Criterion #304 - The Man Who Fell To Earth - Nicholas Roeg
Synopsis - The Man Who Fell to Earth is a daring exploration of science fiction as an art form. The story of an alien on an elaborate rescue mission provides the launching pad for Nicolas Roeg’s visual tour de force, a formally adventurous examination of alienation in contemporary life. Rock legend David Bowie completely embodies the title role, while Candy Clark, Buck Henry, and Rip Torn turn in pitch-perfect supporting performances. The film’s hallucinatory vision was obscured in the American theatrical release, which deleted nearly twenty minutes of crucial scenes and details. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Roeg’s full, uncut version, in this exclusive new director-approved high-definition widescreen transfer.
EXTRAS
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Nicolas Roeg
Exclusive audio commentary by Roeg and actors David Bowie and Buck Henry
Performance, a compilation of new video interviews with actors Candy Clark and Rip Torn
New video interview with screenwriter Paul Mayersberg
Audio interviews with costume designer May Routh and production designer Brian Eatwell
Multiple stills galleries, including Routh’s costume sketches; behind-the-scenes photos; and production and publicity stills, introduced by set photographer David James
Gallery of posters from Roeg’s films
Trailers and television spots
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Plus: an exclusive reprint of Walter Tevis’s original novel, courtesy of Vintage Books, and a booklet featuring a new essay on the film by critic Graham Fuller and an appreciation of Tevis by novelist Jack Matthews
FILM INFO
1976
139 minutes
Color
2.35:1
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0
Anamorphic
English
Criterion #305 - Boudu Saved from Drowning - Jean Renoir
Synopsis - Michel Simon gives one of the most memorable performances in screen history as Boudu, a Parisian tramp who takes a suicidal plunge into the Seine and is rescued by a well-to-do bookseller, Edouard Lestingois (Charles Granval). The Lestingois family decides to take in the irrepressible bum, and he shows his gratitude by shaking the household to its foundations. With Boudu Saved from Drowning (Boudu sauvé des eaux), legendary director Jean Renoir takes advantage of a host of Parisian locations and the anarchic charms of his lead actor to create an effervescent satire of the bourgeoisie.
About the transfer... Boudu Saved from Drowning is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and the right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm fine-grain print. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. To maintain optimal image quality through the compression process, the picture on this dual-layer DVD-9 was encoded at the highest possible bit rate for the quantity of material included.
The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the 35mm fine-grain optical track and a 16mm optical track print, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle. The Dolby Digital 1.0 signal will be directed to the center channel on 5.1-channel sound systems, but some viewers may prefer to switch to two-channel playback for a wider dispersal of the mono sound.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Archival introduction by Jean Renoir
New video interview with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin Excerpt from a 1967 Cinéastes de notre temps program, featuring Renoir and Michel Simon
French television conversation between director Eric Rohmer and critic Jean Douchet
Interactive map of 1930s Paris, highlighting the film’s locations
New and improved English subtitle translation
Plus: a new essay by Renoir scholar Christopher Faulkner
Film Info
1932
84 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French
Criterion #306 - Le Samouraï - Jean-Pierre Melville
SYNOPSIS - In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays blue-eyed Jef Costello, a fedora- and trench-coat-wearing contract killer with samurai instincts. When Jef assassinates a nightclub owner, he finds himself confronted by a series of witnesses, who drop his perfect world into the hands of a persistent police investigator and Jef’s shadowy employer, both of whom are determined to put an end to the smooth criminal. A razor-sharp cocktail of 1940s American gangster cinema and 1960s French pop culture—with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology—maverick director Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece Le samouraï defines cool.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New video interviews with Jean-Pierre Melville historians Rui Nogueira and Ginette Vincendeau
Collection of excerpts from archival interviews with Melville and actors Alain Delon, Cathy Rosier, Nathalie Delon, and François Périer
Theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
A new essay by film scholar David Thomson and a reprinted tribute by filmmaker John Woo
FILM INFO
1967
105 minutes
Color
1.85:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
French
Criterion #307 - Naked - Mike Leigh
Synopsis - Mike Leigh’s brilliant and controversial Naked stars David Thewlis as Johnny, a charming, eloquent, and relentlessly vicious drifter on the lam in London. Rejecting all those who would care for him, the volcanic Johnny hurls himself into a nocturnal odyssey through the city, colliding with a succession of the desperate and the dispossessed, and scorching everyone in his path. With a virtuoso script and raw performances from Thewlis and costars Katrin Cartlidge and Lesley Sharpe, Leigh’s panorama of England’s crumbling underbelly is a showcase of black comedy and doomsday prophecy, and was the winner of the best director and actor prizes at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
Naked is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Black bars at the top and the bottom of the screen are normal for this format. Supervised by director Mike Leigh, this new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. To maintain optimal image quality through the compression process, the picture on this dual-layer DVD-9 was encoded at the highest-possible bit rate for the quantity of material included.
