Best Hidden Gems on the Criterion Channel

The Criterion Channel offers an abundance of classic films from around the world. It is a great streaming service to deep-dive into the works of prominent auteurs, such as Charlie Chaplin, Abbas Kiarostami, David Lynch, and Agnès Varda. One can stream familiar favorites, survey their curated collections, watch exclusive interviews, and stream premieres and new releases.

The Channel is home to over 2500 features and short films, many of which received a smaller audience or are not widely discussed today. This list offers suggestions for what to watch on the site that may not be advertised on the site’s home page. From early silents to modern classics, here are 15 underrated or overshadowed films available for streaming on Criterion.

15 A Man There Was (1917)

Victor Sjöström’s Swedish Drama A Man There Was is a must-watch for silent cinema. The film’s protagonist, Terje Vignen, is a husband and father who experiences tragic loss during the Napoleonic Wars. While traveling to get food for his family, he is taken prisoner by a British Ship and, upon his return, learns his wife and child have died. Years later, the same ship captain who took him prisoner needs Terje’s saving during a brutal storm.

Testing Human Morality

While silent foreign films sound boring for some, A Man There Was has a humanistic narrative that transcends time, prompting philosophical questions about morality, forgiveness, and loss. Terje is faced with life in his hands and must decide to avenge his family or help the one who is responsible for his greatest pain.

14 The Cranes Are Flying (1957)

Mikhail Kalatozov’s Soviet war drama The Cranes Are Flying follows a young woman, Veronika, in Moscow during World War II. Her life is upended when her boyfriend, Boris, leaves for the army and her parents are killed in a German Air Raid. Boris’ family takes Veronika in, where she is subjected to the advances of Boris’ cousin and forced to marry him. The film captures her isolation and uncertainty while waiting for Boris to return. While the film won Palme d’Or at Cannes International Film Festival in 1957, today it does not get nearly enough praise as it deserves.

Precision of Camera

Alongside its profoundly emotional narrative, the camera work and performances render The Cranes Are Flying worthy of praise. Several carefully choreographed tracking shots throughout the film make for some stellar camera work for its time. Tatiana Samoilova delivers a passionate performance as Veronika, contributing to the film’s pathos.

13 Lucía (1968)

Humberto Solás’ film Lucía is an epic in three parts, each focusing on a woman sharing the name Lucía across different time periods in Cuba. In 1895, Lucía is living amidst the Cuban war and begins a relationship with a married man named Raphael whom she plans to run away with. In 1932, another woman named Lucía is involved in the revolution with her radical husband, Aldo. In the 1960s, she is a worker trapped in an abusive marriage.

Three Women; One Nation

Lucía captures pivotal moments in Cuban history through its narratives of women, emphasizing the changing cultural expectations, political turmoil, and class backgrounds that distinguish them. However, each narrative situates them within their political contexts and explores the woman’s role in the domestic sphere. Each narrative is equally captivating, capturing the struggle for women’s liberation alongside its nation’s quest for freedom.

12 Letter From Siberia (1957)

Chris Marker’s Letter From Siberia is an essayistic-style documentary, where he captures rural life in Siberia. It primarily features footage of the Siberian landscape and the everyday life of its inhabitants. A newscaster-style voiceover provides commentary on Siberia’s history, culture, and politics alongside Marker’s experiences in the region.

Poetry Spoken Through Landscape

Letter from Siberia is a time capsule of a rural region during a time of rapid global innovation. Artfully colored footage mingled with sociological, but witty insights make this film an enjoyable viewing experience. Marker is best known for his 1962 short film La Jetée (later adapted into 12 Monkeys) and the documentary Sans Soleil, but Letter from Siberia is a hidden gem in his filmography. His work playfully explores both non-fiction and fictional approaches to filmmaking that are often mysterious, prophetic, and thought-provoking.

