Criterion Collection

Criterion Collection
Fleshgrinder · Public domain · source
Name	Criterion Collection
Founded	1984
Founder	Robert Stein, Aleen Stein, Joe Medjuck
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Products	Home media, restoration, scholarly supplements

Criterion Collection is a home video distribution company known for its curated editions of significant films from around the world. The company issues films with high technical restoration standards and scholarly supplementary materials intended to contextualize works by directors, actors, and movements. Its catalog spans silent-era auteurs, postwar European cinema, Asian auteurs, Latin American filmmakers, and contemporary independent directors.

History

Founded in 1984 by Robert Stein, Aleen Stein, and Joe Medjuck, the company emerged during the rise of the LaserDisc format and the home video boom. Early releases included titles by Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, and Orson Welles, aligning with retrospectives at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the British Film Institute, and the Cannes Film Festival. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the company collaborated with archives like the Library of Congress, the British Film Institute National Archive, and the Cinémathèque Française to secure materials and clearance. Landmark partnerships and disputes intersected with distributors such as Columbia Pictures, United Artists, MGM/UA, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures. The firm navigated format transitions from LaserDisc to DVD and later to Blu-ray Disc and digital platforms amid developments at companies like Netflix and Amazon Studios.

Catalogue and Editions

The catalog includes works by canonical figures: Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, François Truffaut, Yasujiro Ozu, Luis Buñuel, Satyajit Ray, Wong Kar-wai, Andrei Tarkovsky, and John Cassavetes. Editions typically contain restored transfers, commentary tracks by critics from outlets like Sight & Sound and Film Comment, essays by scholars affiliated with UCLA Film & Television Archive and NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and newly commissioned supplements from institutions such as Harvard Film Archive and Yale Film Archive. Special edition programs include collections devoted to movements like Italian Neorealism, French New Wave, German Expressionism, Japanese New Wave, and the Hong Kong New Wave, as well as national retrospectives for Brazilian Cinema and Iranian Cinema. Collaborating curators have included figures associated with Criterion Collection releases: directors like Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Paul Schrader, scholars such as Andrew Sarris, and archivists from George Eastman Museum and National Film Preservation Foundation.

Restoration and Preservation

Restoration projects use film elements from archives including the National Film Board of Canada, the Filmoteca Española, the Deutsches Filminstitut, and the Cineteca di Bologna. Technical work involves scanning negatives at facilities like Fotokem, Deluxe Laboratories, and contemporary vendors in partnership with colorists who worked on titles by Pedro Almodóvar and Pedro Costa. The company has overseen restorations of silent films with intertitles and newly composed scores drawing on collaborations with composers linked to Berlin Philharmonic soloists and ensembles. Preservation efforts often coordinate with public initiatives such as the National Film Preservation Board and festivals like Telluride Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival to premiere restored prints.

Distribution and Licensing

Licensing negotiations involve rights holders including estates of filmmakers (for example, estates of Charlie Chaplin and Vivien Leigh), national studios like Toho Company and Studio Ghibli (though not all studios have licensed works), independent producers, and international distributors such as Wild Bunch and Pathé. Distribution channels expanded from physical retail partners like Tower Records and Best Buy to online storefronts and digital platforms including iTunes and tie-ins with streaming partners. The company has participated in rights disputes and license expirations influencing availability on services like Criterion Channel and library circulation through organizations such as Kanopy.

Critical Reception and Influence

Scholars, critics, and filmmakers frequently cite the company for elevating film scholarship and cinephilia. Publications and critics from The New York Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, and Variety have reviewed releases; academic journals such as Film Quarterly and Cinema Journal analyze restoration politics exemplified by Criterion editions. Filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Lynch, and Pedro Almodóvar have acknowledged Criterion-style curation as influential for repertory programming and film education curricula at institutions like Columbia University and University of Southern California.

Business and Ownership

The company has undergone corporate developments including private ownership, investment rounds, and strategic changes in product strategy. It has contractual relationships with media conglomerates and independent studios, requiring negotiation with rights management entities such as ASCAP and BMI for music licensing. The firm’s business model balances boutique physical product sales with subscription streaming and licensing to academic distributors and film societies like Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Notable Releases and Curators' Collection

Notable releases span classics and rediscoveries: editions of Seven Samurai, The Seventh Seal, La Dolce Vita, Breathless, Tokyo Story, The Rules of the Game, Persona, The 400 Blows, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Third Man, A Brighter Summer Day, Paris, Texas, Blue Velvet, The Mirror, Stalker, My Neighbor Totoro, L'avventura, The Leopard, Brokeback Mountain, Throne of Blood, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Grand Illusion, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, M, and Rashomon. Curators' Collection projects have featured guest curators such as Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project collaborators and directors from Cannes Film Festival lineups. Special boxed sets and director-focused series highlight filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson, Akira Kurosawa, and Orson Welles.

Category:Home video distributors