The Big Melt

The best element of this BFI package is the accompanying booklet. In it, Jarvis Cocker gives a very personal recollection of growing up in the shadow of the, then dying, steel industry and how his initial reluctance about the project turned to enthusiasm after he saw the piece of footage featuring a worker flicking a V.

There is also a good article from his collaborator Martin Wallace talking about working on the project, while a third essay, by Jan Faull, gives a guide to some of the key footage used.

On the disc itself, there's a chance to see the live recording of The Big Melt in Sheffield, which gives you a sense of just how many musicians were involved in the project, as we watch them come and go to provide the soundtrack for their relevant portion of the film, seen playing in the background. There is also a brief three-minute snippet of rehearsal footage with the brass band.

A nine-minute interview segment with Cocker and Wallace is better included than not but offers little more than you can find in the booklet. A trailer rounds out the package.