Was the film based on personal experience?
Vaguely. I came to England with my mother while in my teens. I also liked the idea of the story of a mother and son where there's a relationship dynamic between a clever kid and a slightly idealistic and naive but also very soulful woman from Eastern Europe.
You built a close-knit community during the shoot by having the cast and crew live together.
This was also partly economic but it did help. It created a feeling of togetherness, especially amongst the actors, that helped to dispel any tension and allow us to trust each otherΒΉs work.
How did you find Artiom Strelnikov and Dina Korzun?
Dina through the casting process in Russia where I was looking for actors with their own children. Artiom came to a similar casting session in St Petersburg with another actor. He was exactly what I was looking for, dreamy but also quite cocky, rather like the young child in Truffaut's "The 400 Blows".
"Last Resort" is imbued with humanism and integrity.
I'd like to think such things are within me. I've always liked films where humans are at odds with the system, ordinary people who have some anarchy or poetry about them. I love to fall in love with characters and all the films that remain important to me are ones where I've really fallen for the characters and have wanted to be up on the screen with them.
Do you plan to do more features or concentrate again on documentaries?
Well it's hard now to get the money to make the decent sized documentaries. It makes me laugh however as people keep saying to me that "Last Resort" is a good stepping stone to make a proper film and I have to say, " "Last Resort" is a proper film."
Read an interview with Paddy Considine, one of the film's stars.