The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the LTRT magnetic printmaster, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.
EXTRAS
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES
New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Mike Leigh
Audio commentary by director Mike Leigh and actors David Thewlis and Katrin Cartlidge
Exclusive new video interview with director Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men)
The Art Zone: “The Conversation,” a BBC program featuring author Will Self interviewing Leigh
The Short and Curlies, a short comedy from 1982 directed by Leigh and starring Thewlis
Original theatrical trailer
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: New essays by film critics Derek Malcolm and Amy Taubin
FILM INFO
1993
131 minutes
Color
1.85:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
English
Criterion #308 - Masculin Féminin - Jean-Luc Godard
Synopsis - With Masculin féminin, ruthless stylist and iconoclast Jean-Luc Godard introduces the world to “the children of Marx and Coca-Cola,” through a gang of restless youths engaged in hopeless love affairs with music, revolution, and each other. French new wave icon Jean-Pierre Léaud stars as Paul, an idealistic would-be intellectual struggling to forge a relationship with the adorable pop star Madeleine (real-life yé-yé girl Chantal Goya). Through their tempestuous affair, Godard fashions a candid and wildly funny free-form examination of youth culture in throbbing 1960s Paris, mixing satire and tragedy as only Godard can..
Masculin féminin is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and the right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. Cinematographer Willy Kurant supervised this new high-definition digital transfer, which was created on a Spirit Data*cine from the 35mm fine-grain master. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. To maintain optimal image quality through the compression process, the picture on this dual-layer DVD-9 was encoded at the highest-possible bit rate for the quantity of material included.
The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the optical soundtrack master, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle. The Dolby Digital 1.0 signal will be directed to the center channel on 5.1-channel sound systems, but some viewers may prefer to switch to two-channel playback for a wider dispersal of the mono sound.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Willy Kurant
Archival 1966 interview with actress Chantal Goya
New video interviews with Goya, Kurant, and Jean-Luc Godard collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin, conducted in 2005
Video discussion of the film between French film scholars Freddy Buache and Dominique Païni
Swedish television footage of Godard directing the “film within the film” scene
Trailers for the original theatrical release and the 2005 rerelease
New and improved English subtitle translation
Plus: a 16-page booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Adrian Martin and a reprint of a report from the set by French journalist Phillippe Labro
FILM INFO
1966
105 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French
Criterion #309 - Ugetsu - Kenji Mizoguchi
SYNOPSIS - The great Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi draws on sources from both East and West for this, his crowning achievement. Set in sixteenth-century Japan, a period of bloody civil war, the film is equally rooted in the postwar psyche of 1950s Japan. Focusing on an ambitious potter haunted by a beautiful ghost and a farmer who dreams of becoming a samurai, the film offers a commentary on the delusions of lust and power, the folly of war, and the stoic suffering of women. Renowned cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa helps Mizoguchi seamlessly interweave the supernatural with reality, resulting in one of the most beautiful films of all time. Criterion's double-disc edition will feature audio commentary by critic Tony Rayns, a two-and-a-half hour documentary on Mizoguchi by Kaneto Shindo, a new interview with director Masahiro Shinoda on the film, new interviews with first assistant director Tokuzo Tanaka and Miyagawa on their work on the film, trailers, a booklet featuring the original stories on which the film was based, and more.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by filmmaker, critic, and festival programmer Tony Rayns
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (1975), a two-and-a-half-hour documentary by Kaneto Shindo
Two Worlds Intertwined, an appreciation of Ugetsu by director Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide, Samurai Spy)
Process and Production, a new video interview with Tokuzo Tanaka, first assistant director on Ugetsu, about the making of the film
Video interview with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa
Theatrical trailers
New and improved English subtitle translation
Booklet featuring the original short stories on which the film is based—Akinari Ueda’s “The House in the Thicket” and “Lust of the Serpent” and Guy de Maupassant’s “How He Got the Legion of Honor”—and a new essay by critic Phillip Lopate
