The Criterion Collection

The Kid with a Bike

Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne

Victor Hsu: “A film that both aims at the fable and the realist, its direction is occasionally maudlin but the performances are driven by total sincerity.”

La haine

Mathieu Kassovitz

Victor Hsu: “A brutal fucking movie to shock the audience. Jodie Foster's introduction is a particular highlight, though it should be seen perhaps after the movie.”

Stagecoach

John Ford

Victor Hsu: “Starts off a little weak, in my opinion (it sets up much like a "conventional" Western) but the latter half is especially haunting and beautiful.”

Trafic

Jacques Tati

Victor Hsu: “I remember a bit of discomfort watching M. Hulot's later work Playtime, but this is certainly more digestible for the audience.”

Au hasard Balthazar

Robert Bresson

Victor Hsu: “Despite a rough assemblage of edits in the beginning (or this was in my opinion), the rest of the movie is a masterpiece of symbols.”

Chasing Amy

Kevin Smith

Victor Hsu: “A weird movie to watch, mostly because I'm not sure if the characters are intentionally despicable. Camerawork is atrocious but work is - interesting?”

The Game

David Fincher

Victor Hsu: “Visually this movie is much closer towards Fincher's later direction, and also hints at some of Fincher's shortcomings (an ending that stretches).”

The Long Good Friday

John Mackenzie

Victor Hsu: “A studious portrait of a gangster's fading hold on his empire - and a stunning score to boot. (My copy is a bootleg.) ”

Certified Copy

Abbas Kiarostami

Victor Hsu: “Straddles the line between reality and duplicity. The actions of each character remain sadly in tune through each "scenario" presented. Implications.”

The Blob

Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.

Victor Hsu: “An interesting curio and a devastating attack on America's willful disregard for the environment, personified by the "Blob" that consumes all things.”

Still Walking

Hirokazu Kore-eda

Victor Hsu: “A revisionist Ozu touch, mingled in with a more empathetic Obayashi-like direction. A true treasure of a film from the director of After Life.”

Taste of Cherry

Abbas Kiarostami

Victor Hsu: “Strange release. Not a bad film, and easily more watchable than Close-Up (which remains one of the most difficult experiences I've had).”

Peeping Tom

Michael Powell

Victor Hsu: “A very rare movie that manages to challenge the audience by inviting it into the voyeurism of cinema, with no real way out.”

Tokyo Olympiad

Kon Ichikawa

Victor Hsu: “Interesting experiment.”

Carl Theodor Dreyer Box Set

Victor Hsu: “Each film in this set is worth watching; the highlight of this collection (in my modest opinion) is Ordet, but all films are quite necessary.”

Berlin Alexanderplatz

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Victor Hsu: “A lengthy and at times dissolute collection of episodes that nonetheless serve as one of the most striking character studies ever put to film.”

Pandora’s Box

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Victor Hsu: “One of the greatest films of sexual immorality, precisely because Louise Brooks doesn't judge her character - she simply exists as Lulu.”

Bicycle Thieves

Vittorio De Sica

Victor Hsu: “A pessimistic and Italian neo-realist film that served as the highest point of the film movement itself, and is (somewhat paradoxically) lofty for it.”

Three Colors

Krzysztof Kieślowski

Victor Hsu: “A highlight of Kieslowski's career, thanks to the willful performances of each female character within their representative parts. Recommended.”

Island of Lost Souls

Erle C. Kenton

Victor Hsu: “Something of a small film in my own personal opinion, yet nonetheless it's an enjoyable film and a good indication of cinema's (future) evolution.”

The Complete Jean Vigo

Victor Hsu: “I was quite expecting something a little more unwieldy like Brakhage's box set (which, comprehensive as it is, still gives me frustration). Not so.”

The Makioka Sisters

Kon Ichikawa

Victor Hsu: “It's a bit sad to note that there are no real features save for a trailer, but the film makes up by articulating so well the displacement of culture.”

Blow Out

Brian De Palma

Victor Hsu: “A pulp film with no small ties to Antonioni's Blow Up, its greatest strength is its ability to exist cognizant of its artsy counterpart.”

The Mikado

Victor Schertzinger

Victor Hsu: “Rather than its own release, I think this could have benefited as a supplement to Topsy Turvy; it's an able adaptation, but nothing remarkable.”

Topsy-Turvy

Mike Leigh

Victor Hsu: “This film characterizes the development of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado (as can be evinced) but is really a film about the art of craftsmanship.”

America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Victor Hsu: “A diverse collection of films exploiting the human condition, from the playful tone of "Head" to the coming-of-age "The Last Picture Show." Recommend.”

Antichrist

Lars von Trier

Victor Hsu: “Despite a strange and unwieldy beginning (excluding the Noh-like opening) this film went on to be quite the experience. Not perfect, but serviceable.”

The Night of the Hunter

Charles Laughton

Victor Hsu: “At first I found this movie at first to be a strange oddity - a peppered British film with German influences. After watching Undertow, though...”

Paths of Glory

Stanley Kubrick

Victor Hsu: “There are two kinds of Kubrick: early Kubrick (where the story dominates) and late Kubrick (visual dominates). I find late Kubrick more interesting.”

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Nagisa Oshima

Victor Hsu: “After my previous bout with Oshima's Empire of Passion, I was hesitant with this. No need - it's very lyrical, and showcases Oshima as quite able.”

