Commentaries

Commentaries

Share
Commentaries
  • ELECTION Commentary

    This audio commentary, featuring director Alexander Payne, was recorded in 1999.

  • POLYESTER Commentary

    This commentary, featuring director John Waters, was recorded for the Criterion Collection laserdisc release of POLYESTER in 1993.

  • THE KID Commentary

    This audio commentary, featuring Charlie Chaplin scholar Charles Maland, was recorded in 2015.

  • GILDA Commentary

    This audio commentary, recorded in 2010 for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, features film critic Richard Schickel.

  • THE CELEBRATION Commentary

    This commentary track, recorded in 2005, features director Thomas Vinterberg.

  • WILD STRAWBERRIES Commentary

  • SEVEN SAMURAI Commentary 1

    This commentary features the renowned scholars and critics David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie discussing SEVEN SAMURAI’s signature style, historical importance, and ongoing influence. They were recorded individually in 2005 and 2006.

  • TOTALLY F***ED UP Commentary

    This commentary track, recorded in 2005, features director Gregg Araki and actors James Duval and Gilbert Luna.

  • ON THE WATERFRONT Commentary

    This audio commentary features Richard Schickel, author of “Elia Kazan: A Biography,” and Jeff Young, author of “Kazan: The Master Director Discusses His Films.”

  • NOWHERE Commentary

    This commentary track, recorded in 2024, features director Gregg Araki and actors James Duval, Rachel True, Nathan Bexton, Jordan Ladd, Sarah Lassez, Guillermo Diaz, and Jaason Simmons.

  • DHEEPAN Commentary

    This French-language audio commentary, featuring DHEEPAN director Jacques Audiard and coscreenwriter Noé Debré, was recorded in 2016. It is presented here with English subtitles.

  • THE DOOM GENERATION Commentary

    This commentary track, recorded in 2011, features director Gregg Araki and actors Rose McGowan, James Duval, and Johnathon Schaech.

  • ONIBABA Commentary

    Recorded in 2001, this audio commentary features director Kaneto Shindo and actors Kei Sato and Jitsuko Yoshimura.

  • HÄXAN Commentary

    Recorded in 2001, this commentary features Danish film scholar Casper Tybjerg, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of Copenhagen.

  • ISLAND OF LOST SOULS Commentary

    This audio commentary, recorded in New York City in June 2011, features writer and film historian Gregory Mank.

  • NIGHT ON EARTH Commentary: Los Angeles

    Recorded in 2007, this audio commentary features director of photography Frederick Elmes and location sound mixer Drew Kunin.

  • CLOSE-UP Commentary

    Recorded in 2009, this commentary features Iranian filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa and American film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, coauthors of the book “Abbas Kiarostami.”

  • WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS Commentary

    This commentary features Donald Richie, author of "A Hundred Years of Japanese Film, The Films of Akira Kurosawa" and "Ozu: His Life and Films," and was recorded in New York City, in 2004 and 2006.

  • BURDEN OF DREAMS Commentary

    This commentary features director Les Blank, editor and sound recordist Maureen Gosling, and director Werner Herzog. Blank and Gosling were recorded together in San Francisco in September 2004. Herzog was recorded in Los Angeles in January 2005.

  • BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL Commentary

    This commentary track, recorded in February 2023, features restoration producer Lino Meireles.

  • SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS Commentary

    Recorded in 2010, this commentary features film scholar James Naremore, author of the BFI Film Classics series’ “Sweet Smell of Success.”

  • GIRLFIGHT Commentary

    This commentary track, recorded in 2001, features writer-director Karyn Kusama.

  • THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK Commentary

    The following audio commentary features director and coeditor Robert Epstein, coeditor Deborah Hoffmann, and photographer Daniel Nicoletta. Originally recorded in 2004, it has been remastered by Criterion to include new material.

  • FOR ALL MANKIND Commentary

    This audio commentary by filmmaker Al Reinert and astronaut Eugene Cernan was recorded in 1999. A veteran of three missions—including Apollo 17, on which he served as commander—Cernan was the last man to set foot on the lunar surface, in 1972.