FILM INFO
1953
97 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #310 - Samurai Rebellion - Masaki Kobayashi
SYNOPSIS - Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord’s mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman, and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion is a gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Video introduction by director Masaki Kobayashi
Original theatrical trailer
New essay by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1967
121 minutes
Black and white
2.35:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #311 - Sword Of The Beast - Hideo Gosha
SYNOPSIS - Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha’s Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of retainer Gennosuke, who kills one of his clan’s ministers as part of a reform plot. He is pursued by his former comrades, and the betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he encounters a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold and, with the aid of another master swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New essay by Japanese film and pop-culture authority Patrick Macias
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1965
85 minutes
Black and white
2.35:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #312 - Samurai Spy - Masahiro Shinoda
SYNOPSIS - Years of warfare end in a Japan unified under the Tokugawa shogunate, and samurai spy Sasuke Sarutobi, tired of conflict, longs for peace. When a high-ranking spy named Koriyama defects from the shogun to a rival clan, however, the world of the swordsmen is thrown into turmoil. After he is unwittingly drawn into the conflict, Sarutobi tracks Koriyama, while a mysterious, white-hooded figure seems to hunt them both. By tale’s end, no one is who they seemed to be, and the truth is far more personal than anyone suspected. Director Masahiro Shinoda’s Samurai Spy, filled with clan intrigue, ninja spies, and multiple double crosses, marks a bold stylistic departure from swordplay film convention.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Exclusive new video interview with director Masahiro Shinoda
New essay by film scholar Alain Silver
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1965
100 minutes
Black and white
2.35:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #313 - Kill! - Kihachi Okamoto
SYNOPSIS - In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Based on the same source novel as Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, mixing in elements from Italian westerns and established chanbara classics alike.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Original theatrical trailer
New essay by film and culture critic Howard Hampton
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1968
114 minutes
Black and white
2.35:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #314 - Pickpocket - Robert Bresson
SYNOPSIS - Robert Bresson's masterful investigation of crime and redemption tells the story of arrogant, young Michel, who spends his days learning the art of picking pockets in the streets, subway cars, and train stations of Paris. As Michel grows bolder and more adept at his crime, so too grows his fear that his luck is about to run out. And despite the pleadings of his sick mother and the lovely Jeanne to return to the world of the honorable, he is consumed by his compulsion to steal. Tautly choreographed and stylistically rigorous, Pickpocket reveals Bresson at his enigmatic, virtuosic best. Criterion's DVD includes audio commentary by film scholar James Quandt, a video introduction by writer/director Paul Schrader, a 2003 documentary featuring actors from Bresson's films, a 1960 French TV interview with the director, and much more.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by film scholar James Quandt
New video introduction by writer-director Paul Schrader
The Models of “Pickpocket,” a 2003 documentary by filmmaker Babette Mangolte, featuring actors from the film
A 1960 interview with Bresson, from the French tele*vision program Cinépanorama
Q&A on Pickpocket, with actress Marika Green and filmmakers Paul Vecchiali and Jean-Pierre Améris fielding questions at a 2000 screening of the film
Footage of sleight-of-hand artist and Pickpocket consultant Kassagi, from a 1962 episode of the French television show La piste aux étoiles
Original theatrical trailer
New essay by novelist and culture critic Gary Indiana
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1959
75 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French
Criterion #315 - Shoot The Piano Player - François Truffaut
François Truffaut is drunk on the possibilities of cinema in this, his most playful, anarchic film. Part film noir, part comedy, part tragedy, Shoot the Piano Player relates the adventures of the mild-mannered piano player Charlie (Charles Aznavour, in a triumph of hangdog deadpan) as he stumbles into the criminal underworld and a whirlwind love affair. Loaded with gags, guns, clowns, and thugs, this razor-sharp homage to the American gangster film is pure nouvelle vague.