Red Desert

Michelangelo Antonioni

Victor Hsu: “A movie that feels its length, through examination of a woman in relation to her family, work, and the daily vacuousness of life.”

Mystery Train

Jim Jarmusch

Victor Hsu: “A spiritual successor to a Wenders film by way of using language and isolation to determine a disconnect with the reality around them.”

Everlasting Moments

Jan Troell

Victor Hsu: “I was a little surprised to see Armond White's contribution in this package; as for the film itself, it's a gorgeous and drenched film.”

Close-up

Abbas Kiarostami

Victor Hsu: “I may be first to indicate my own disgruntlement at Kiarostami's work, even though I recognize his is a very special kind of filmmaking. Nonetheless.”

Summer Hours

Olivier Assayas

Victor Hsu: “It's been a while since I last watched this movie, but I do remember it treating its core drama with a sense of dispassion and elegance. Recommended.”

Letters from Fontainhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa

Pedro Costa

Victor Hsu: “This was a weird and challenging set, but by far the most engaging film for me was Colossal Youth - everything else seemed a build up towards it.”

Bigger Than Life

Nicholas Ray

Victor Hsu: “True to its title, this is a giant portrait of a man succumbing fatally towards his addiction to substance, his relations forever tattered.”

Dillinger Is Dead

Marco Ferreri

Victor Hsu: “I remember watching this with a good deal of frustration; the narrative isn't exactly the most clear-cut. At its heart, though, it's A Woman Under...”

Hunger

Steve McQueen

Victor Hsu: “McQueen would later go on to make the more resonant Shame, but this first feature is quite challenging in scope and treatment of its subject.”

Revanche

Götz Spielmann

Victor Hsu: “I read at one point that the director, upon completing his film, knew it to be a masterpiece. And indeed it is.”

Paris, Texas

Wim Wenders

Victor Hsu: “I was very excited to watch this movie after having seen Wings of Desire, and reading about the plot; I'm happy to say my expectations were fulfilled.”

Che

Steven Soderbergh

Victor Hsu: “Unfortunately this film will end up being coupled with Peter Jackson, due to its somewhat stretched plotting (yet rich characterization!). Good.”

Gomorrah

Matteo Garrone

Victor Hsu: “This was a rough movie (and by that I refer to the intentional coarseness of the script, setting...) and also quite cynical. But it's filmed well.”

A Christmas Tale

Arnaud Desplechin

Victor Hsu: “I can't remember too much about this one save for the well-lit cinematography and the quiet pathos of the main character. I may have to rewatch this.”

Wings of Desire

Wim Wenders

Victor Hsu: “This was the film that first introduced me into the somewhat exotic - somewhat barren - and always magnificently philosophized works of Wim Wenders.”

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Chantal Akerman

Victor Hsu: “This was a film which made me quite active, in response to the slow and measured activities of the actress herself. It certainly has a shocker end.”

Repulsion

Roman Polanski

Victor Hsu: “I've been spoiled sadly on Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, so I can't necessarily call this a favorite Polanski - but it's quite the competent story.”

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

David Fincher

Victor Hsu: “I don't quite think this movie deserves the Criterion treatment, but nonetheless it's an able (yet weak) Fincher film. A curio, in any case.”

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

Peter Yates

Victor Hsu: “Making a note of it in light of Killing Them Softly: this is my personal favorite of the two works, mostly for its accentuated British quality.”

The Hit

Stephen Frears

Victor Hsu: “Another Briti-like drama that unfolds slowly, The Hit can be seen as a tonal counterpart to The Friends, though it's not quite so dispassionate.”

Empire of Passion

Nagisa Oshima

Victor Hsu: “Despite having watched this movie I cannot remember too much of it. I wonder if Oshima could be considered the Japanese Haneke...”

The Last Metro

François Truffaut

Victor Hsu: “This is the film where I note that my main interest was with the design of the Criterion cover, and not so much the movie itself. It's okay.”

White Dog

Samuel Fuller

Victor Hsu: “Probably one of my early Criterion discoveries, and one of my favorite as a result. Not much supplements besides the amusing interview with the dog.”

Europa

Lars von Trier

Victor Hsu: “When Lars von Trier works, he works quite splendidly. But I found Europa to be a minor work, and not especially compelling.”

Bottle Rocket

Wes Anderson

Victor Hsu: “It's a good thing to see Wes Anderson as a fledgling artist, if only to note how he will later build up on his compositions (never "films" anymore).”

The Earrings of Madame de . . .

Max Ophuls

Victor Hsu: “I was quite pleasantly surprised by this movie, as I expected something of a drab and dry film. It's plenty passionate, however, and worth the view.”

Mon oncle Antoine

Claude Jutra

Victor Hsu: “Quite possibly one of my most favorite Quebec films of all time, and definitely a highlight of Canadian cinema. Though I don't think I'll revisit it.”

Vampyr

Carl Th. Dreyer

Victor Hsu: “Hypnotic and tender at times, whilst truly frightening in its assemblage of images. I do wish the narrative was kept to the images, though.”

Patriotism

Yukio Mishima and Domoto Masaki

Victor Hsu: “A slow, methodical "movie" that honestly might have been better off as a supplement to Mishima: A Life in Pictures. Regardless, it is a curio.”

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Paul Schrader

Victor Hsu: “A mesmerizing film that should be complemented with Patriotism. This is a "biopic" much in the vein of Bob Dylan, with elements of fiction underlying.”