Translating the ‘Still’ and the ‘Silent’: Stephen Poliakoff’s Shooting the Past

Abstract

In this montage-essay I want to explore the co-being of two forms of visuality in contemporary culture: the photographic and the cinematographic. But this is not my main concern. The more important thing for me is to unravel the notion of translation as movement between them. For this purpose, I’ll focus on Stephen Poliakoff’s movie Shooting the Past[1]. I’ll also show that a similar translation/movement takes place in various sections of the text that makes this essay. I will examine translation, as an act/event, at three different but inter-related levels: at the level of the film, that is, within the cinematic narrative; at the level of this essay, that is, in the process of writing and reading this essay; and at the most general level, the level of signification.[1] British playwright and film director Stephen Poliakoff has so often used photographic images in his well-known television serials and films that it is described as a trademark of his style. They appear in films such as, The Tribe (1998), Perfect Strangers (2001), The Lost Prince (2003). For a comprehensive study of his work see, Nelson, Robin. Stephen Poliakoff on Stage and Screen, (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, Methuen Drama imprint, 2011).