Dancing At The Blue Iguana

The look of this DVD is pristine. The sound, which is so important, because of the music, compliments it.

Enormous trouble has been taken with these extras. The two commentaries are very different. Michael Radford goes into intricate detail about his feelings, what he was trying to achieve, the risks, everything. For those interested in how a movie like this gets made, it is essential listening.

He started with nothing - an idea, five girls, two men, five months of work. Everything was improvised and then written into a script and then reimprovised. The cameraman never knew how a scene was going to develop and had to be nimble on his feet. The club, used in the film, "was owned by a man who is now in jail for a contract killing."

His admiration for Sandra Oh knows no bounds - "an actress of infinite subtlety" - and says of Daryl Hannah "one of the best improvisational actors I have ever seen." Jennifer Tilly was terrific, too. They did their homework, studied other strip joints, even worked in some. "I went to one myself," Radford says. "I was asked by a black-haired girl whether I wanted a lap dance. It was Daryl." Charlotte Ayanna went to Vegas to try it out - "Most depressing thing in her life."

Most of the people working in the sex industry were abused as children, he says. "There was an incredible sadness to those places." And yet not on the set. "I wanted to explore what I could do with actors. It was the essense of pure creativity." He remembers what Peter Brook once said - how do we live the next day of our lives? "That's what this film is about."

The second commentary is a conversation about the experience of working on Dancing At The Blue Iguana.

"I wrote a script 10 years ago," Sheila Kelley says, "and gave it to Mike Radford." That was the start, although very little of it was used. "Mike threw away the script and we decided to improvise the whole film." When he came to Los Angeles, he satyed at The Blue Iguana motel.

The three actors talk affectionately about their time together. "We attacked those clubs all over town. I made some good friends amongst the dancers." Robert Wisdom remembers the set. "It was a great room to walk into each day and to watch everyone work."

Jennifer Tilly was really shy, which is surprising, considering her fiesty character in the film. "Watching Jen improv," Sandra Oh says. "She's seamless." Daryl Hannah was always going out and buying different clothes for Angel, trying on shoes. "Daryl in 6" heels is the tallest human being in the world."

They describe the creative process as working naked, not literally, but psychologically. It was an experience they remember fondly, with a certain pride. "It's two years later now and I still love everyone I worked with," Wisdom says.

Daryl Hannah's documentary is raw and fascinating, as she learns from the genuine strippers. She stays in a particular club, where one of the girls, Castle, looks after her. "They would dress me up and disguise me so that I could watch the girls dance."

Hannah had never been in a strip joint before. "Everything had to come from our imaginations and research." This hour long film represents her research. "I was in that dressing room until three in the morning for months," she says. She's quiet and watchful, as the girls chatter around her.

Gino, the manager, is a Sly Stallone lookalike. He's protective of the girls. One of them, Nikki, wants time off. Her father's died. Gino talks of support systems and friendships. He doesn't like to see Nikki upset. It is a far cry from the brutal backstage cynicism of a movie like Showgirls.