LOLA

Andrew Legge's delightfully inventive début feature is one which fans will want to watch over and over again, if only for the music. This Blu-ray release may be rather slender but it promises plenty of enjoyment. The only real disappointment is that the distributor has not (to date) released a cine film version.

Viewers will have so many questions about this film that any number of interesting featurettes might have been created, but instead all the answers are condensed into an audio commentary. This covers subjects such as the creation and development of period-appropriate film effects, the collection of archive material and the licensing of music (with thanks to David Bowie's estate), plus the creation of new music designed to be a believable part of the Forties era or take the film in a new direction. We also hear about the cast and location and the various incidents and accidents which kept the production team on their toes and required them to innovate throughout - entirely to the benefit of the finished product. There is even a brief reflection on the scientific viability of the machine at the story's centre (the physics of this is not addressed in depth here, but is really interesting - if you want to learn more about it, this video is a good starting point).

There are no other special features here, but there are trailers for The Inspection, Falcon Lake and My Sailor, My Love, three other standouts of the past year.