Shooting the Past

Subject: PBS...Shooting the Past
From: Thomas the Rhymer
Date: 11 Mar 01 - 04:57 PM

Did anyone else around here enjoy the PBS 'Masterpiece Theatre' called "Shooting the Past" as much as I did? It appealed to me, curiously, like folk music appeals to me... arrousing some similar sympathies...

I recommend it highly,ttr

Subject: RE: Shooting the Past
From: Amos
Date: 12 Mar 01 - 12:37 AM

Gee, TTR, what an interesting title. What the hell was it about?

A

Subject: RE: Shooting the Past
From: Gervase
Date: 12 Mar 01 - 04:45 AM

Details here.
It was aired in the UK a couple of years back, and I found it absolutely gripping. Timothy Spall deserved an award for his performance (but didn't get one, as far as I know), while Poliakoff's script was as good as Bennet or Stoppard at their best. Umissable.

Subject: RE: Shooting the Past
From: Thomas the Rhymer
Date: 12 Mar 01 - 11:33 PM

Well, it is about a collection of photographs mostly black and white, numbering in the tens of millions... The plot is simple; the building has been bought by a developer, and they have lost their sponsor. They have only a week to deal with it, and the caretakers have the filing system in their minds, not on hard drive. By their ingenuity, intuition, and pure chance, they are able to weave stories out of the past, by finding the photos out of their memory, ie. not relying on computer logic... but using their own intuition and common sense... and the plot just gets thicker.

The reason I brought it up here, is that many of the forces we are up against every day; the ones that threaten folk/trad music specificly, are addressed, and quite well I might add. Call around and find a copy!

It is available on video here in the States, the Portland library has five copies...

Subject: RE: Shooting the Past
From: Peg
Date: 13 Mar 01 - 12:07 AM

Loved it! Loved it! OMG I LOVED IT!!!! I had forgotten about this and thank you for mentioning it...saw it on PBS about a year ago I think...

absolutely brilliant. A must-see. Lindsay Duncan is in it too, yes? Timothy Spall is always wonderful.

If anyone knows where I can get a copy of this...I'd be most grateful. (I used to work at WGBH and collected quite a few videotapes but alas, no longer).

peg