Peter Mullan is a man of many talents. First, he cuts it as an actor, then impresses with this harrowing film. Now he adds a fantastic DVD commentary to his list of accolades.

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Picture Pale colours and a gritty veneer characterise this quality image transfer.

Sound The 5.1 sound mix does a beautiful job of surrounding you in the haunting music score.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Audio Commentary The standard of DVD commentaries is often quite low. Peter Mullan not only delivers an interesting commentary, but is also so charismatic it's hard to stop listening to him.

He approaches the exercise with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, announcing at the start: "This is your director speaking." He goes on to dissect the film in detail, talking about both the shoot and the developments of the story. He reveals that he put in one shot to be "terribly arty and significant", and bemoans two-camera set-ups as "a serious pain".

Thoroughly interesting and unpretentious, Mullan shares all, and doesn't hesitate to poke fun at himself or highlight efforts of cast and crew. He also discusses the organic nature of the shoot and how many scenes developed on-set.

Short Films Two of Peter Mullan's short films have been made available for this DVD. "Close" is set in a Glasgow tenement (the film's title is the Glaswegian word for a communal stairwell) and is a dialogue-led exercise that's of passing interest.

"Fridge" is a far better effort in terms of movement and direction. Mullan has made a tense little piece about a boy who becomes trapped in a chest freezer and the random efforts of a lout and an alcoholic homeless guy to free him, while warring amongst themselves.

Audition Tapes Auditions of four of the principal actresses. All are good, but Nora Jane Noone and Eileen Walsh are already strikingly close in performance to the characters they then go on to play.

Additional Extra Feature Also on the disc is a trailer.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Chapters: 18
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Audio Tracks: English and audio description for the visually impaired
Subtitles: English
Captions: None
Menus: Static and silent
Special Features Subtitles: None of the special features come with subtitles.

This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-N5 DVD player.