‘It felt important that we go there and be true to what happened’
The Lockerbie bombing has inspired a new film about grief, writes Danielle de Wolfe
There’s been a long gestation period,” says actor and director Danny Huston of the elapsed time between the completion and release of his latest emotionally charged directorial project, The Last Photograph.
With production reaching completion in 2017, it is only now, nearly four years on, that the feature length film is finally making its way to UK screens.
“The story is an amalgamation of three different stories, one of which was inspired by a neighbour who lost somebody in Lockerbie at the time,” says Huston, 58, best known for his on-screen roles in X Men Origins, American Horror Story, and more recently, Succession.
“So, the story is fiction, that gave me a certain amount of freedom. But as the film becomes more and more specific, suddenly, we’re talking about truth, and that’s where the archive material is very important.”
The 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which claimed 270 lives, created lasting ripples that can still be felt to this day.
The Last Photograph sees Huston take up position behind the camera, as well as in front of it.
Playing the role of Tom, a father who finds himself allconsumed by grief following the loss of his son in Lockerbie some 15 years earlier, Huston’s character attempts to continue with life – albeit from beneath a dark cloud of loss.
However, when two thieves (Jaime Winstone and Imogen Waterhouse) enter his bookshop and steal his bag containing the last photograph of the father and son together, the story takes a poignantly nostalgic turn.
“It was my friend, Simon Astaire, who gave the script to me and immediately interested in me from a directing point of view, as far as the sort of tapestry of the piece,” says Huston.
Switching between the present day and reflective memories of the past, Astaire penned both the screenplay and novel simultaneously, delicately bringing the characters’ stories into focus over the course of 120 minutes.
Staying loyal to the roots of the subject matter, Huston ventured to Scotland in a bid to ensure the project remained as authentic as possible.
“It felt important that we go there and be true to what happened,” he says. “I know that people visit the graveyard and in a way it’s known for this terrible disaster, so there’s that sort of feeling of respect for the victims, but there’s also a pastoral beauty that the place has."
Despite the overwhelming sense of sadness that accompanies a story such as Lockerbie, Huston hopes that the film also brings with it a sense of positive reflection, something made more poignant given the toll of the pandemic.
“How many last photographs, how many sweaters and articles of people that we’ve lost, that we care about, that we love, still exist? Maybe this film is a cathartic experience and can help bring memories back.”