No two ways about it: April’s a great month for the Criterion Channel, which (among other things; more in a second) adds two recent favorites. We’re thrilled at the SVOD premiere of Hamaguchi’s entrancing Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, our #3 of 2021, and Bruno Dumont’s lacerating France, featuring Léa Seydoux’s finest performance yet.
Ethan Hawke’s Adventures in Moviegoing runs the gamut from Eagle Pennell’s Last Night at the Alamo to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, while a 14-film John Ford retro (mostly) skips westerns altogether. And no notes on the Delphine Seyrig retro—multiple by Akerman, Ulrike Ottinger, Duras, a smattering of Buñuel, and Seyrig’s own film Be Pretty and Shut Up! That of all things might be the crown jewl.
See the full list of April titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
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3 Bad Men, John Ford, 1926
Aar paar, Guru Dutt, 1954
Accident, Joseph Losey, 1967
Across 110th Street, Barry Shear, 1972
Adam, Maryam Touzani, 2019
Baaz, Guru Dutt, 1953
Balikbayan, Larilyn Sanchez and Riza Manalo, 2004
Barrier Device, Grace Lee, 2002
Baxter, Vera Baxter, Marguerite Duras, 1977
Be Pretty and Shut Up!, Delphine Seyrig, 1981
The Betrayal, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath, 2008
Black Belt Jones, Robert Clouse, 1974
Black Caesar, Larry Cohen, 1973
The Black Watch, John Ford, 1929
Blue Velvet, David Lynch, 1986
Bodies in Dissent, Ufuoma Essi, 2021
Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sara Driver, 2017*
Born Reckless, John Ford, 1930
Bring Down the Walls, Phil Collins, 2020
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson, Robert Altman, 1976
Cavite, Ian Gamazon, Neill Dela Llana, 2005
The Chambermaid, Lila Avilés, 2018
Chaudhvin ka chand, M. Sadiq, 1960
Colma: The Musical, Richard Wong, 2006
Daughters of Darkness, Harry Kümel, 1971
Deep Blues, Robert Mugge, 1992
A Demonstration, Sasha Litvintseva and Beny Wagner, 2020
Doctor Bull, John Ford, 1933
A Doll’s House, Joseph Losey, 1973
First Person Plural, Deann Borshay Liem, 2000
Four Sons, John Ford, 1928
France, Bruno Dumont, 2021
Friday Foster, Arthur Marks, 1975
Going Home, Hung Nguyen, 2006
The Hawks and the Sparrows, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1966
A Hell of a Note, Eagle Pennell, 1977
How Green Was My Valley, John Ford, 1941
I Was Born, But . . . , Roddy Bogawa, 2004
In Between Days, So Yong Kim, 2006
In Search of Guru Dutt, Nasreen Munni Kabir, 1989
In Space, Visra Vichit-Vadakan, 2009
India Song, Marguerite Duras, 1975
J.D.’s Revenge, Arthur Marks, 1976
Jane Eyre, Robert Young, 1997
Journey from the Fall, Ham Tran, 2006
Judge Priest, John Ford, 1934
Paper Flowers, Guru Dutt, 1959
Kentucky Pride, John Ford, 1925
The King of Texas, René Pinnell, Claire Huie, 2008
Last Night at the Alamo, Eagle Pennell, 1983
The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanovich, 1971
Last Year at Marienbad, Alain Resnais, 1961
Letter From Your Far-Off Country, Suneil Sanzgiri, 2020
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, John Huston, 1972
Loose Corner, Anita Thacher, 1986
Maat, Fox Maxy, 2020
Mamartuile, Alejandro Saevich, 2017
Man Hunt, Fritz Lang, 1941
Melting Snow, Janah Elise Cox, 2021
Men Without Women, John Ford, 1930
The Milky Way, Luis Buñuel, 1969
Ministry of Fear, Fritz Lang, 1944
Mr. & Mrs. ’55, Guru Dutt, 1955
my favorite software is being here, Alison Nguyen, 2021
My Worst Nightmare, Anne Fontaine, 2011
A New England Document, Che Applewhaite, 2020
Original Gangstas, Fred Williamson and Larry Cohen, 1996
Pilgrimage, John Ford, 1933
Pirated!, Hoang Tan Nguyen, 2000
Punching at the Sun, Tanuj Chopra, 2006
Pyaasa, Guru Dutt, 1957
Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog, Yoichi Sai, 2004
Reckless Eyeballing, Christopher Harris, 2004
Refugee, Spencer Nakasako, 2003
The Robe, Henry Koster, 1953
Sahib bibi aur ghulam, Abrar Alvi, 1962
Sangam, Prashant Bhargava, 2004
Saving Face, Alice Wu, 2004*
Seven Women, Seven Sins, Maxi Cohen, Laurence Gavron, Bette Gordon, Helke Sander, Ulrike Ottinger, Chantal Akerman, and Valie Export, 1986
Shaft’s Big Score!, Gordon Parks, 1972
Steamboat Round the Bend, John Ford, 1935
Sugar Hill, Paul Maslansky, 1974
Summer of the Serpent, Kimi Takesue, 2004
Thomasine and Bushrod, Gordon Parks Jr., 1974
Three the Hard Way, Gordon Parks Jr., 1974
Thriller, Sally Potter, 1980
Through the Night, Loira Limbal, 2020
Tobacco Road, John Ford, 1941
Top of the Heap, Christopher St. John, 1972
Trouble Man, Ivan Dixon, 1972
Truck Turner, Jonathan Kaplan, 1974
Two Sons and a River of Blood, Amber Bemak and Angelo Madsen Minax, 2021
What Price Glory, John Ford, 1952
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021
The Whole Shootin’ Match, Eagle Pennell, 1978
Windowbreaker, Tze Chun, 2006
The World Moves On, John Ford, 1934
Young Mr. Lincoln, John Ford, 1939
**Available in the U.S. only