Best…DVD Commentary…Ever

by William Speruzzi on 05/27/2007

Everyone has a favorite DVD that takes it to the next level and offers up some good commentary and/or extra features. Some that come to mind for me are The Limey, Three Kings, Seven and just about anything from Michael Mann. I just watched Matchstick Men, pretty good film, ended up watching the featurettes that came with it. Ridley Scott is all about process and you can see it from these little PR shorts.

So what’s yours? What is your favorite DVD that has the writer, director, producer etc. waxing poetic and inspirationally about how they do the thing they do? [added] Or a DVD that you learned a great deal from beyond the film itself?

There are 5 comments in this article:

  1. 05/27/2007J. J. Murphy says:

    Off the top of my head, I’d say the best DVD commentary that comes to mind is by the Turkish director of Distant, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who also did the more recent Climates. Strongly influenced by Tarkovsky, Ceylan makes a case for low-budget filmmaking. He talks about the benefits of utilizing a small crew and non-professional actors. He also offers great insights into casting, dialogue, and performance. Ceylan indicates, for instance, that he chose the lead actor, even though this person didn’t excel in the casting session. The casting session involved line readings of dialogue, but because Ceylan’s film involved very little dialogue, he decided to go with his intuition. He shot a great deal of the film in his apartment. Ceylan also discusses how he was able to utilize what was available around him: the weather (snow), the huge ship wreck in the harbor, and the city of Istanbul itself. Ceylan provides a rationale for using long takes and for a more minimal style. He says he loves to edit, and talks about getting up in the middle of the night and editing. Ceylan discusses how the actual film changed from the script, and how he came to eliminate things that he felt were not necessary to the story. Most insightful are Ceylan’s insights into the characters. He discusses the implications of key scenes, such as when Mahmut falsely accuses Yusuf of stealing, and then hides the evidence to the contrary. In terms of Mahmut’s former wife, Ceylan explains that Mahmut goes to see her because he’s hoping for a miracle. He talks about people doing things even when they know they’re not really viable. In other words, even if Mahmut and his wife were to reconcile, their relationship still wouldn’t work. Ceylan observes that people don’t really change, which becomes a rationale for the kind of naturalism he employs.

  2. 05/29/2007Steve Boone says:

    Soderbergh’s commentary on Out of Sight is pretty good. A lot of talk about influences (70′s crime films and such) and how certain shots were cheated, improvised, refined, etc.

    Walter Murch and George Lucas spill a lot about crafting low-budget sci-fi on their commentary to THX-1138.

    The extra documentaries on a Ugetsu disc tell a lot about Kenji Mizoguchi’s process and artistic obsessions.

    Maybe my favorite extra, though, is a documentary on Werner Herzog supervising the scoring sessions for Grizzly Man. It doesn’t teach much, but for anybody who loves Herzog, it is essential.

  3. 05/30/2007J. J. Murphy says:

    To clarify my initial comment, Ceylan’s remarks on Distant are in the form of an extra-feature interview rather than voice-over commentary. I thought of some other examples worth noting, which wound up becoming an entire blog entry about the issue on my own site. I did an informal survey of film friends and scholars and found that many of them don’t take advantage of the commentary and special-bonus features. Most people see these simply as attempts to create added value to the DVD format. Obviously there can be some great material included on the DVD, however, which is what your question is attempting to tease out.

  4. 06/7/2007Pauly says:

    Got to say that my favorite DVD commentary is the in-character commentary for Fubar. What better way to do commentary for a mockumentary than have the actors come back and do it in character? Not only does it add a new dimension, it’s like making a whole new movie out of the same material. Some parts of the commentary are better than the original. I love it.

  5. 07/18/2007William Speruzzi says:

    Okay, I got it. I just got finished watching King of New York and hands down, listening to Ferrara speak about the film brings it to another level. You get to hear from his unique and unedited point of view what it’s like to make a crime action film in that budget range, around 5-6 million. This film really marked a departure for Ferrara, he was playing with the big boys. What is really a trip is how he views the film now, looking at it as some kind of ridiculous, crime fantasy movie. I don’t disagree that he really amped it up for this film but listening to him talk about it with all his bluntness is refreshing and an education at the same time. I knew there was a reason why he is considered a man of mythological stature.

    While you’re at it check out the documentary on him, A Short Film About The Long Career of Abel Ferrara. Fascinating.

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