The Criterion Collection, a list by William Surya Darma

7.9

/98006/

79

/4005/

77

/1730/

4.3

/710849/

96

/186/

93

/34/

80

/38/

4.0

age 12+

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

78

7.7

/34528/

76

/1354/

74

/626/

4.3

/133656/

84

/56/

83

/322/

68

/13/

Four men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain.

77

7.5

/79024/

71

/1646/

72

/1212/

4.1

/291241/

75

/92/

81

/1133/

79

/27/

3.5

Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.

71

7.0

/86806/

69

/2670/

68

/1584/

3.4

/73589/

75

/32/

71

/2111/

67

/8/

3.5

age 16+

Imagine a world where absolute conformity rules, and word and thought, including loyalty to Big Brother is demanded. It's the year 1984 and such a world exists. Divided into three vast states, whose inhabitants are dominated by all powerful governments, an illegal love affair begins. Soon, worker drone Winston becomes the target of a brain-washing campaign to force him back to conformity.

77

7.6

/211026/

73

/4922/

74

/3195/

4.1

/190325/

80

/106/

80

/5229/

78

/32/

3.0

age 15+

The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.

82

7.6

/53717/

73

/1608/

74

/756/

4.0

/146077/

96

/51/

88

/862/

3.5

Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation when they stop at a busy service station. Saskia is abducted in broad daylight and three years pass with no answers or closure surrounding her disappearance. Rex has nearly given up all hope when he suddenly begins receiving letters from her abductor.

80

7.5

/35775/

76

/1658/

75

/715/

4.3

/302795/

94

/66/

85

/255/

70

/13/

A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances is sweeping Tokyo.

70

7.6

/167936/

75

/3776/

75

/2847/

4.1

/377471/

69

/62/

87

/3626/

53

/21/

2.0

age 18+

A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.

82

7.5

/228901/

73

/4123/

70

/2315/

3.7

/96514/

93

/222/

85

/4670/

86

/34/

4.0

age 17+

An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine within their comfortable suburban home. In Mexico, a flawed, but noble policeman agrees to testify against a powerful general in league with a cartel, and in San Diego, a drug kingpin's sheltered trophy wife must learn her husband's ruthless business after he is arrested, endangering her luxurious lifestyle.

80

7.2

/73669/

70

/1377/

70

/1181/

3.8

/135527/

87

/63/

75

/1027/

90

/35/

4.0

age 11+

In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.

78

7.4

/47613/

74

/1617/

72

/793/

4.1

/183322/

80

/86/

81

/470/

78

/8/

3.5

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

79

7.8

/220808/

78

/5451/

76

/3567/

4.1

/252500/

98

/63/

90

/7405/

84

/18/

2.0

age 17+

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

77

7.2

/184188/

72

/4287/

71

/3503/

3.9

/1131201/

80

/106/

81

/6368/

77

/31/

3.5

age 17+

A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.

71

7.3

/117192/

75

/3628/

74

/2160/

4.3

/392861/

66

/82/

78

/2157/

45

/29/

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

71

7.4

/27536/

71

/493/

69

/514/

3.7

/19896/

84

/25/

83

/420/

63

/11/

2.0

In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.

85

7.7

/93896/

74

/1819/

75

/1951/

3.9

/269777/

95

/81/

90

/2243/

96

/24/

4.0

A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.

87

8.1

/33043/

81

/946/

79

/631/

4.5

/158869/

97

/91/

91

/517/

94

/25/

3.5

A Taipei family faces personal and moral uncertainty as everyday events test their relationships and sense of purpose.

83

7.7

/109611/

77

/3062/

75

/1817/

4.3

/177843/

89

/83/

91

/2300/

73

/15/

4.0

age 13+

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

80

7.2

/77655/

70

/1840/

68

/1058/

3.8

/230744/

90

/78/

81

/1965/

83

/18/

4.0

age 13+

37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.

79

7.3

/66224/

73

/1940/

72

/1038/

4.0

/179609/

87

/71/

83

/1380/

64

/19/

4.0

Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.

76

6.8

/107120/

70

/3106/

66

/1410/

3.4

/125009/

93

/54/

73

/2016/

75

/9/

4.0

age 16+

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.

87

7.9

/122439/

78

/3479/

77

/1922/

4.4

/477967/

92

/150/

89

/3366/

93

/26/

4.0

age 16+

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

83

7.7

/29815/

75

/847/

74

/436/

4.1

/90245/

93

/27/

85

/519/

83

/15/

4.0

Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.

83

7.7

/104987/

75

/2427/

75

/3250/

4.1

/147823/

91

/135/

81

/657/

86

/34/

4.0

age 17+

Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

77

7.4

/101291/

75

/2960/

73

/1771/

4.0

/601435/

92

/192/

78

/1005/

82

/35/

2.5

age 16+

An aspiring dancer moves to New York City and becomes caught up in a whirlwind of flighty fair-weather friends, diminishing fortunes and career setbacks.

85

7.7

/67871/

74

/1407/

74

/1109/

4.1

/153004/

94

/66/

89

/1297/

94

/20/

4.0

age 14+

In 1916, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer.

