"Unfinished Song" is the third work of British director Paul Andrew Williams, whose previous films (one thriller and two horror films) have been described by film critics as "all about food in a remote and backward region." Humans and Rapists", and this film is a touching work with a fresh and warm style. Its topics of family, old age, terminal illness, and community choirs are an antidote to hardcore films.
"Essentially it's a movie about an old man and about change. How can someone who is stubbornly holding on to who he is but also deeply unhappy at the same time find a way to change himself? That's the story I want to tell."
"The family part in the film comes from my own experience. As for the choir, I honestly would never join a choir myself, but it's nice to see other people having fun."
In the beginning, Williams could not have imagined that he could have a lineup like Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Arterton. The first two are respected seniors and veteran actors, while the latter thinks that the development momentum is booming in recent years. "To be honest," the director confessed, "I dare say no one of them knows who I am. No one has seen my previous work. The first time they knew me was through the script I gave them", "It's great" , "so well written" - that's what he got from Redgrave.
"The scene where Vanessa sang in the park was the hardest for me, for many reasons. My grandma died of cancer too. I cried when Vanessa sang, and that scene I was alone in the corner and cried for 25 minutes after the scene. Since we were filming near the hospital, someone came up to me and said, 'Dude, are you alright'."
"I didn't go to film school. I made some short films and music videos, and I learned as I did. I learned a lot by constantly asking questions." His advice to young filmmakers is to "keep going and ask more questions." Now a lot of people feel that asking questions makes them feel ashamed." But that's not the case.