EXTRAS
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Raoul Coutard
Audio commentary by film scholars Annette Insdorf and Peter Brunette
Exclusive new video interviews with actors Charles Aznavour and Marie Dubois
Video interview with Coutard, conducted in 2003
Rare interview with François Truffaut collaborator Suzanne Schiffman, from 1986
Excerpts from a 1965 episode of the French television program Cinéastes de notre temps dedicated to Truffaut
An excerpt from the French television program Étoiles et toiles in which Truffaut discusses his adaptation of the David Goodis novel
The Music of George Delerue, an illustrated essay
Dubois’ screen test for the film
Theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
A new essay by film critic Kent Jones
FILM INFO
1960
81 minutes
Black and white 2.35:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
French
Criterion #316 - Ran - Akira Kurosawa
Synopsis - Legendary director Akira Kurosawa re-imagines Shakespeare's tragic King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Tatsuya Nakadai (The Sword of Doom, Kagemusha) stars as Lord Hidetora, a warlord who cedes authority over his vast dominion to his eldest son, setting off a familial power struggle for control of his kingdom. Majestic in scope, Ran is a visual masterpiece in which Kurosawa contrasts the immensity of war with the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power. Criterion's magnificent two-disc edition will include not only a newly-restored transfer, but also A.K., Chris Marker's 74-minute documentary on Kurosawa's craft in making the film; an introduction by filmmaker Sidney Lumet; a half-hour Toho documentary on the making of the film; a half-hour video piece reconstructing the film through Kurosawa's paintings and sketches; a new interview with star Tatsuya Nakadai; and more.
EXTRAS
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
An appreciation of the film by director Sidney Lumet (Network, Dog Day Afternoon)
A.K., a 74-minute film by director Chris Marker (La jetée, Sans soleil), examining the making of Ran
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create, a 37-minute documentary on the making of Ran, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series
Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity, a 35-minute video piece recon*structing Ran through Akira Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches
New video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
Original theatrical trailer
New essay by film critic Michael Wilmington
New and improved English subtitle translation
More!
