A longer cut of Kenneth Lonergan's troubled masterpiece hits DVD next week...

Margaret was one of the best films I saw last year, though sadly few others had the chance to share that pleasure. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan shot the film in 2005, but a protracted legal battle kept it out of theaters until it was quietly dumped last September in a handful of cities for a couple of weeks at the most. The few critics who did manage to see it, however, started to spread the word that this was an extraordinary film, unfairly being overlooked, and following a thorough, pervasive Twitter campaign (headed by Slant's Jaime Christley), the film finally met the success it deserved in London, playing to sold-out crowds. Revivals followed in New York and Los Angeles, and the heat has yet to let up.

Now everyone will have the chance to see this great film when it's released in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack next Tuesday, July 10th. The Blu-ray will hold the theatrical cut that those of us who know love so well (running 150 minutes), and the accompanying DVD will hold a three-hour cut that has long been the subject of speculation and curiosity.

Telling the story of a bus accident and the aftermath in wreaks on a 17-year-old girl, Lisa (Anna Paquin), Margaret's title actually comes from a poem, "Spring and Fall," by Gerard Manley Hopkins, which is concerned with the precarious line between childhood and adulthood that is central to the themes of the film. Fox Searchlight have thusly put together an interactive version of the poem with images and clips from the film, which can be found here.

We'll be reviewing the longer cut soon, so stay tuned! Margaret will be released through Amazon on July 10th.

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