Muse

Jul 25, 2017 — “So,” wrote Chris Marker in 2003, looking back on his school days, “with scissors, glue and crystal paper, I made a faithful copy of the actual Pathéorama reel. After that, frame by frame, I began to draw a series of...

Jun 29, 2017 — Jean Cocteau’s gorgeous, wildly inventive adaptation of Mme. Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy tale Beauty and the Beast screens next Wednesday at Lexington’s Kentucky Theatre.

Jun 21, 2017 — The pain of thwarted young love serves as the narrative center of Marcel Pagnol’s The Marseille Trilogy, but in many ways it is the character of César—a father figure who bears witness to the doomed romance between his son, Marius,...

Apr 13, 2017 — Reflecting on Jean Marais’s performance as the hero in Orpheus, Jean Cocteau once said that the actor “illuminates the film for me with his soul.” At the heart of the visionary auteur’s extravagantly designed fantasy worlds, Marais served as an...

Apr 2, 2017 — What defines noir acting? In her latest Dark Passages column, Imogen Sara Smith examines the stylistic variety in some of the genre’s most iconic male performances, including Burt Lancaster in The Killers and Ralph Meeker in Kiss Me Deadly.

Mar 24, 2017 — If you’re hankering for a heavy dose of sleaze, you need look no further than John Waters’ 1970 sophomore feature, Multiple Maniacs, which joined our collection this week and is now streaming on the Criterion Channel. Made in Waters’ beloved...

Mar 7, 2017 — With his unique blend of British realism and romantic fatalism, director Andrew Haigh exposes the quiet desperation at the heart of a long marriage.

Mar 1, 2017 — In his most seductive experiment with cinematic time, Richard Linklater wrestles with the joys and challenges of long-term intimacy.

Dec 23, 2016 — Did You See This? Over at the BFI, Nathalie Morris recounts the trailblazing career of singer, actor, athlete, and activist Paul Robeson, “a true renaissance man who overcame racial prejudice to become one of the biggest stars of his time.”...

Dec 21, 2016 — Romance has served as the foundation for some of film history’s most significant partnerships. Over at the Criterion Channel, we’re celebrating couples who shared a chemistry both on-screen and in real life with Creative Marriages, a series of double bills...