11 Purple Noon (1960)

Purple Noon is René Clément’s take on Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. The film stars Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, hired by a wealthy businessman to return his son Phillipe (Maurice Ronet) to take over the family business. During his stay, Tom becomes fascinated with Phillipe’s luxurious lifestyle and takes extreme measures to have it for himself. Purple Noon’s vibrant cinematography and precise framing make for an aesthetically pleasing viewing experience.

European Charm

While it tends to be overshadowed by the 1999 adaptation starring Matt Damon, one cannot beat the français touch Clément brings to the popular thriller novel and Delon’s new-wave charm. The recent passing of Alain Delon has sparked some rewatches of his best work, and Purple Noon makes for a great choice.

10 The Shop on Main Street (1965)

Criterion

The Shop on Main Street is Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos’s underrated World War II drama. During the nazi occupation in Slovakia, a man named Tono is assigned as the Aryan supervisor at a sewing shop owned by an elderly Jewish widow, Rozàlia. Soon, the authorities will order the relocation of the town’s Jewish citizens, facing Tono with an ethical decision.

Balancing Humor and Tragedy

The Shop on Main Street is a moving film, set at the height of the European fascist regime but never fails to include humorous moments as it depicts the unlikely friendship between Tono and Rozàlia. Incorporating panning shots and soft exposure fantasy sequences, the film was revered by critics at its time, but today remains largely underseen.

9 Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)

Criterion

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One blends documentary and fiction as it follows a fictional film crew around New York City in the process of casting roles. Filmmaker William Greaves attempts to deconstruct the artifice of cinema by employing three different film crews, each tasked with filming the same environment from different perspectives. Greaves casts himself as an unprofessional director who further complicates the layered narrative.

The Camera’s Eye

What makes Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One so unique is that its experimental attempt to capture “reality” creates an avenue for inquiry into the metaphysics of film itself. For example, Greaves includes shots that include what each of the three cameras is depicting at a given moment to increase perspective, while the hired filmmakers complain that Greaves has no perspective because he doesn’t know what his film is about. The multi-layered approach to the film leaves viewers with insight to generate their own thoughts about the relationship between image and reality.

8 Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)

Criterion

New wave filmmaker Jacques Rivette’s Céline and Julie Go Boating follows the titular Céline, a magician, and Julie, a librarian, as the two embark on a magical adventure. At a secluded mansion, the two enter an alternate reality in which they witness a murder mystery and eventually realize they can enter the narrative itself and alter or repeat its events.

Time-Bending Surrealism

Céline and Julie Go Boating explores cinema as a medium of time through its repetition of narrative possibilities. It dives into fantasy in the most unconscious sense, taking on the structure of a dream. The film shares uncanny similarities with David Lynch’s 2001 film Mulholland Drive, likely being an inspiration for the film and is a great watch for any Lynch fans.

7 India Song (1975)

From the prolific French novelist and playwright, Marguerite Duras, India Song depicts a married woman’s depression as she takes on multiple love affairs. Set primarily in the lavish mansion where its protagonist, Anne-Marie, resides, the film contrasts her surrounding abundance with her interior emptiness. India Song is a formal experiment on the relationship between image and sound, image and word, and their disconnect. This film is a hypnotic experience, amplified by a mesmerizing soundtrack by Carlos D’Alessio and meditative voice-over narration.

Mastery of Dialogue

Marguerite Duras’ work is revered for many reasons, one being her precision over dialogue. Her grammar is simple, almost clumsy, yet utterly singular in her ability to convey unrepresentability. Her script for Alain Resnais’s 1959 success Hiroshima Mon Amour (also available on the Criterion Channel) earned a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. When she gets hold of the camera, her creativity breaks new ground, defying cinematic constructs and inventing something of her own.

6 Losing Ground (1982)

Kathleen Collins’ Losing Ground is an independent film centered on the marriage between Sara, a philosophy professor, and Victor, a successful painter. As Sara and Victor embark on separate career and personal pathways, they start to grow apart and problems arise. Losing Ground approaches the challenges of love, independence, and change through the depiction of a marriage as it begins to fade.

