In August 2024, the Criterion Channel lineup features notable film retrospectives, new additions, and special programming. Spotlight On Mikio Naruse highlights the influential Japanese director renowned for his nuanced portrayals of women’s experiences. This series includes nearly a dozen of Naruse’s works, showcasing his impact on Japanese cinema. Highlights include Apart from You (1933), Floating Clouds (1955), and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960), all reflecting Naruse’s unique approach to melodrama and storytelling.
Another section titled Exclusive Premiere: Pictures of Ghosts presents Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s exploration of Recife’s historic movie theaters. This film blends archival footage with personal insights to map the city’s cultural and political evolution. Mendonça Filho’s approach provides a multi-layered examination of Recife’s cinema history.
The ‘Paul Thomas Anderson Collection’ brings together key films from the acclaimed director, including Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), and Licorice Pizza (2021). These films highlight Anderson’s distinctive narrative style and thematic concerns.
One of the interesting parts of the August 2024 Criterion Channel lineup includes Photographer’s Gaze, a curated selection focused on the relationship between cinema and photography. This includes Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960), and Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1966), among others. This series examines how filmmakers explore the concept of observation through the lens of a camera.
August 2024 also introduces a collection of new films and returning classics, including works by Youssef Chahine and Juan Pablo González, further expanding the Criterion Channel’s offerings.
Criterion Channel Originals In August 2024:
Premiering August 15: Spotlight On Mikio Naruse
Critic Imogen Sara Smith introduces a master of Japanese cinema, celebrated for his sensitive portrayal of women’s struggles. In a four-decade career, Naruse directed nearly ninety films, including silent dramas like Apart from You, Every-Night Dreams, and Street Without End, depicting working women’s resilience in a sexist society. His artistry peaked in the 1950s with leads like Hideko Takamine, Kinuyo Tanaka, and Setsuko Hara, creating heartrending melodramas such as Late Chrysanthemums, Floating Clouds, Flowing, and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. His films, known for their delicate, rhythmic editing, built subtle but shattering emotional force.
Exclusive Premiere In August 2024:
In Pictures of Ghosts, acclaimed Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (known for Bacurau and Aquarius) crafts a multidimensional exploration of his home city, Recife, through its historic movie theaters. This film, blending archival footage, mystery, film clips, and personal recollections, examines these once-grand cinemas as symbols of dreams and societal changes throughout the twentieth century. Reflecting shifts in Brazilian society and politics, Mendonça Filho’s work serves as a cinematic map of Recife, offering an engaging and insightful tour through the city’s evolving landscape, guided by a master storyteller.
– Flunky, Work Hard (1931)
– No Blood Relation (1932)
– Apart from You (1933)
– Every-Night Dreams (1933)
– Street Without End (1934)
– Ginza Cosmetics (1951)
– Repast (1951)
– Mother (1952)
– Wife (1953)
– Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
– Sound of the Mountain (1954)
– Floating Clouds (1955)
– Flowing (1956)
– When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
– Yearning (1964)
– Scattered Clouds (1967)
Top Stories: Paul Thomas Anderson
– Magnolia (1999)
– Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
– There Will Be Blood (2007)
– The Master (2012)
– Licorice Pizza (2021)
Photographer’s Gaze:
– Rear Window (1954) | Alfred Hitchcock
– Peeping Tom (1960) | Michael Powell
– Blow-Up (1966) | Michelangelo Antonioni
– La prisonnière (1968) | Henri-Georges Clouzot
– Baba Yaga (1973) | Corrado Farina
– The Story of O (1975) | Just Jaeckin
– Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) | Irvin Kershner
– Close-Up (1990) | Abbas Kiarostami
– The Public Eye (1992) | Howard Franklin
