Monster

One of those devastating films which, once seen, will never leave you, Monster is a tough watch but a rewarding one, and an excellent choice for any serious cinephile's collection. This limited edition Blu-ray release includes a suite of extras which sweeten the deal still further and have a lot to offer both to fans and to people who are involved in making films themselves.

The highlight is an hour-long interview with Patty Jenkins in which she talks through the filmmaking process from start to finish, touching on almost every aspect of production. Two archive television pieces substantiate this and show the way she was thinking about the film at the time of its release, but the interview goes into a lot more depth, especially in regard to the careful balance she wanted to strike in addressing the grim reality of Wuronos' life without exonerating her. It reveals the two women's correspondence and the thousands of letters which Wuornos arranged to have given to Jenkins following her execution, which provided a unique insight, influencing both the tone of the film and the details of Charlize Theron's Oscar-winning performance.

Jenkins' lingering discomfort with Wuornos' choices is clear and ought to go some way toward answering those critics who called the film a feminist whitewash, but there's a telling moment when she looks back to Boys Don't Cry and it's clear that she still thinks of Brandon Teena as a lesbian, which says something about her ability to engage with storytelling at an instinctive level even when she cannot fully relate to its subjects. Latterly, she references the pleasure she found in getting away from darkness to make Wonder Woman, but the comparison is an interesting one partly because viewers will note the exploration of trauma in Gal Gadot's performance in that film.

In contrast to Jenkins' intensity, producer Brad Wyman comes across as ebullient, but the interview with him is equally informative, and likewise that with cinematographer Steven Bernstein, though this letter piece is only partially concerned with Monster and also reflects on several other films which Bernstein worked on, as well as the music videos on which he initially honed his technique.

There are a number of other treats to enjoy here, including a very thorough audio commentary and a series of deleted and extended scenes. It's easy to see why the latter couldn't fit into the film in full (though one can imagine the pain involved in carving them up in the edit), but you shouldn't miss this opportunity to see the whole of what Theron achieved at key points in the story as she immersed herself in her character. Across the suite of features, Jenklns is at pains to point out what a tremendous effort that involved, and what it cost. It's a reminder of what committed acting entails, and as such it ought to give viewers a greater appreciation of cinema in general.