Midlife Awakenings

Kathleen Collins’ semi-autobiographical film is one of the first feature-length films to be directed by an African-American woman. An overlooked gem of its time, Losing Ground is a candid and colorful portrait of a woman whose intellectual work turns into a journey of self-discovery as she opens herself to new experiences.

5 My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989)

Patrick Tam’s My Heart Is That Eternal Rose is a colorful crime romance starring Joey Wong, Kenny Bee, and Tony Leung. It is centered around three friends as they are sucked into the dark crime underworld of Hong Kong intermixed with a love triangle. This film is action-packed and suspenseful while being dedicated to the visual expression of melodrama.

Use of Color

Color is the most powerful storytelling element in the film, emphasizing the character’s emotions as the stakes grow more intense. Bright neon lights alongside low-key lighting emphasize the film’s dramatic atmosphere. My Heart Is That Eternal Rose is a great watch for fans of Wong Kar-wai, as Tam and Kar-wai frequently collaborated with the same cinematographer, Christopher Doyle.

4 Until the End of the World (1991)

German auteur Wim Wenders’ Until the End of The World is a sci-fi adventure that is incredibly ahead of its time. It follows Claire Tourneur (Solveig Dommartin) as she encounters Trevor McPhee (William Hurt) and follows him around the globe while the rest of the world anticipates a nuclear satellite headed toward Earth.

The Ultimate Road Film

Until the End of the World tends to be overshadowed by Wenders’ other successes, like Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire, and remains relatively unseen, likely due to its daunting 5-hour runtime. Unexpectedly, this film is not boring or dragged along, and is instead full of fascinating subplots and beautiful imagery. It also contains a memorable soundtrack from artists such as Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Julee Cruise, and U2.

3 Through the Olive Trees (1994)

Criterion

Through the Olive Trees is Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s third installment of his Koker Trilogy, as a pseudo-documentary about the behind-the-scenes of the previous film, And Life Goes On. While the movies connect thematically, it is not necessary to watch the whole trilogy (also available on Criterion) to understand Through the Olive Trees. While acting for And Life Goes On, Hossein Rasai falls in love with his co-star playing his wife, Taherah, who vehemently rejects Hossein.

Fiction Vs. Reality

Throughout the film, Kiarostami plays with ideas of objectivity vs. subjectivity, and fiction vs. reality. He continuously makes the audience aware of the artificiality of cinema, layering film into film like a kaleidoscope. It is less spoken about than Kiarostami’s other films, such as Close-Up or Taste of Cherry, but is still one of his greatest works.

2 Girlhood (2014)

Criterion

From Portrait of A Lady on Fire director Céline Sciamma, Girlhood is a modern coming-of-age drama about Marieme, a lonely teenage girl whose life changes when she joins a local girl gang. While Marieme finds companionship and escapism from her oppressive home life in this group, she is also introduced to a world where crime, violence, and drugs are a part of the culture. Marieme grapples with how to find freedom and independence despite her circumstances.

Illuminating Youth Struggles

Girlhood explores the power of female friendships and the search for one’s own identity while tackling gender and social issues. It also depicts a subculture that is not often given much spotlight in the media, while putting it in the context of relatable youth struggles such as sexuality and uncertainty about the future.

With films like Girlhood and Tomboy, Céline Sciamma can be viewed as a cinematic descendant of Agnes Varda, as she champions feminism.

1 Lingua Franca (2019)

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Isabel Sandoval stars in her own drama film about an undocumented trans woman working as a caregiver for an elderly woman in Brooklyn. Lingua Franca follows Olivia as she tries to support her family in the Philippines, secure her immigration status, and navigate a romance with her client’s grandson.

Navigating Identities

The film touches on many social issues in an intimate portrait of its protagonist whose identity is under scrutiny. It’s poignantly written and artistically shot, making for an emotionally touching viewing experience.

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