The Criterion Collection

[Feiereisel]

Diversity is never unwelcome, and I think Criteion does a reasonable job presenting a wide variety of world films. Probably they would agree that they'd love to release more films from many more countries. But it's a business; there is a budget.

Surely this has been mentioned already, but top-sellers like Kurosawa, Bergman, Godard, and Anderson probably help make releases of lesse known and more diverse films possible. (Theoretically at least.)

Supposedly a second World Cinema set is/was held up by legal issues, and I remember seeing an article linked here that more Ray is forthcoming--much if not all of his work, correct?

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by Feiereisel

Diversity is never unwelcome, and I think Criteion does a reasonable job presenting a wide variety of world films. Probably they would agree that they'd love to release more films from many more countries. But it's a business; there is a budget.

Surely this has been mentioned already, but top-sellers like Kurosawa, Bergman, Godard, and Anderson probably help make releases of lesse known and more diverse films possible. (Theoretically at least.)

I don't buy it:

Originally Posted by Infernal King

the number of films from all other Asian countries combined don't even come close to equaling half of the number of films from Japan.

No way do I believe it has to do with the inability to secure distribution rights or the inability to do a proper restoration: we're talking about hundreds of thousands of films to choose from. It has to do with a lack of interest.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

I don't buy it:

Well sure, but is the lack of interest on Criterion's part or the consumer's?

[DaveyJoe]

Criterion mostly specializes in arthouse films, outside of Wong Kar Wai and Ang Lee(both represented in the Collection), I don't think China has a lot of arthouse filmmakers, especially when compared with the Japanese film industry.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

I don't buy it:

He's right, though. The filmmakers he listed are bigger sellers because they are more popular and more widely known. Criterion is still a business, and putting out the "bigger sellers" (including American studio fare) helps them financially to release obscure titles now and then. Doesn't mean they are better films, it just means money it keeps the company open. If everything they released was like the World Cinema Project, they wouldn't stay in business long.

It's no different than an American director like Hitchcock being more widely released than a more obscure one, like John Sayles.

[Infernal King]

Wow, a HUGE amount of pushback and excuses to the idea of Criterion releasing maybe just 1 or 2 more titles from literally any other Asian country besides Japan.

Criticizing Criterion at all in this thread is a fool's errand, it would seem.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Wow, a HUGE amount of pushback and excuses to the idea of Criterion releasing maybe just 1 or 2 more titles from literally any other Asian country besides Japan.

Criticizing Criterion at all in this thread is a fool's errand, it would seem.

Not at all. As I said, the simple fact is that a Kurosawa title will most likely sell better than something more obscure. That doesn't mean they can't release more obscure films - they do. It just means they can't release as many of them. It's not a conspiracy, just simple business.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Wow, a HUGE amount of pushback and excuses to the idea of Criterion releasing maybe just 1 or 2 more titles from literally any other Asian country besides Japan.

Criticizing Criterion at all in this thread is a fool's errand, it would seem.

I have no problems with Criterion releasing non-Japanese Asian films, but I'm not going to complain when Criterion announces a new Kurosawa/Japanese release. I'm not into James Ivory but I don't lament when Criterion releases one of his films instead of whatever I was hoping for, there maybe plenty of fans that will be excited about that new release. I'm not going to suggest Criterion taking a break from James Ivory films until I get what I want, I will just be patient and see what the next month brings. There are still plenty of titles I have yet to buy, and films in the collection I have yet to discover. The criterion collection is eclectic, and they can't cater to any one specific person's tastes.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Wow, a HUGE amount of pushback and excuses to the idea of Criterion releasing maybe just 1 or 2 more titles from literally any other Asian country besides Japan.

Criticizing Criterion at all in this thread is a fool's errand, it would seem.

:: shrug ::

I'd love to see them release them more Asian films, heck I wouldn't even complain if they *only* released Asian films, but my personal preferences don't blind me to the logic of why they actually release what they do.

[Infernal King]

You mean to tell me that no matter how obscure the Japanese film, it would still sell better than big titles from China or Korea (just to name two examples)?

I think everyone else is arguing about something different than me.

I cannot understand why it's considered unreasonable or unrealistic to ask why 99% of all their Asian fare is from Japan. No reply in this thread has given a good excuse, because there is none.

[Chad Plainview]

My wish list.

Days of being Wild
A Matter of Life and Death
The Lady Eve
My Man Godfrey

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

You mean to tell me that no matter how obscure the Japanese film, it would still sell better than big titles from China or Korea (just to name two examples)?

I think everyone else is arguing about something different than me.

