It is fair to assume Criterion could plunder the world of licensed film to build an ultimate noir playlist; credit, then, for focusing sharp and nabbing deep cuts. The Criterion Channel’s November / Noirvember program will be headlined by “Fox Noir,” an eight-title program with Otto Preminger deep cut Fallen Angel, three by Henry Hathaway, Siodmak, Dassin, Kazan, and Robert Wise, and while retrospectives of Veronica Lake and John Garfield will bring some canon into the fold (The Blue Dahlia and The Postman Always Rings Twice, respectively), I’m mostly thinking about that potential for discovery.
Following “Free Jazz,” Bob Hoskins, and Joyce Chopra programs, the other big series is a 30-year survey of Sony Pictures Classics: Sally Potter, Satoshi Kon, Panahi, Errol Morris, Almodóvar, Haneke, Mike Leigh, just a murderer’s row. Streaming premieres include 499 and A Night of Knowing Nothing, two recent epitomes of I Wish I Had Seen That; Criterion Editions comprise Cure, Brazil, Sullivan’s Travels, Sean Baker’s Take Out, and Michael Curtiz’s The Breaking Point. Also: did you know Twin Peaks‘ Joan Chen directed a movie about the Cultural Revolution called Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl? News to me, and I can’t wait to see it.
Find the full list of titles and more on the Criterion Channel.
499, Rodrigo Reyes, 2020
. . . After He Left, Athi Patra Ruga, 2008
Africa, the Jungle, Drums and Revolution, Suliman Mohamed Ibrahim Elnour, 1979
African Booty Scratcher, Nikyatu Jusu, 2007
Another Decade, Morgan Quaintance, 2018
Becket, Peter Glenville, 1964
Bestia, Hugo Covarrubias, 2021
Black Journal, “Alice Coltrane,” St. Clair Bourne, 1970
The Blue Dahlia, George Marshall, 1946*
Brazil, Terry Gilliam, 1985
The Breaking Point, Michael Curtiz, 1950
Call Northside 777, Henry Hathaway, 1948
A Camel, Ibrahim Shaddad, 1981
Censor of Dreams, Léo Berne and Raphaël Rodriguez, 2021
Cry of the City, Robert Siodmak, 1948
The Cry of Jazz, Edward Bland, 1959
CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, 2018
The Dark Corner, Henry Hathaway, 1946
The Daughter of Dawn, Norbert A. Myles, 1920
Dazed Flesh, Grace Passô and Ricardo Alves Jr, 2019
Dust Be My Destiny, Lewis Seiler, 1939
Fallen Angel, Wong Kar Wai, 1995
The Fallen Sparrow, Richard Wallace, 1943
Felicia’s Journey, Atom Egoyan, 1999*
The Flaming Lips Space Bubble Film, Blake Studdard and Wayne Coyne, 2022
Flowers, Nikyatu Jusu, 2016
Force of Evil, Abraham Polonsky, 1948*
Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask, Isaac Julien, 1995
Ghosts, André Novais Oliveira, 2010
The Glass Key, Stuart Heisler, 1942
Goodbye Jerome!, Chloé Farr, Gabrielle Selnet, and Adam Sillard, 2022
Gramercy Stories, Joyce Chopra, 2008
Happy Mother’s Day, Richard Leacock and Joyce Chopra, 1963
The House on Telegraph Hill, Robert Wise, 1951
Humoresque, Jean Negulesco, 1946
The Hunger, Tony Scott, 1983
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Taika Waititi, 2016
Imagine the Sound, Ron Mann, 1981
Kiss of Death, Henry Hathaway, 1947
Les stances à Sophie, Moshé Mizrahi, 1971
Long Way Home, André Novais Oliveira, 2018
Martha Clarke Light & Dark: A Dancer’s Journal, Joyce Chopra, 1980
Milford Graves Full Mantis, Jake Meginsky, with Neil Young, 2018
Missing Time, Morgan Quaintance, 2019
Nũhũ yãgmũ yõg hãm: This Land Is Ours!, Isael Maxakali, Sueli Maxakali, Carolina Canguçu, and Roberto Romero, 2020
The Pied Piper, Jacques Demy, 1972
The Postman Always Rings Twice, Tay Garnett, 1946
Promises: Through Congress, Trevor Tweeten, 2021
Public Service Announcement, Athi Patra Ruga, 2014
Republic, Grace Passô, 2020
Rising Tones Cross, Ebba Jahn, 1985
Saturday’s Children, Vincent Sherman, 1940
Say Grace Before Drowning, Nikyatu Jusu, 2010
Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth, Jeanie Finlay, 2019*
Suicide by Sunlight, Nikyatu Jusu, 2019
Sullivan’s Travels, Preston Sturges, 1941
Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise, Robert Mugge, 1980
Take Out, Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou, 2004
Thieves’ Highway, Jules Dassin, 1949
This Gun for Hire, Frank Tuttle, 1942
Yãmĩyhex, the Women-Spirit, Sueli Maxakali, Isael Maxakali, 2019
Premiering November 15
American Movie, Chris Smith, 1999
An Education, Lone Scherfig, 2009
Animal Kingdom, David Michôd, 2010*
Another Year, Mike Leigh, 2010
The City of Lost Children, Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1995*
The Fog of War, Errol Morris, 2003
Footnote, Joseph Cedar, 2011
Grateful Dawg, Gillian Grisman, 2000
House of Flying Daggers, Zhang Yimou, 2004
The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet, 2010
Incendies, Denis Villeneuve, 2010*
Junebug, Phil Morrison, 2005
L’enfant, Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 2005
Last Orders, Fred Schepisi, 2001
The Lives of Others, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006
Nine Queens, Fabián Bielinsky, 2000
Offside, Jafar Panahi, 2006
Orlando, Sally Potter, 1992
Paprika, Satoshi Kon, 2006
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, 2007
Pollock, Ed Harris, 2000
A Prophet, Jacques Audiard, 2009
Run Lola Run, Tom Tykwer, 1998
Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul, 2012
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011
Thumbsucker, Mike Mills, 2005
Volver, Pedro Almodóvar, 2006
The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke, 2009
Waltz with Bashir, Ari Folman, 2008*
Winged Migration, Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, and Michel Debats, 2001
Premiering November 16
A Night of Knowing Nothing, Payal Kapadia, 2021
Premiering November 21
My Architect, Nathaniel Kahn, 2003
*Available in the U.S. only