Criterion Channel, a list by Adam McGready

8.6

/398058/

84

/5714/

84

/4069/

4.6

/383477/

100

/103/

97

/6724/

98

/7/

4.0

age 13+

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

91

8.6

/88654/

85

/1882/

84

/1144/

4.7

/199789/

100

/10/

97

/415/

85

/9/

4.0

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

90

8.3

/100744/

82

/1704/

83

/1271/

4.5

/174362/

98

/57/

96

/1465/

92

/20/

4.0

age 11+

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

90

8.5

/214694/

81

/2923/

83

/2371/

4.3

/171726/

95

/58/

95

/1757/

99

/15/

4.0

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

90

8.3

/19631/

79

/389/

81

/411/

4.4

/34418/

100

/20/

95

/266/

96

/17/

4.0

In medieval Japan, a woman and her children journey to find the family's patriarch, who was exiled years earlier.

90

8.4

/25018/

81

/540/

82

/500/

4.5

/59770/

100

/33/

93

/343/

4.0

A vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.

90

8.1

/76639/

81

/1435/

82

/1171/

4.4

/135798/

100

/52/

93

/871/

100

/19/

4.0

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

90

8.2

/141563/

80

/2363/

80

/1613/

4.3

/162000/

96

/51/

96

/2271/

93

/17/

4.0

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

90

8.2

/149647/

80

/2532/

80

/1722/

4.5

/224656/

96

/94/

95

/2188/

97

/21/

4.0

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

89

8.3

/22309/

79

/345/

80

/442/

4.3

/23283/

98

/42/

95

/480/

96

/20/

4.0

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

89

8.1

/194433/

79

/3188/

80

/2433/

4.2

/264948/

98

/64/

93

/2665/

98

/18/

4.0

age 15+

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

89

8.1

/115945/

78

/1658/

79

/1507/

4.3

/168895/

100

/62/

94

/1327/

100

/11/

Part-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows no concern about the dog, and Valentine decides to keep it. But the two form a bond when she returns to his house and catches him listening to his neighbors’ phone calls.

89

8.3

/29319/

79

/782/

76

/322/

4.4

/50913/

98

/60/

92

/881/

98

/19/

4.0

age 13+

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

89

8.2

/21198/

80

/450/

80

/454/

4.3

/57652/

100

/25/

92

/256/

93

/18/

4.0

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

89

8.6

/23186/

84

/589/

82

/539/

4.6

/54083/

100

/26/

95

/414/

age 15+

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

89

8.4

/69684/

84

/1467/

83

/1059/

4.6

/185667/

97

/70/

95

/556/

90

/17/

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

89

8.1

/67307/

79

/1163/

79

/1045/

4.4

/119726/

98

/63/

93

/953/

98

/21/

4.0

A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.

89

8.1

/74420/

78

/1175/

79

/847/

4.5

/112151/

99

/94/

95

/1191/

96

/22/

4.0

Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu, a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There he faces Ali la Pointe, a former petty criminal who, as the leader of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directs terror strategies against the colonial French government occupation. As each side resorts to ever-increasing brutality, no violent act is too unthinkable.

89

8.3

/181231/

80

/2637/

81

/2376/

4.3

/198798/

100

/63/

95

/2237/

4.0

In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.

89

8.2

/190797/

80

/2662/

82

/2574/

4.3

/249922/

99

/67/

94

/2155/

4.0

age 12+

Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his son, Antonio combs the city, becoming desperate for justice.

89

8.5

/282955/

82

/4478/

82

/3949/

4.3

/252214/

98

/113/

95

/1797/

96

/4/

age 6+

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time..

89

8.1

/70851/

77

/952/

77

/847/

4.4

/70186/

100

/46/

94

/1018/

100

/8/

4.0

age 17+

As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.

89

8.3

/119651/

82

/2946/

82

/1724/

4.6

/408767/

90

/60/

95

/929/

4.0

age 16+

The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

88

8.1

/30285/

80

/599/

79

/589/

4.3

/63121/

100

/43/

93

/288/

4.0

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

88

8.2

/14728/

80

/533/

83

/366/

4.5

/68776/

100

/26/

94

/99/

91

/6/

A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.

88

8.1

/72709/

78

/1143/

80

/1040/

4.3

/60837/

100

/54/

94

/694/

85

/15/

4.0

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

88

8.1

/27907/

78

/561/

80

/626/

4.3

/55624/

100

/34/

93

/412/

4.0

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

88

8.1

/30293/

79

/526/

79

/721/

4.2

/43205/

98

/41/

93

/453/

92

/9/

4.0

When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.

