The Criterion Collection
Essays
Sep 8, 1998 — In David Lean’s Summertime, in which Rossano Brazzi seduces Katharine Hepburn—an aging, repressed Ohio “working girl” on vacation in Venice—the Continental lover reached his pinnacle and approached his end. In the next decade, he would be embodied by Marcello Mastroianni,...
Aug 28, 1995 — Three Cases of Murder is of most interest to American audiences for Orson Welles’s flamboyant and bravura performance as Lord Mountdrago. However, it’s equally important as a showcase for Wendy Toye, one of Britain’s first female directors, and star Alan...
Features
Mar 11, 1993 — Released the year before Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars, Nicolas Roeg’s terrestrial space opera is devoid of matte shots, models, or pyrotechnics, and it leaves us not wondering at the stars but grieving for ourselves.
May 31, 1990 — Isabelle Huppert shot from minor actress to full-fledged French star with a mesmerizing performance as, ironically, a young woman who is incapable of escaping anonymity. In Swiss director Claude Goretta’s elegant, beautifully observed tragedy/character study, Huppert is “Pomme,” a lovely,...
Apr 9, 1990 — Few motion pictures have ever matched the 1938 Warner Bros. production of The Adventures of Robin Hood for sheer entertainment. Even today this film ranks high on any list of all-time favorites. Warner Bros. first considered filming The Adventures of...
The host of Track Star and Public Opinion talks about why The Last Waltz is the greatest concert movie ever made, praises Aki Kaurismäki’s singular sense of humor and visual style, and selects some his favorite melodramas, including Written on...
The actor selects Italian-cinema favorites, talks about how being cast in Dazed and Confused changed his life, and shares his experience working with John Sayles on Lone Star.
The performer and author sings (literally) the praises of the Tootsie score, talks about Barbra Streisand as a “North Star for anyone unconventional trying to make it in show business,” and shares the moving experience of watching My Beautiful Laundrette...
The singer-songwriter shares why Thelma & Louise was a North Star when writing her first album, praises the way Days of Heaven immerses viewers in its beauty, and talks about her deep affection for Grey Gardens.