– Smoke (1995) | Wayne Wang
– Pecker (1998) | John Waters
– One Hour Photo (2002) | Mark Romanek
– Delirious (2006) | Tom DiCillo
Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman:
– Magnolia (1999) | Paul Thomas Anderson
– State and Main (2000) | David Mamet
– 25th Hour (2002) | Spike Lee
– Love Liza (2002) | Todd Louiso
– Punch-Drunk Love (2002) | Paul Thomas Anderson
– Capote (2005) | Bennett Miller
– The Savages (2007) | Tamara Jenkins
– Synecdoche, New York (2008) | Charlie Kaufman
– Jack Goes Boating (2010) | Philip Seymour Hoffman
– The Master (2012) | Paul Thomas Anderson
Vacation Noir:
– Leave Her to Heaven (1945) | John M. Stahl
– Desert Fury (1947) | Lewis Allen
– The Lady from Shanghai (1947) | Orson Welles
– Brighton Rock (1948) | John Boulting
– His Kind of Woman (1951) | John Farrow
– Kansas City Confidential (1952) | Phil Karlson
– Dangerous Crossing (1953) | Joseph M. Newman
– Inferno (1953) | Roy Ward Baker
– Niagara (1953) | Henry Hathaway
– Female on the Beach (1955) | Joseph Pevney
– Purple Noon (1960) | René Clément
– La piscine (1969) | Jacques Deray
– The Last of Sheila (1973) | Herbert Ross
Everything Coming to Criterion Channel in August 2024:
– 25th Hour (2002) | Spike Lee
– Adieu Bonaparte (1985) | Youssef Chahine
– Alexandria . . . Why? (1979) | Youssef Chahine
– Alexandria: Again and Forever (1989) | Youssef Chahine
– Alphabet City (1984) | Amos Poe
– An Egyptian Story (1982) | Youssef Chahine
– Baba Yaga (1973) | Corrado Farina
– The Blazing Sun (1954) | Youssef Chahine
– Blow-Up (1966) | Michelangelo Antonioni
– Brighton Rock (1948) | John Boulting
– Caballerango (2018) | Juan Pablo González
– Cairo Station (1958) | Youssef Chahine
– Capote (2005) | Bennett Miller
– Christmas in July (1940) | Preston Sturges
– D.O.A.: A Right of Passage (1980) | Lech Kowalski
– Dangerous Crossing (1953) | Joseph M. Newman
– Dark Waters (1956) | Youssef Chahine
– Dawn of a New Day (1965) | Youssef Chahine
– Delirious (2006) | Tom DiCillo
– Desert Fury (1947) | Lewis Allen
– Destiny (1997) | Youssef Chahine
– The Devil of the Desert (1954) | Youssef Chahine
– The Emigrant (1994) | Youssef Chahine
– La espera (2016) | Juan Pablo González
– Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) | Irvin Kershner
– Farewell My Love (1956) | Youssef Chahine
– Father Amin (1950) | Youssef Chahine
– Female on the Beach (1955) | Joseph Pevney
– The Great McGinty (1940) | Preston Sturges
– Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) | Preston Sturges
– Haywire (2011) | Steven Soderbergh
– His Kind of Woman (1951) | John Farrow
– Inferno (1953) | Roy Ward Baker
– Jack Goes Boating (2010) | Philip Seymour Hoffman
– Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007) | Julien Temple
– Kansas City Confidential (1952) | Phil Karlson
– The Lady Eve (1941) | Preston Sturges
– The Lady from Shanghai (1947) | Orson Welles
– Lady of the Train (1952) | Youssef Chahine
– The Land (1969) | Youssef Chahine
– The Last of Sheila (1973) | Herbert Ross
– Leave Her to Heaven (1945) | John M. Stahl
– Licorice Pizza (2021) | Paul Thomas Anderson
– Love Liza (2002) | Todd Louiso
– Lumumba: Death of a Prophet (1991) | Raoul Peck
– Magnolia (1999) | Paul Thomas Anderson
– My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989) | Patrick Tam
– My One and Only Love (1957) | Youssef Chahine
– Niagara (1953) | Henry Hathaway
– Las nubes (2017) | Juan Pablo González
– One Hour Photo (2002) | Mark Romanek
– The Other (1999) | Youssef Chahine
– The Palm Beach Story (1942) | Preston Sturges
– Pecker (1998) | John Waters
– Pictures of Ghosts (2023) | Kleber Mendonça Filho
– La prisonnière (1968) | Henri-Georges Clouzot
– The Public Eye (1992) | Howard Franklin
– Punch-Drunk Love (2002) | Paul Thomas Anderson
– Rear Window (1954) | Alfred Hitchcock
– Return of the Prodigal Son (1976) | Youssef Chahine
– Saladin the Victorious (1963) | Youssef Chahine
– The Savages (2007) | Tamara Jenkins
– The Sixth Day (1986) | Youssef Chahine
– Smoke (1995) | Wayne Wang
– The Solitude of Memory (2014) | Juan Pablo González
– The Story of O (1975) | Just Jaeckin
– Synecdoche, New York (2008) | Charlie Kaufman
– There Will Be Blood (2007) | Paul Thomas Anderson
– Victims of Sin (1951) | Emilio Fernández
