Alain Delon on Criterion

by Cláudio Alves

For some people, the word handsome isn't enough. Such beauty defies description and almost seems to bend reality, becoming uncanny in its perfection. French star Alain Delon is one such person. It's no wonder that many a master filmmaker has lost themselves looking at the actor, making devotional songs to his besotting allure in the shape of cinema. Antonioni, Clément, Godard, Malle, Melville, Visconti were some of those masters of cinema and their works have immortalized Alain Delon in poems of celluloid that are some of the best films ever made… 

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The elliptical cinema of Mia Hansen-Løve

by Cláudio Alves

Cinema is many things. An audiovisual art form, a dream, memories crystalized, ghosts of light. It's also a language, an idiom with rules and grammar of its own. Some cineastes film straightforward prose. Others prefer a lyrical approach and write poems with their cameras. There are those who make manifestos, compose diaries, some even do journalistic documentations. Whatever their uses of the language of cinema, the punctuation is usually the same, with norms judiciously followed to keep the clarity of intention, of information and tone. Still, sometimes the most interesting artist is the one that bends those rules to their will, reshaping, transforming, making them into something personal.

Mia Hansen-Løve is such a filmmaker. Instead of employing commas and periods, writing and cutting traditionally, she prefers to film in ellipsis. Constant, evocative, oft-mysterious and emotionally poignant, ellipsis…

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New to Streaming: The Australian New Wave on Criterion

By Glenn Dunks

The Criterion Channel recently added a whole bunch of Australian movies from well-known directors like Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce onto their service. While some titles from the “Australian New Wave” series were (I think?) already on there, there are many that are not only new to the service but new to American streaming full stop.

The series features 21 titles that range from 1971 to 1982, several of which are stone cold masterpieces. In a funny little merging of cinematic timelines, a few of these movies have more historically been ignored by the prestigious banner of the new wave era as their genre elements meant they often get lumped less nobly into the “Ozploitation” sidebar of exploitation, sex comedies and horror movies. Whatever it took, however, I’m happy to see some of my favourites find a streaming home internationally.

Now if only Criterion would add more of them to the damned collection!

I thought it would be fun to list the titles—because who doesn’t love a list?—but base it not on their quality. Rather, how much they speak to Australia, the country, the people, and its identity both then and now as we look at them nearly 40 years removed. Subjective, of course, and it's been many years between viewings of many of these, but I feel if you want an education on Australia, then there are some films here that would do a better job than others...

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Sakamoto on Criterion

by Cláudio Alves

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a master of music that needs no introduction. Thanks to his work with the Yellow Magic Orchestra and solo experiments, Sakamoto has helped shape the evolution of electronic music like few other artists in the past decades. His avant-garde sound is difficult to confuse with that of other composers, but he's not an artist predisposed to repetition or stagnation. Since the 1970s, has never stopped composing, never stopped challenging himself, or dazzling his audience with music whose beauty transcends comprehension. Sakamoto's also an avid cinephile and had been writing film scores since the 80s when Nagisa Oshima cast him in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Across the years, he's built an eclectic filmography that's rich in artistic brio and lacking in mediocre efforts. He even won an Oscar.

Because of such excellence, the Criterion Channel has curated a selection of 10 Ryuichi Sakamoto scored pictures. Here are some highlights…

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The genius of Euzhan Palcy

by Cláudio Alves

One of the Criterion Channel's most enticing July releases is A Dry White Season by Caribbean director Euzhan Palcy. Her record-breaking career is a fascinating, often frustrating, piece of cinema history, full of fearless political artistry and a will to challenge the Hollywood machine. While her name isn't very well known, Palcy should be famous for all the risks she took and the astounding quality of her features. They might be few, but they are excellent. With that in mind, we invite you to explore the filmography, the story, and the genius of Euzhan Palcy…

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