK, 2000
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Originally conceived as a BBC TV drama, Last Resort is a rare thing; an intrinsically British movie depicting contemporary issues, brilliantly directed, astutely characterised and scripted and containing believable and moving performances. Shedding light on such perceptive filmmaking Pawlikowski reveals, "What always interested me in films (as in life) were people who defied the norm, whose personalities defied their environment, who despite being social underdogs haven't lost their humanity and their ability to yearn."
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A Russian immigrant called Tanya and her young son Artriom, arrive at a government immigration camp in Margate where she hopes to be reunited with her British fiancé. Plunging immediately into a bureaucratic nightmare and existing on food ration cards, Tanya is dealt a doubly bad hand when her so-called fiancé fails to materialise and that to leave the encampment altogether is as difficult as claiming asylum. Desperate and lonely, Tanya's plight leads her to the streetwise Alfie, an arcade manager, bingo caller and drifter.
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Last Resort is an enclosed world inhabited by misplaced or broken people
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Ostensibly the story of two people searching for love, it quickly becomes apparent that Last Resort is an enclosed world inhabited by misplaced or broken people. In tune with the films of Robert Bresson, Pawlikowski is concerned with the dispirited and the isolated, from the overworked administration staff, to the estate kids on the other side of the fence making a few quid selling electrical gear to the insiders.
Yet out of this grey exterior, Last Resort offers something equally stirring and magical; the glimmer of excitement in a new relationship, the rousing and liberating rush of sea air on skin or the warmth of humour on numbed emotions.
The intensely dramatic performances are heightened by an almost intrusive use of hand held camera which in turn switches to long takes, effecting a disorientation as disconcerting as the rides at the abandoned fairground. Like memories in a snapshot album, this is a visual experience you'll wish to revisit time and again.
Clare Norton-Smith
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