FILM INFO
1985
160 minutes
Color
1.85:1
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0
Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #317 - The Tales Of Hoffmann - Michael Powell y Emeric Pressburger
Synopsis - In Jacques Offenbach's fantasy opera, the poet E.T.A. Hoffmann dreams of three women - a mechanical performing doll, a bejeweled siren who steals his reflection, and the consumptive daughter of a famous composer - all of whom break his heart in different ways. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a phantasmagoric marriage of cinema and opera in their one-of-a-kind take on this classic story. Feverishly romantic, The Tales of Hoffmann is a feast of music, dance, and visual effects - one of the most exhilarating film adaptations of an opera ever produced. Criterion's long-awaited DVD (one of our most requested titles) will feature audio commentary by Martin Scorsese & film historian Bruce Eder, a new introduction to the film by director and fan George A. Romero, Michael Powell's short musical film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a rare collection of production design sketches and paintings, the trailer, and more.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by director Martin Scorsese and film-music historian Bruce Eder
New video interview with director George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead)
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1956), a short musical film directed by Michael Powell, based on the Goethe story
Rare collection of production designer Hein Heckroth’s design sketches and paintings
Gallery of archival production and publicity photographs
Original theatrical trailer
A new essay by opera and film historian Ken Wlaschin
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
FILM INFO
1951
127 minutes
Color
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
English
Criterion #318 - Forbidden Games - Rene Clement
A timeless evocation of the loss of innocence, René Clément’s heartbreaking Forbidden Games tells the story of a young orphan and her friend, who are forced to fend for themselves in World War II France. A breathtaking cinematic achievement, Clément’s film features brilliant performances from its child stars and won the 1952 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Collection of new and archival interviews with director René Clément and actress Brigitte Fossey
Alternate opening and ending to the film
Original theatrical trailer
Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
New and improved subtitle translation
A new essay by film scholar Peter Matthews
FILM INFO
1952
85 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French
Criterion #319 - The Bad Sleep Well - Akira Kurosawa
A young executive hunts down his father’s killer in director Akira Kurosawa’s scathing The Bad Sleep Well. Continuing his legendary collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa combines elements of Hamlet and American film noir to chilling effect in exposing the corrupt boardrooms of postwar corporate Japan.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
A 36-minute documentary on the making of The Bad Sleep Well, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved subtitle translation
New essays by film scholar Richard Combs and screenwriter-director Michael Almereyda (Deadwood, Hamlet)
FILM INFO
1960
160 minutes
Black & White
2.35:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #320 - Young Mr. Lincoln - John Ford
Few historical figures are as revered as Abraham Lincoln, and few director-star pairings embody classic American cinema as perfectly as do John Ford and Henry Fonda. In Young Mr. Lincoln, their first collaboration, Fonda gives one of the finest performances of his career as the young president-to-be struggling with an incendiary murder case as a novice lawyer. Compassionate and assured, this indelible piece of Americana marks the beginning of Ford and Fonda’s ascent to legendary status.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Archival audio interviews with director John Ford and star Henry Fonda
Academy Award Theater radio dramatization of Young Mr. Lincoln, downloadable as an MP3 file
Stills gallery
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
A new essay by film critic Geoffrey O’Brien
FILM INFO
1939
100 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
English
Criterion #321 - The Virgin Spring - Ingmar Bergman
Winner of the 1961 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring is a harrowing tale of faith, revenge, and savagery in medieval Sweden. Starring Bergman stalwart and screen icon Max von Sydow, the film is both beautiful and cruel in its depiction of a world teetering between the sacred and the profane and one father’s longing to avenge the murder of a child.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by Ingmar Bergman scholar Birgitta Steene
New video interviews with actresses Gunnel Linblom and Birgitta Petersson
New essay by film historian and Bergman scholar Peter Cowie
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1960
89 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
Swedish
Criterion #322 - The Complete Mr.Arkadin - Orson Welles