88

8.5

/23015/

82

/594/

82

/538/

4.5

/47250/

95

/19/

96

/114/

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.

88

8.1

/42811/

80

/958/

79

/720/

4.4

/139190/

98

/65/

91

/825/

4.0

age 10+

A fledgling ballerina falls in love with a brilliant composer, but the jealous head of the ballet company plots to drive them apart.

88

8.0

/131725/

77

/2027/

81

/2462/

4.3

/241077/

97

/62/

91

/2559/

93

/23/

4.0

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

88

8.0

/133405/

79

/2254/

80

/2260/

4.3

/248873/

99

/72/

94

/2056/

4.0

age 13+

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

88

8.3

/10114/

82

/394/

81

/391/

4.4

/52170/

88

/24/

95

/472/

4.0

Johan and Marianne are married and seem to have it all. Their happiness, however, is a façade for a troubled relationship, which becomes even rockier when Johan admits that he's having an affair. Before long, the spouses separate and move towards finalizing their divorce, but they make attempts at reconciling. Even as they pursue other relationships, Johan and Marianne realize that they have a significant bond, but also many issues that hinder that connection.

87

8.0

/50888/

78

/764/

75

/704/

4.3

/59640/

95

/44/

92

/644/

92

/27/

4.0

age 15+

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

87

8.0

/11784/

78

/272/

79

/311/

4.2

/31049/

95

/21/

90

/81/

91

/17/

4.0

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

87

8.2

/18707/

77

/330/

79

/397/

4.3

/34753/

100

/29/

91

/259/

4.0

The three sons of devout Danish farmer Morten have widely disparate religious beliefs. Youngest son Anders shares his father's religion, but eldest son Mikkel has lost his faith, while middle child Johannes has become delusional and proclaims that he is Jesus Christ himself. When Mikkel's wife, Inger goes into a difficult childbirth, everyone's beliefs are put to the test.

87

8.0

/17971/

77

/368/

75

/261/

4.2

/24878/

97

/37/

90

/298/

93

/20/

4.0

age 10+

General Candy, who's overseeing an English squad in 1943, is a veteran leader who doesn't have the respect of the men he's training and is considered out-of-touch with what's needed to win the war. But it wasn't always this way. Flashing back to his early career in the Boer War and World War I, we see a dashing young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women, and by a lasting friendship with a German soldier.

87

8.1

/33544/

78

/555/

77

/594/

4.3

/43874/

94

/51/

93

/387/

86

/19/

4.0

A prominent politician is murdered during a demonstration. The government and army are trying to suppress the truth. But, a tenacious magistrate is determined to not to let them get away with it.

87

7.9

/33132/

75

/607/

74

/643/

4.1

/55542/

97

/62/

89

/704/

99

/21/

4.0

A weekend at a marquis’ country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut bourgeois acquaintances.

87

7.8

/28866/

76

/894/

77

/631/

4.2

/98185/

98

/55/

89

/577/

99

/19/

4.0

Clumsy Monsieur Hulot finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon becomes lost. His roundabout journey parallels that of an American tourist, and as they weave through the inventive urban environment, they intermittently meet, developing an interest in one another. They eventually get together at a chaotic restaurant, along with several other quirky characters.

87

8.1

/38202/

79

/844/

79

/865/

4.1

/39960/

97

/30/

93

/341/

90

/7/

4.0

Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman - soon the star of the show - and falls in love with the circus owner's stepdaughter.

87

8.0

/72734/

78

/1599/

78

/1220/

4.2

/68930/

96

/50/

90

/1203/

93

/18/

4.0

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

87

8.0

/139111/

80

/2615/

81

/2345/

4.4

/381093/

91

/58/

93

/1489/

86

/18/

4.0

A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer.

87

8.2

/144356/

80

/2584/

81

/2285/

4.2

/113601/

100

/49/

95

/774/

age 8+

A tramp cares for a boy after he's abandoned as a newborn by his mother. Later the mother has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son.

87

8.1

/213921/

78

/3440/

81

/3237/

4.3

/366360/

93

/73/

93

/3119/

88

/15/

4.0

age 13+

When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.

87

8.2

/3546/

81

/165/

75

/64/

4.4

/17109/

100

/12/

4.0

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

87

8.2

/7279/

82

/236/

75

/110/

4.3

/22626/

100

/22/

92

/186/

80

/5/