Top 10 Essential Criterion Films

welcome to criterion reviews i'm nathan and today i'll be going over the top 10 most essential criterion films [Music] so i know it's been a long time since i put out a video a couple reasons for that you know i don't get paid for doing this channel this is strictly for recreation and i've just had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life but today i was like you know what i'm gonna bust out a video and i got a great topic for today a couple of months ago i did a video called top five criterion films for beginners these were five films that i felt were great introductions to the criterion collection for people who may not be familiar so this list could definitely kind of be a part of that list this list is like the 10 most essential films these are the 10 films that if you're into the criterion at all you need to at least watch these movies one time and if you're a collector you need to maybe own some of these movies and most likely do because these are the 10 most in my opinion most talked about most influential this is by no means a definitive list this is just my opinion so feel free to post what you think is the most essential criterion films in the comments and with that being said here we go in the criterion collection there are the big four directors and in my opinion that is andre tarkovsky akira kurosawa ingmar bergman federico fellini these are the four directors that are you know the most revered in the criterion collection they seem to be the most talked about the most influential and for all good reasons all of them have amazing films you will cross paths with them without a doubt if you're getting into the criterion collection so i wanted to make sure i incorporated a film uh from each of those directors so the first one being andre rublev andre tarkovsky full disclosure i have not seen this film yet it is the only film on this list that i haven't seen i haven't seen any tarkovsky yet i just haven't gotten around to them i've been watching so many different types of stuff but i need to buckle down and finally watch it because even i'm aware of how influential this director is i've seen some stills i've seen some uh some uh scenes on youtube of this movie and it looks breathtaking but it is a long movie so i need to prepare myself for that but i i can't wait to watch this one but i um yeah i i would be remiss if i didn't mention at least one tarkovsky film he's a director i just need to be a little bit more familiar with but only film on this list i haven't seen uh the rest i've seen multiple times but uh yeah i'm actually looking forward to this i might i might watch this later this week and i might actually end up doing a review on it for the channel next film is an ingmar bergman film and it is wild strawberries honestly when it comes to ingmar bergman you really can't go wrong he has so many iconic films so many influential films you know the seventh seal persona fannie and alexander autumn sonata i mean the list goes on and on you really can't go wrong but for me wild strawberries is the perfect first film to watch of his it's it's fairly lighthearted a lot of his films can be very heavy very emotional this movie is emotional but it's emotional in a way like you know it's a wonderful life is it's really eye-opening it's it's really beautiful and it's a short movie it's around i think it's a little less than 90 minutes i could be wrong on that but it's about an hour and a half very easy watch very beautiful it's an art house film to the definition um just an amazing movie i know some people would probably say seventh seal like i said pick any bergman film but if you're asking me what's the first one to get into what is the most essential i would say wild strawberries another big director who i did not mention in the big four but he is crazy influential and that is france watcher foe and if there's one film of his that you have to watch it's the 400 blows i saw this movie the first time just a few months ago and it is a wonderful coming of age movie so many films over the years have taken influence of this film it's it's really obvious but man is it just a really well made movie an amazing performance from the lead actor i'm spacing on his name i'll put it right there sorry about that he's he's been in a bunch of truffaut films i've only seen two true false films i've only seen 400 blows and shoot the piano player i actually own day for night and i'm just i use another director i need to be a little bit more familiar with but so far i am really enjoying his films next one eight and a half video fellaini now my personal favorite fellaini film is the dolce vito is my first one but this is obviously his most influential so many movies have taken inspiration from this probably most famous uh stardust memories by woody allen and then i think chris rock actually did a version of that that deals with similar themes but yeah basically this is like art house cinema 101 they study this in film schools and for good reason and it's an amazing movie about the art of cinema is basically what it's about it's about a director trying to find his vision and it's explored in such an amazing magical type of way fellini is just he's one of the best the maestro next one is another super obvious one and that is kurosawa seven samurai honestly if there's one film that you absolutely need to see that if you haven't seen yet it's this one at three and a half hours long it's a long one but there is not a boring moment in this movie it is paced so perfectly well and if you want to split it in two days you can there's an intermission right in the middle of this movie it's a perfect book marker but yeah i mean what can i say about this movie that hasn't already been said it's one of the greatest movies i've ever met next one is kind of a controversial one i'll hold it sideways breathless by jean-luc gada upon getting into criterion films i realized that godawa is a very split down the middle director some people love him some people really hate him and some people just really dislike this movie um you know i i get it some people say it's somewhat overrated i think it's wonderful i think it's a really easy watch and i can see the inspiration there a lot of people say it's sloppily made but either way watch the movie form your own opinion um in my opinion it's a good movie and it's crazy influential and it's definitely one of the most influential art house movies ever made it's just you can't really deny that directors like scorsese and de palma and paul thomas anderson all psychedar as a pretty big influence um so yeah check him out he's he's a very somewhat controversial filmmaker but you know you can't say that he's not unique and he doesn't have his own vision he definitely has his own style so next one is the one that needs to be studied by film lovers and that is bicycle thieves italian neo-realism at its finest heartbreaking lovely you know around 89 minutes this movie is so it's an easy watch it's a compelling watch it's beautiful its themes are still relevant to poverty today it is essential viewing for any criterion lover next one is one of my personal favorites and is paris texas by vim wenders i need to incorporate at least one american film and when it comes to american art house cinema this might be the very best so many people on criterion site this is one of their favorite movies it's one of my favorite it's in my top ten and for good reason it is just pure cinema at its finest amazing acting directing cinematography score the screenplay is fantastic just all across the board everything gets this movie right and it's a movie that i highly recommend you go in blind don't look up this movie don't look at the synopsis just watch it and let it happen and it is wonderful next one is another one that was in my top 10 and that is the samurai jean-pierre melville this is my first criterion film um first one i bought on blu-ray and uh one of my favorite films to this day it's just pure cinema it it is a motion picture to the definition where it's the movement and the look of the movie that tells the story very minimal dialogue and that works in its favor it gives it a really awesome and cool atmosphere um it may be a little slow going for some people i say stick with it because it has a really great ending and it is just the coolest one of the coolest movies ever alan delon what a stud last but certainly not least you need to have a kubrick film and for my money powers of glory is a great one to start with most likely you've seen kubrick movies right but when you get into criterion they kind of highlight some of his uh lesser known films films like pastor glory or barry lyndon and stuff like that barry london is my personal favorite of his in the criteria collection but if you're getting in the criterion movies and you're looking for you know movies to start off with this is another really short movie 88 minutes deals with world war one themes of you know corruption and tragedy and just it is so well made this movie it's really mind blowing how you know relevant the themes are in this movie it's so relevant to today and so many films have taken inspiration from it and for good reason it is just one of the finest movies ever made kubrick truly was uh just years ahead of his time in comparison to his american contemporaries just perfect filmmaking kirk douglas is stud i think the only complaint i have about this movie is about it's about a french war and there's like no french people like kirk douglas is like the most american guy ever why is he the general of the french army i have no idea it doesn't really matter it's the story that makes this movie amazing and it's the filmmaking so has a glory anyway guys that is my list of the top 10 uh in my opinion the top 10 most essential criterion films please mention in the comments what you think are some of the most essential movies did i forget one is there one that i should have talked about you know get a nice conversation going and as always thank you for watching

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Id: pZDF-Hrf-dE

Length: 9min 47sec (587 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 18 2021