(star)(star)(star) 1/2
What is most memorable about the small, remarkable film “Last Resort” is its sense of place. This gritty, offbeat, appealing love story is set in a decrepit development for refugees on the British seaside. It’s a gloomy place; one can almost smell the mildew in the drab rooms and the hot grease in the cafeteria where residents exchange food waivers for fish and chips.
Tanya (Dina Korzun, who calls to mind Emily Watson) is a single mother from Moscow stuck in the desolate resort with her 10-year-old son after her fiance fails to meet her at the airport, as planned, and she runs into immigration problems. The natural banter between Tanya and son Artiom (Artiom Strelnikov), who never wanted to come to England in the first place, is one of the gifts of this lovely, understated film.
When the kindly Alfie (Paddy Considine), who runs the resort arcade, befriends bored Artiom and begins a gentle courtship with Tanya, the film takes on a transcendent quality.
In this unlikely romance, one of the most genuine in years, the rundown resort at the end of the world often becomes alluring, purely through the glow of the performers and the photography by Ryszard Lenczewski. He shoots often from behind glass doors, or through windows, and the effect keeps the characters and the prison-like place at a distance.
Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski brings his documentary skills to the naturalistic look and sound of “Last Resort”; it draws us into the place immediately, into the squalor and hopelessness and the small joys to be found in such an unlikely place.
“Last Resort” is a film that celebrates simple human kindness. If the ending feels somewhat unsatisfying, it is perhaps because one hates to see this too-brief film end at all.
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“Last Resort” opens Friday (as the kickoff film in the Shooting Gallery’s Spring Film Series) at the Landmark Century Centre Cinemas. Running time: 1:16. No MPAA rating.
