Bailey On

The DVD comes with an additional featurette, in which director/photographer David Bailey talks to journalist Chris Roberts with humour, candour and modesty about the experience of making his three mini-docs. An invaluable part of giving the programmes the context that they need and deserve, Bailey talks about the problems the productions presented and about his reasons for choosing such different subjects.

His comments are frequently more revealing about art and artists than the information contained within the documentaries themselves. When discussing his fascination with Luchino Visconti's work, for instance, he points out that whereas "Visconti suffocated you with taste, Fellini suffocated you with vulgarity."

He also reveals that he was given complete artistic control and that the three short films were supposed to be part of a longer series that was to include other creative spirits, such as John Huston. So entertaining is Bailey that it's a shame he couldn't be persuaded to record commentaries for his visual triptych.

The booklet of transcripts was not included with the preview disc.