Spotlight
One Scene
In this series of articles, some of our favorite writers and filmmakers highlight key moments in cinema that continue to haunt them long after the credits roll.
The Current
A magazine of film culture past and present, with new articles, interviews, and videos published every day
Ritwik Ghatak’s Pursuit of Truth Beyond Realism
Acclaimed Indian filmmakers Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Kumar Shahani discuss how the Bengali master mixed expressionism and naturalism in his devastating domestic tragedy The Cloud-Capped Star.
The Notes in Between: A Conversation with Nicholas Britell
One of the most sought-after composers in film and television opens up about his genre-defying sound and his deeply collaborative relationships with directors.
Hidden Histories: The Story of Women Film Editors
A new web resource spearheaded by Su Friedrich celebrates women editors from around the world, highlighting work that has long been obscured by the masculinism of auteurist film culture.
Busting Out of the Big House
The Criterion Channel’s series of prison-break classics showcases eight masterful takes on this most nerve-wracking of suspense subgenres.
The Cloud-Capped Star: A Cry for Life
In this landmark melodrama, director Ritwik Ghatak channeled his grief over the destruction of his beloved homeland, Bengal, in the wake of the Partition of India.
Mystery of Faith: What “the Breath of Religion” Means to Mark Le Fanu
In his thought-provoking latest book, the critic and frequent Criterion contributor traces the complex ways European filmmakers have grappled with the influences of Christianity and modernity.
Death’s Angel: Peter Fonda in Easy Rider
The late actor became an icon of his generation with this moody, brilliant non-performance, informed by his intimate knowledge of chaos and death.
A Constant Becoming
With their novelistic density and sexual openness, the films of French master André Téchiné introduced director Stephen Cone to a strange new world of contradictions.
A Howl of Defiance from the Italian Sixties
Marco Bellocchio’s subversive debut feature, Fists in the Pocket, emerged out of a period of social unrest, taking aim at both bourgeois values and Catholic hypocrisy.
John Schlesinger’s Cinema of Failures and Outcasts
A gay man in an age when homosexuality was against the law in his native Britain, the Oscar-winning director eschewed political statements in favor of compassionate portrayals of the human condition.
Bitter Harvest
Three noirs from 1949 plough up the dark underbelly of agriculture, exploring the corrupt system that puts food on our tables.