Orson Welles’s Mr. Arkadin (a.k.a. Confidential Report) is one of cinema’s great mysteries. How did a globetrotting narrative of espionage, amnesia, and backstabbing come to be itself marked by these qualities? In the film, small-time American smuggler Guy van Stratten is hired by elusive billionaire Gregory Arkadin to investigate the tycoon’s past. What follows is a dizzying descent into the Cold War landscape of a Europe trying to erase its history. In making the film, Welles was ultimately banned from the editing room by producer Louis Dolivet. As a result, many versions exist, none of them definitive. The Criterion Collection is proud to collect the many faces of Mr. Arkadin into one box for the first time—from the story’s beginnings in radio to the novel published under Welles’s name to an all-new “comprehensive version” of the film
EXTRAS
SPECIAL EDITION THREE-DISC SET FEATURES
New, restored high-definition digital transfers of three versions of the film: the Corinth Verion, Confidential Report, and a new Comprehensive Version
Audio commentary by scholars Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore
Interviews with Welles biographer Simon Callow, star Robert Arden, radio producer Harry Alan Towers, director Peter Bogdanovich, and film archivists Stephan Droessler and Claude Bertemes
Three half-hour episodes of the radio program The Lives of Harry Lime, upon which the film is based
On the Comprehensive Version, a new documentary featuring Droessler, Bertemes, and Bogdanovich
Outtakes, rushes, and alternate scenes from the film
Extensive stills gallery
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
FILM INFO
1955
105 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
English
Criterion #323 - The Children Are Watching Us - Vittorio de Sica
In his first collaboration with renowned screenwriter and longtime partner Cesare Zavattini, Vittoria De Sica examines the cataclysmic consequences of adult folly on an innocent child. Heralding the pair’s subsequent work on some of the masterpieces of Italian neorealism, The Children Are Watching Us is a deeply humane, vivid portrait of one family’s disintegration.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New video interviews with star Luciano de Ambrosis and De Sica scholar Callisto Cosulich
New and improved subtitle translation
A booklet featuring film scholar Robert Cardullo and Stuart Klawans on screenwriter Cesare Zavattini
FILM INFO
1944
84 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
Italian
Criterion #324 - La Bête Humaine - Jean Renoir
Based on the classic Émile Zola novel, Jean Renoir’s La bête humaine was one of the legendary director’s greatest popular successes, tapping into the fatalism of a nation in despair. Jean Gabin’s emblematic portrayal of doomed train engineer Jacques Lantier granted him a permanent place in the hearts of his countrymen. Part poetic realism, part film noir, the film is a hard-boiled and suspenseful journey into the tormented psyche of a workingman.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer of the original uncut version
Introduction to the film by Jean Renoir
New interview with director Peter Bogdanovich
Archival interviews with Renoir discussing his adaptation of Emile Zola’s novels, his process with actors, and directing actress Simone Simon
Gallery of on-set photographs and theatrical posters
Theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
A booklet featuring writings by film critic Geoffrey O’Brien, historian Ginette Vincendeau, and production designer Eugène Lourié
FILM INFO
1938
96 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French
Criterion #325 - Kind Hearts and Coroners - Robert Hamer
Director Robert Hamer’s fiendishly funny Kind Hearts and Coronets stands as one of Ealing Studios’ greatest triumphs, and one of the most wickedly black comedies ever made. Dennis Price is sublime as an embittered young commoner determined to avenge his mother’s unjust disinheritance by ascending to the dukedom. Unfortunately, eight family members—all played by the incomparable Alec Guinness—must be eliminated before he can do so.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
BBC programs on Alec Guinness and the history of Ealing Studios
Gallery of archival production and publicity photographs
Original theatrical trailer
A new essay by film critic and historian Philip Kemp
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
FILM INFO
1949
106 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
English
Criterion #326 - Metropolitan - Whit Stillman
One of the most the most significant achievements of the American independent film movement of the 1990s, writer-director Whit Stillman’s debut, Metropolitan, is a sparkling comedic chronicle of a middle-class young man’s romantic misadventures among New York City’s debutante society. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Stillman’s deft, literate script and hilariously high-brow observations mask a tender tale of adolescent anxiety.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by director Whit Stillman, editor Christopher Tellefsen, and actors Chris Eigeman and Taylor Nichols
Rare outtakes and deleted scenes
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and heard of hearing
A new essay by author and film scholar Luc Sante
FILM INFO
1990
99 minutes
Color
1.66:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
English
Criterion #327 - Three Films By Louis Malle
Few directors have portrayed the agonies and epiphanies of growing up as poetically—and scandalously—as Louis Malle. Laced with autobiographical details, Murmur of the Heart; Lacombe, Lucien; and Au revoir les enfants tell stories of youth, set against the tumult of World War II and postwar France. Controversial, tragic, amusing, and poignant, these three films are not just coming-of-age stories but the director’s ongoing response to a world gone wrong, revealing his true nature as rebel.
