The Look

Jul 13, 2010 — At the author’s request, Japanese names are given here in their traditional form: surname first. Ozu Yasujiro’s personal feelings about Japanese militarism in the 1930s and 1940s are not on record. Perhaps, like most people around him, he accepted the...

May 15, 2000 — Vagabond has been called Agnès Varda’s Ulysses, and with good reason. The comparison with James Joyce’s era-defining epic novel extends well beyond a recognizable similarity between the two artists. Both writer and filmmaker occupy vanguard positions in the history of...

May 15, 2020 — Directors, actors, and critics look back on their most memorable moments in movie theaters, and the BFI spotlights the best of Japanese cinema.

Sep 3, 2021 — Faya Dayi opens, Sight & Sound revives the Black Film Bulletin, and Tsai Ming-liang and Tony Leung Chiu Wai look back—and ahead.

Aug 13, 2021 — This week we’re reading about the first and second waves of noir and taking a good look at a smartly dressed man.

Oct 22, 2024 — Lana Wilson is a writer and director whose work includes After Tiller, an Emmy-winning feature documentary about the four most-targeted abortion doctors in America; The Departure, a Spirit Award–nominated feature documentary about a punk-turned-priest who helps suicidal people find reasons...

Sep 30, 2013 — Keegan McHargue is a painter whose work has been exhibited throughout the world and draws on many facets of culture, with a particular affinity for film. His exhibition Prick of Conscience was at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery in New York...

Oct 30, 2012 — “I discovered Criterion in the late eighties with the laserdisc of
 Citizen Kane, which I still watch,” writes director William Friedkin, whose films include The French Connection, The Exorcist, Sorcerer, and 2011’s Killer Joe. “Since switching to DVD and Blu-ray,...

Dec 16, 2008 — More than a year ago, Peter and I were in the midst of discussions about how we wanted to launch the Criterion cinematheque. Over time, those discussions expanded to include every department at Criterion. We wanted to have a single...

An irrepressible feminist tale, a subversive reimagining of the American cowboy, a defining 1990s thriller, a scorching study of toxic love, three personal and panoramic family portraits, a tender look at a fractured family, and a poignant take on a...