More Recycling

I recently watched The Limey, Steven Soderbergh's flashy but decidedly unremarkable thriller starring Terence Stamp as an ex-con.  One thing that interested me about the film was the way Soderbergh used excerpts from Ken Loach's 1967 film 'Poor Cow' as flashbacks showing Stamp 40 years younger before he went to prison.

It's an ingenious idea, saving the production money and shooting time and negating the need to find a young actor who looks like Stamp, although it must have put some restrictions on the script and heavily influenced character development.

It reminded me of an inspiring talk I attended last year by Warp Films CEO Mark Herbert. Mark said that Warp will always look to maximize their budget and cut corners where they can as long as it doesn't compromise the quality of the film. For example, instead of shooting flashbacks for  Dead Man's Shoes, having to give the set a 70's dressing and hire period cars etc. he managed to find a load of real 16mm rolls in his parent's loft of his own family that could be used. This allowed them to spend the money allocated to the flashbacks elsewhere.