听 The controversial events of Bloody Sunday were explored in Paul Greengrass' film of the same name. Now the DVD release tries to further explain what happened on that fateful day in Northern Ireland in 1972.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture The hand-held gritty style of film-making transfers well to DVD, with the raw energy intact but without any contributory extra grain from the disc itself.
Sound The subtle 5.1 mix kicks into action during the major scenes of confrontation, but does so with close, precision effects that are alarming in their nature, as intended.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary One The writer and director, Paul Greengrass, and star James Nesbitt carefully try to deconstruct what they were trying to achieve with this film. The political forces at play are discussed along with the structure of the film, and how it was balanced to represent both sides of the story.
Audio Commentary Two This commentary track is with Don Mullen, the writer of the book "Eyewitness: Bloody Sunday", the inspiration for this film. At 15, he witnessed the events of the day, but it hasn't left him bitter. If anything, he is keen to emphasise how he hopes the film can bring closure to both sides of the conflict. He's not shy, though, of holding back on details he feels are important, and where critical blame lies for the resulting mess.
Cast and Crew Interviews There are 23 minutes of short interviews with the cast and crew. Most of the comments are character- or story-led, but Greengrass does talk about using the film to create a "shared story" of an event that has its own myths for each side in the conflict.
Ivan and Jimmy James Nesbitt talks to Ivan Cooper, civil rights leader of the time about the fateful day.
Additional Extra Features Also on the disc is a 13-minute Q&A session held in the Curzon cinema, plus some location footage, and the theatrical trailer.
Region: 2
Chapters: 16
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Technical Features: Scene selection, and animated main menu.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
