The Criterion Collection
Essays
Jan 21, 2016 — In Gilda, Charles Vidor’s “violent, sexual, chaotic” noir, the director focused on Rita Hayworth’s skills as an actor and a dancer, eliciting a performance that became iconic in its own right and made her an international superstar.
The writer and director talks about how Girlfight reflects the vibrant spirit of director Karyn Kusama, praises Topsy-Turvy as his favorite Mike Leigh film, and takes home Hell’s Angels to watch with his wife, Hollywood historian Karina Longworth.
The writer and director returns to the Criterion Closet, where he pays tribute to David Lynch, praises Mikey and Nicky as a perfect collaboration between a director and actors, and reminisces about watching Persona in Ingmar Bergman’s theater on Fårö...
The actor and director praises Black God, White Devil as one of the most important Brazilian films ever made, talks about the complex humanity of Il Posto, and reflects on why Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are his favorite filmmakers.
Essays
Oct 16, 2018 — Seen as a light-hearted farce upon its release, this star-studded comedy by Hal Ashby stands as one of Hollywood’s most prescient portraits of post-Watergate politics.
Dec 16, 2025 — Paul Reubens’s iconic character comes to cinematic life in this collaboration with director Tim Burton, who creates an on-screen world that evokes the unbridled joy and overwhelming terror of childhood.
Oct 24, 2025 — It is hard to conceive of a film more dazzlingly, dizzyingly divided against itself—or one more appropriately so—than this delirious creation of screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky and director Ken Russell.
Interviews
Jun 30, 2025 — An up-and-coming director reflects on the resourcefulness and scrappy ingenuity that went into making his three films, now playing on the Criterion Channel.
The Daily
Jun 20, 2024 — All the Archers’ classics but also more than a few rarities will screen as part of MoMA’s comprehensive retrospective.
Essays
Sep 28, 2022 — Cameroonian director Dikongué-Pipa’s debut feature is both a manifesto on cinema’s capacity to bring about social change and a celebration of love and its possibilities.