Continuing a lifelong exploration of the challenges faced by everyday people, director Ken Loach tells a story of love across racial boundaries in the "thoughtful drama" Ae Fond Kiss. Boasting fine performances by Atta Yaqub and Eva Birthistle, critical response to the film was warm if less than rapturous. Of course Loach's reputation for tackling socio-political issues usually translates into small box office returns and this film didn't do anything to break that trend.

Make Love, Not War

As well as explaining how the film was made, the 'making of' featurette looks at why director Ken Loach was drawn to the material. "It was in a cultural area I'd never worked in before," he says, "And I was keen to explore it." He's referring to Scotland's large Pakistani community who faced more than the usual level of hostility in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Atta Yaqub reveals that the character of Casim resonated with his own experiences as a British Asian and explains the unaffected nature of his performance as "me being me". This ties in to a brief discussion of Loach's interaction with actors which keeps Yaqub et al very much on their toes. "We get the script in parts day by day," reveals the young actor, "So everything is new to me - I don't actually know what's going to happen." Regarding the technical aspects of filmmaking, Loach talks at length about stripping everything down to its "bare bones".

Loach goes into more depth about his "naturalistic" approach to filmmaking and themes that connect all of his films in a 45-minute interview recorded at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2004. He also talks about why he'd rather collaborate with a screenwriter than sit down and write a script from scratch. "I think they're very different jobs," he says, "It's a pity that film schools have developed this notion that you have to do both because you can lose so much that way." Budding filmmakers should have their notebooks at the ready!

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

Screenwriter Paul Laverty joins Loach for a laidback but philosophical feature commentary. There's a lot of talk about 9/11 and how reaction to Muslims in western countries inspired them both to explore this new wave of racial bigotry. "I think the point we wanted to make," offers Loach, "is that you can't lump everyone together who has a Muslim background anymore than you can lump all the brands of Christianity together."

A reel of deleted scenes includes a flashback for Casim who recalls the fear and helplessness of being a boy looking on as a gang of yobs attacks his father. For comic relief a few bloopers are also thrown in eg: it seems that Loach had his actors toiling through their lunch-breaks as evidenced by an interruption to sound during one of Birthistle's quietly emotional scenes.

Altogether this DVD offers a well-rounded and thought-provoking selection of extras that demonstrates, above all else, the passion of the filmmakers.

EXTRA FEATURES