POWERFUL and deeply affecting, Uberto Pasolini's tender drama is a reminder how fleeting life is and how tragic it is to die alone.

A vehicle for his talents as a leading man, Eddie Marsan (Tyrannosaur, Happy-Go-Lucky) plays council worker John May in Still Life.

He is tasked with tracing the relatives of people who have died, often in destitution and isolation.

And although John is stuffy and set in his ways he cares deeply both about the importance of his job on a moral level and about the deceased people he has never met and who are simply a photo on a file.

But when John loses his job he puts all his energy into his last case which proves to be life changing.

The search for living relatives happens to be for his neighbour, a war veteran, and John's journey is as much of an emotional one as a physical one.

Although it is a film about death, Pasolini's film is actually life affirming because it is a reminder of how profound a selfless act of kindness can be.

It will also make you think about the echoes our actions can have and all the human connections we make in a lifetime, however small.

Still Life shares some of the same themes as American drama series Six Feet Under.

But this film, directed by The Full Monty producer Pasolini and also starring Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt, is a wonderfully well crafted British success.