I cannot understand why it's considered unreasonable or unrealistic to ask why 99% of all their Asian fare is from Japan. No reply in this thread has given a good excuse, because there is none.

Did I say that? Nope, now you're just making up comments.

But Japan has - arguably, and collectively - more widely known directors out of those 3 countries, so it is simple math that their films would sell better because of that. Not to mention, Kurosawa and Ozu are regularly listed as 2 of the best directors EVER, so of course they will get more films released. There are other Swedish filmmakers other than Ingmar Bergman, but he's the most popular; hence, the most releases. See how that works?

I gave you several good excuses, you just chose to ignore them.

[Marten]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Well sure, but is the lack of interest on Criterion's part or the consumer's?

I'd say Criterion.

Would you say consumers were clamoring for titles like Hausu, Sweet Movie, WR: Mysteries of the Organism, etc.?

There are several classic Zhang Yimou films that are worthy of a Criterion release. Additionally, the South Korean film industry is full of art-house films.

There is definitely a bias towards Japanese films but most of us who love Asian cinema know bringing this issue up would be

However, I'm extremely grateful to them for releasing Chungking Express and ITMFL. The former was an unexpected treat....that's OOP now.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

You mean to tell me that no matter how obscure the Japanese film, it would still sell better than big titles from China or Korea (just to name two examples)?

I think everyone else is arguing about something different than me.

I cannot understand why it's considered unreasonable or unrealistic to ask why 99% of all their Asian fare is from Japan. No reply in this thread has given a good excuse, because there is none.

To be fair, your argument changed from "Kurosawa is over-represented" to "Criterion only releases Japanese films from Asia."

As to that argument, go here and sort by country. You'll see that very few countries are well represented by Criterion, five countries have more than 10 bluray Criterion releases: United States(125), France(59), United Kingdom(37), Japan(32), and Sweden(13). This could be a variety of reasons including marketability, ease of acquiring movie rights, and the strength/history of each particular country's film industry.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Marten

I'd say Criterion.

Would you say consumers were clamoring for titles like Hausu, Sweet Movie, WR: Mysteries of the Organism, etc.?

There are several classic Zhang Yimou films that are worthy of a Criterion release. Additionally, the South Korean film industry is full of art-house films.

There is definitely a bias towards Japanese films but most of us who love Asian cinema know bringing this issue up would be

However, I'm extremely grateful to them for releasing Chungking Express and ITMFL. The former was an unexpected treat....that's OOP now.

Hausu is in 1800+ collections from members on this site. That wasn't a good example.

Secret Sunshine and Yi Yi (which I understand is marvelous) both are just slightly over 600.

[pedromvu]

Now that we are on the subject, i created a list some time ago, and recently updated of the more unpopular criterion blu-ray releases up to 2013.

The more saddening to me about it is the inclusion of Ray, and all the releases of Chabrol and Dardenne brothers, which depending on how they manage their releases could mean they will just release them more slowly or not at all.

On the upside, the method i used isn't conclusive at all and may not represent the real situation.

http://www.criterion.com/lists/15063...erion-blu-rays

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by DaveyJoe

To be fair, your argument changed from "Kurosawa is over-represented" to "Criterion only releases Japanese films from Asia."

As to that argument, go here and sort by country. You'll see that very few countries are well represented by Criterion, five countries have more than 10 bluray Criterion releases: United States(125), France(59), United Kingdom(37), Japan(32), and Sweden(13). This could be a variety of reasons including marketability, ease of acquiring movie rights, and the strength/history of each particular country's film industry.

That kinda surprises me. At the same time though, I'm guessing the majority of those are Bergman.

[chris_sc77]

My wishlist:
The Fisher King
Spike Lee Collection (MO better blues, Jungle Fever, Crooklyn, Clockers , etc)
Mulholland Drive
Moonrise Kingdom
Kwaidan (special Edition)
A Life Less Ordinary

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Wow, a HUGE amount of pushback and excuses to the idea of Criterion releasing maybe just 1 or 2 more titles from literally any other Asian country besides Japan.

Criticizing Criterion at all in this thread is a fool's errand, it would seem.

There has been absolutely NO pushback to the idea of Criterion releasing more films from Asian countries other than Japan. In fact, that idea was fairly warmly welcomed when you brought it up yesterday, wasn't it?

The pushback, as you call it, is to the idea that Kurosawa is overrepresented and Criterion should take a year or two off from releasing his films.

And understandably so. He's a popular fella in these parts.

[joie]

The thing is that Criterion claims to release "important" movies. Now, I know that they are as small as an ant and can't possibly release every important movie, but their description of their mission/purpose could be construed to mean that anything they don't release is unimportant.