76

6.9

/66253/

70

/1575/

70

/1195/

3.9

/233111/

81

/62/

80

/1720/

77

/18/

3.5

age 17+

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

75

6.8

/68011/

69

/1517/

69

/1209/

3.9

/163344/

72

/117/

75

/4265/

73

/25/

4.0

age 17+

When actress Nikki Grace gets the lead role in a cursed film, her world becomes more and more surreal, blending realities and ideas of infidelity, reincarnation, and supernatural forces.

83

7.4

/42939/

72

/734/

71

/579/

3.9

/75466/

100

/26/

88

/764/

86

/13/

4.0

New York layabout Willie forms an unexpected bond with his young Hungarian cousin Eva when she pays him a surprise visit. Later, Eva moves in with their aunt in Cleveland, and Willie takes his best friend Eddie to see her—a visit that culminates in a strange, eventful trip to Florida.

78

7.2

/110611/

70

/2610/

68

/1147/

3.8

/193128/

92

/114/

79

/2577/

83

/33/

3.5

age 16+

Tracy Flick is running unopposed for this year’s high school student election. But Jim McAllister has a different plan. Partly to establish a more democratic election, and partly to satisfy some deep personal anger toward Tracy, Jim talks football player Paul Metzler to run for president as well.

82

7.4

/74214/

73

/2269/

74

/1612/

4.1

/254871/

88

/59/

81

/803/

86

/15/

4.0

While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other passenger is already dead — a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.

86

7.9

/82984/

78

/1476/

78

/1452/

4.3

/173331/

95

/65/

93

/2055/

79

/9/

4.0

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.

79

7.2

/63753/

70

/1406/

69

/998/

3.9

/108788/

96

/55/

79

/1067/

86

/17/

3.5

age 17+

Ann, a frustrated wife, enters into counseling due to a troubled marriage. Unbeknownst to her, her husband John has begun an affair with her sister. When John’s best friend Graham arrives, his penchant for interviewing women about their sex lives forever changes John and Ann’s rocky marriage.

83

7.5

/71346/

73

/1310/

72

/907/

4.0

/125169/

97

/65/

84

/903/

86

/20/

4.0

age 17+

A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?

81

7.2

/51710/

70

/882/

69

/806/

3.7

/71331/

100

/37/

85

/1353/

83

/21/

4.0

age 11+

When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?

85

7.7

/83415/

74

/1767/

74

/1295/

4.0

/169002/

97

/61/

90

/1404/

94

/20/

4.0

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

73

7.0

/55396/

69

/1412/

69

/1072/

3.6

/112995/

83

/60/

74

/578/

74

/16/

3.0

After witnessing a mysterious woman brutally slay a homemaker, prostitute Liz Blake finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. While the police thinks she is the murderer, the real killer is intent on silencing her only witness.

83

7.7

/48142/

74

/995/

72

/637/

4.0

/117247/

88

/59/

91

/871/

85

/21/

4.0

An unemployed Brit vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.

80

7.2

/122602/

71

/2665/

71

/2091/

3.8

/137628/

84

/56/

82

/3065/

85

/18/

4.0

age 17+

Wyatt and Billy, two Harley-riding hippies, complete a drug deal in Southern California and decide to travel cross-country in search of spiritual truth.

82

7.5

/69059/

78

/2118/

74

/848/

3.9

/85521/

84

/45/

93

/2213/

76

/19/

4.0

age 17+

A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.

83

7.8

/92219/

78

/2061/

76

/1486/

4.0

/182073/

95

/55/

92

/2513/

83

/16/

After Regina Lampert falls for the dashing Peter Joshua on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she discovers upon her return to Paris that her husband has been murdered. Soon, she and Peter are giving chase to three of her late husband's World War II cronies, Tex, Scobie and Gideon, who are after a quarter of a million dollars the quartet stole while behind enemy lines.

74

6.8

/58271/

67

/1339/

65

/852/

3.6

/110175/

88

/67/

66

/941/

86

/23/

3.5

age 17+

Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.

82

7.7

/79101/

73

/1475/

74

/893/

4.0

/110506/

84

/51/

89

/2813/

81

/30/

4.0

The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.

81

7.3

/131483/

72

/2653/

70

/1529/

3.6

/217757/

93

/166/

84

/4228/

91

/32/

4.0

age 17+

Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.

78

7.3

/94279/

70

/1741/

69

/1042/

3.7

/144044/

91

/150/

81

/4830/

82

/37/

3.5

age 17+

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

76

59

7.6

/5319/

73

/125/

75

/195/

4.0

/11272/

67

/6/

88

/12/

As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witnesses paint a picture of the kind of relationship the two used to share.

80

7.5

/76155/

73

/1693/

72

/1173/

4.0

/80421/

90

/133/

83

/1705/

82

/25/

3.5

age 16+

The story of Bobby Sands, the IRA member who led the 1981 hunger strike during The Troubles in which Irish Republican prisoners tried to win political status.

83

7.8

/75266/

75

/1089/

75

/1078/

4.1

/76412/

84

/64/

91

/1411/

82

/29/