The Criterion Collection may be looked back on one day as a cornerstone of modern film history. As a college student who loves movies, new and old, I can't imagine the days of waiting patiently for film prints to tour nearby. When the only way you might see Welles' Citizen Kane or Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête was to hope they might show up on TV late one night. Every time I read abut how more and more of my generation are skipping out on seeing films in the theaters, preferring to wait for DVD, it makes me sad. It's a cost I am willing to pay however, because companies like Criterion are letting me see films I know have never, and would never, play near me, even in a college town like Austin.
The November and one of the December releases have been announced:
In a press release they have also announced Rene Clement's Forbidden Games, but it isn't up yet on the official site. Also rumored to be released is Orson Welles' Confidential Report AKA Mr. Arkadin as well as a rerelease of Jacques Tati's absolutely brilliant Playtime. I was lucky to see Playtime on the big screen in 70mm. I'm not sure how well it plays on a small screen but if you find this in a video store it's a must rent, what an amazing film. Of the announced releases Ran and Shoot the Piano Player are both landmark films, and Bresson, Mizoguchi, and Powell are no slouch as directors, either.
This week's Criterion reccomendation: John Cassavetes' Shadows
The first Cassavetes film and the first of his I have seen, Shadows is startlingly honest and real in a way I had never associated with 1950s American cinema. He basically invented the independent film. Cassavetes was a brilliantly talented filmmaker who used his camera in the manner of Godard and Truffaut at a distance and Welles in closeup. Here he shepherds his group of mostly amateur actors to brilliant, moving performances. Leila Goldoni is amazing as a young woman who struggles with "passing" as a white woman and Hugh Hurd is deeply sympathetic as her small time jazz-singer older brother.
I should have Criterion's Cassavetes boxset in my hands soon, and if the rest of the films hold up to Shadows then I'll have another name to add with Welles and Godard on my favorite directors list.
ed:JH
Article comments
1 - Dude
I bought the Cassavetes box set earlier this year and haven't stopped watching them.
My favorite is "Faces," but all of them -- "Shadows," "Woman Under the Influence" "Opening Night" and two versions of "The Killing of a Chinese Book Keeper" -- are well worth the price.
After watching his films, I realize that there is no excuse of not making a film -- or writing a book, or putting on a play, or scribbing down a piece of music, etc. All you need is a very creative mind and a very courageous heart.
Enjoy those films, Jesse.
"Definition of 'serious' -- blah blah blah blah."
-- Jeannie in "Faces."