The Criterion Collection
Apr 12, 2011 — With his 1970 gangster epic Le cercle rouge, Jean-Pierre Melville finally landed his white whale.
From sweeping epics to more intimate, luminous films, this English filmmaker’s pictures were driven by his deep interest in complex characters, his brilliant way with actors, and his classic sense of storytelling.
This pioneer of American independent cinema made emotionally naked human dramas suffused with kinetic, heightened realism.
Jan 12, 2011 — Scott Morse is a storyteller with one foot in the world of comics and the other in the world of film. His books Soulwind, Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!, and the Kurosawa-inspired tale The Barefoot Serpent have garnered critical acclaim and a...
Jan 11, 2011 — His most personal film as well as the final one to deal with the German occupation of France, Jean-Pierre Melville’s thriller showcases human consciousness grappling with mortality.
With his brilliant knack for composition, expertise at choreographing deadpan slapstick, and grandiose vision, this French mime turned filmmaker created one of the most enjoyable, singular oeuvres in film.
In the midsixties, a new generation of directors rose to prominence, both within and outside of the studio system, leading to a renaissance that transformed American filmmaking.
Oct 19, 2010 — With Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa set out to debunk some of the more inflated myths that had attached themselves to the samurai.
The continuing cultural fascination with World War II has ensured that it’s the conflict most represented in cinema, and the Criterion Collection indeed contains more works about that massive conflagration than any other.
Cinema history is dotted with thunderous works of art that announced their makers’ brilliance right out of the gate.