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Franny Armstrong (dir), Helen Steel and Dave Morris , McLibel - the postman and the gardener who took on McDonalds. And won (Spanner Films, 2005; Running time: 85mins (main feature). Five hours footage in total; Format: DVD; £20 - from http://www.spannerfilms.net/ )
Reviewed by: NICOLAS LALAGUNA
Unbelievably Spanner Films have done the impossible. By putting what should already be a multi-award winning documentary on to DVD, they have made it even better.
McLibel tells the story of how a postman and a gardener took on one of the largest - and some would say most insidious - corporations on the planet in a desperately unfair struggle. As well as fighting McDonald's through the British courts without any legal representation in the longest libel trial in British history, they then went on to take the British government to the European Court of Human Rights for denying them the right to a fair trial.
Among the very many other roles this DVD fulfils, it is at once both a master class in low-budget documentary making and a whatto-expect handbook for anyone starting a fight with a trans-national corporation.
As well as an earlier 52-minute version of the documentary from 1997, the double disc DVD also contains the 85-minute feature length version released this year, with commentaries by Franny Armstrong the Director/ Producer, Helen and Dave, the drama director Ken Loach and David's son Charlie. And if that wasn't enough there are hours of extras.
These two DVDs are literally crammed full of additional information and footage, with complete interviews, scenes that didn't make it to the final cut, press conferences, TV rejection letters. The list just goes on and on.
This DVD is a phenomenal extension to the documentary itself, taking you into the realms of the people involved, the processes, the history, the difficulties of not just making the documentary but the McLibel struggle itself.
While watching the documentary it is often difficult to see beyond Helen Steel and David Morris, these two extraordinary and desperately committed people who took a stand for all of us in defence of our freedom of speech. But it is in the extensive and far-reaching nature of this DVD that Franny Armstrong is introduced. The resourcefulness, talent and commitment of the Director/Producer in the making of this no-budget documentary are a joy to watch. She complements Dave and Helen's tenacity with a seldom-seen single mindedness, to document complete events in the modern media.
For all our sakes go out and buy this DVD, it would be a marvellous thing if it out-sold ShamBurgers for just a little while.