The Criterion Collection
Nov 12, 2007 — I’ve always been fascinated by the details of getting places. Bill Becker would often say that the best part of a trip for me was getting there and back—what happened while I was there was less important. Figuring out how...
Essays
Dec 31, 2000 — Those who felt that Scandinavian cinema had passed into retirement along with Ingmar Bergman should be startled by Insomnia. This immaculately constructed psychological thriller sets a benchmark for other Scandinavian directors to match, and is one of the most unusual...
Sep 18, 1995 — The global problem of domestic violence destroys families and, in a broader context, locks entire societies into a pathology of pain, distrust, and self-hate. When the basic building blocks of any society—the bonds between mother, father, children—are so grossly violated,...
Essays
Dec 2, 1991 — Director Akira Kurosawa had wanted to make Throne of Blood for some time. “After finishing Rashomon [in 1950] I wanted to do something with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but just about that time Orson Welles’s version was announced, so I postponed mine.”...
The editor of the New Yorker feels honored by the tribute to the magazine in The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, urges patience to appreciate Stan Brakhage’s experimental cinema, and finds parallels between the experiences of watching...
The actor reminisces about falling in love with Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich’s collaborations at a young age, praises Andrea Arnold’s distinct vision, and talks about how David Cronenberg’s films strike a unique balance between the extreme and the...
The writer, director, and actor talks about a parallel between The 400 Blows and his popular show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the inspiration he has taken from Being There, and his excitement about exploring the work of Agnès Varda.