EXTRAS
FILM INFO
Criterion #328 - Murmur of the Heart - Louis Malle
Louis Malle’s critically acclaimed Murmur of the Heart gracefully combines elements of comedy, drama, and autobiography in a candid portrait of a precocious fifteen-year-old boy’s sexual maturation. Both shocking and deeply poignant, this is one of the finest coming-of-age films ever made.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Original theatrical trailer
A new essay by film critic Michael Sragow
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1970
118 minutes
Color
1.66:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
French
Criterion #329 - Lacombe, Lucien - Louis MAlle
One of the first French films to address the issue of collaboration during the German Occupation, Louis Malle’s brave and controversial Lacombe, Lucien traces a young peasant’s journey from potential Resistance member to Gestapo recruit. At once the story of a nation and one troubled boy’s horrific coming of age, the film is a disquieting portrait of lost innocence and guilt.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Original theatrical trailer
Pauline Kael’s 1974 New Yorker review
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1974
138 minutes
Color
1.66:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
French
Criterion #330 - Au revoir les enfants - Louis Malle
Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss between two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised by director of photography Renato Berta
Original theatrical trailer and teaser
A new essay by film critic Philip Kemp
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1987
101 minutes
Color
1.66:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
French
Criterion #331 - Late Spring - Yasujiro Ozu
One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s family portraits, Late Spring tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his only, beloved daughter. Loyal Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan, which remains as potent today as ever—almost by itself justifying Ozu’s inclusion in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest directors.
EXTRAS
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES: New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Tokyo-Ga (1985, 92 mins), legendary director Wim Wenders’ tribute to Yasujiro Ozu
Audio commentary by Richard Peña, program director of New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center
New essays by critic Michael Atkinson and renowned Japanese-film historian Donald Richie
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1949
110 minutes
Black & White
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
Japanese
Criterion #332 - Viridiana - Luis Buñuel
Banned in Spain and denounced by the Vatican, Luis Buñuel’s hilarious vision of life as a beggar’s banquet is regarded by many as his masterpiece. In it, the young novice Viridiana does her utmost to maintain her Catholic principles, but her lecherous uncle and a motley assemblage of paupers force her to confront the limits of her idealism. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, this anticlerical free-for-all is as shocking today as ever.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New video interview with Cineaste editor and author Richard Porton
A new essay by author and film historian Michael Wood
Original U.S. release trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1961
91 minutes
Black and white
1.78:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
Spanish
Criterion #333 - Fists in the Pocket - Marco Bellocchio
A dark and perverse portrait of family dysfunction, Fists in the Pocket stunned moviegoers and critics alike when it arrived on the scene in 1965—the feature debut of a then twenty-five-year old Marco Bellocchio. This award-winning work certainly heralded the arrival of a powerful filmmaking voice, and it continues to rank as a truly unique classic of Italian cinema.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New video interviews with director Marco Bellocchio, actors Lou Castel and Paola Pitagora, and editor Silvano Agosti
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
FILM INFO
1965
65 minutes
Black and white
1.85:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Anamorphic
Italian
Criterion #335 - Elevator To The Gallows - Louis Malle
In his mesmerizing debut, twenty-four-year-old director Louis Malle brought together the beauty of Jeanne Moreau, the camerawork of Henri Decaë, and the now legendary score by Miles Davis. A touchstone of the careers of both its star and director, Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud) is a richly atmospheric thriller of mistaken identity unfolding over one tense night in Paris.
EXTRAS
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New and archival interviews with Louis Malle, actors Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet, and original soundtrack session pianist René Urtreger
Footage of Miles Davis improvising the film's score
New video discussion about the score with jazz critic Gary Giddins and musician Jon Faddis
Theatrical trailers
New and improved English subtitle translation
Essays by critic Terrence Rafferty and producer Vincent Malle
FILM INFO
1958
92 minutes
Black & White
1.66:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French