Customer Reviews
shooting the past - By: J. M. Ainsworth, 19 Dec 2007 
Be Carefull i ordered this dvd from amazon co.uk with much enthusiasm but find that it will not play in an uk dvd player it seems it is only made usa players & i can find nothing on the package or on the screen to tell me it is a region 1? only disc. amazon tell me the returns policy is for unopened disc only ! i will have the discussion when i return from france aaagh the hassle & i have several other films i dare not open now praps u r more computer literate than me but check v carefully good luck
fascinating - By: Hambletta-Maud, 05 Dec 2007 
gorgeously photographed & intricately plotted. stephen poliakoff at his best.
you will be mesmerised by the story of a photograph deposit library that faces imminent closure & the attempts of the staff to prevent this happening. half the work is done by the lushly scored soundtrack, which is simple yet effective & unobstrusive. full marks to the composer.
having said that, once you know the ending, i doubt you'll want to return to this again & again.
still, i enjoyed this immensely.
A thing of beauty - By: D. W. Macleod, 04 Nov 2007 
As television dramas go, this is the pinnacle. There are only two genii of television writing who have been active in the UK in the last twenty years. They are Alan Bennet & Stephen Poliakoff.
Shooting the past is mesmerising for every second of its production. If you have seen Timothy Spalll in Secrets & Lies, prepare yourself to see his best performance in any medium at any time.
I could watch this over & over again for its acting, cinematography, music or just the sheer beauty of the black & white photographs that are used to bracket the steady pace of the drama.
This is a gorgeous piece of television - & it is exactly that, television. This would not work in the same way in the cinema or on stage.
Proof that great drama needs no violence, just brilliant and engrossing storyline - By: Laura A. Hamilton, 01 Sep 2007 "Shooting the Past" is for you if you, like me, are sickened by the violence & blood-lust so many movies find not only indispensible but also central to the plot nowadays when "the gorier, the better". "Shooting the Past" is a diamond, providing proof that violence(it has none), sex & nudity (infrequent, mild here) & foul language (infrequent) are most definitely not necessary in a movie for it to be great.
"Shooting the Past" is a quiet story of the triumph of sentiment & heredity over the interests of big business, & it is utterly enthrallling, beautifully told, brilliantly acted, wonderfully scored. Don't miss it.
stills and stillness - By: gabrial, 03 Jul 2007 The synopsis given by other reviewers is accurate & it is indeed a first-rate piece of TV. In spite of some clunky accents & slightly cliched (minor) characters, this tackles some interesting concerns around modern attitudes to the past... Not only does such a photographic library constitute our 19th-20th memory; it also does so in a way which slips through the idea of 'masterpiece', 'archive' or 'usefulness'. Like time itself. It is interesting that only by involving someone personallly however is this fact made clear (I'm avoiding a spoiler here); this is the sad truth - only few people are enamoured of the past of others for its own sake. That's the lesson of history. Though Poliakoff as usual occasionallly lays it on with a trowel (I think the Lost Prince superior), it is far far better than 99% of drama in broadcasting. Not quite Brideshead, but it's worth it just for the documents shown on screen which make the point almost without the need for commentary. Spalll & Duncan are excellent.
