The Criterion Collection Additions for March 2024 are ‘To Die For’
As we enter the month of the March, we are given one of the strongest selections of entries into the Criterion Collection in some time; with films ranging from subversive satire to a complex courtroom drama, a lyrical portrayal of childhood, an adaptation of a classic short story, alongside two documentaries about how art and activism can go hand and hand, and an inside look at a legendary filmmaker’s career and its connection to one of the greatest movies of all time. First up is To Die For, director Gus Van Sant’s fame obsessive comedy about a beautiful but naïve aspiring television personality who entangles herself into the lives of three disaffected teens, leading to a tabloid frenzy with sinister intentions behind it. In a career breakout, all time performance from Nicole Kidman, and a supporting cast featuring Joaquin Phoenix, Matt Dillon, and Casey Affleck, Van Sant created a masterpiece, using shifting perspectives and faux-documentary interviews to add complexity to a darkly funny examination of suburban sociopathy.
Two stylish pieces of storytelling enter next with All That Money Can Buy (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster) and The Runner. The former is the 1941 classic follows a farmer who makes a dangerous economical deal with the devil, only to then enlist famed orator Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract. The latter is one of the defining works of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema, as director Amir Naderi takes us on a journey through his boyhood, as he searches for upward mobility in his country, running toward each opportunity that faces him. Together, both All That Money Can Buy and The Runner display masterful cinematic artistry with mythic, complex narrative dimensions that will shock and inspire you at the same time.
In the 2022 Silver Lion Grand Jury prize winner out of the Venice International Film Festival, Saint Omer brings Alice Diop’s documentarian scope into her narrative debut as she examines an emotional, morally complex look at a court case of a young Senegalese woman (an incredible Guslagie Malanda) accused of murdering her infant daughter. As she connects themes of motherhood with immigrant alienation and postcolonial trauma, the more questions Diop asks, leaving us to ponder deeper realities of our past and events that are tragic within our own lives. As our review out of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival states: “Saint Omer haunts you and grows on you. It makes you uncomfortable, curious, and even disturbed.”
2022 must’ve been on the mind as the final two selections to enter the Criterion closet are documentaries from the same year, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and Lynch/Oz. Fearless documentarian Laura Poitras takes a look at renowned artist Nan Goldin and the global mission of PAIN, an advocacy group she founded to raise awareness about the billionaire Sackler family’s integral role in the ongoing crisis of opioid addiction and overdoses. In mixing in both the fight for justices and Goldin’s life, Poitras is able to find the perfect intersection between art and activism, thus showing why each is important to the daily battles constantly fought to make our world a better place. Simply put, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is “a masterpiece of profound humanity.” For Alexandre O. Philippe, his brilliant documentary follows the genius mind of one of cinema’s most beloved directors, David Lynch. Throughout Lynch’s filmography, we’ve seen connections to his world and the world of Victor Fleming’s classic The Wizard of Oz. Whether intentional or not, they remain a fascinating correlation between cinema’s past and present. By taking us down six different perspectives, Lynch/Oz helps us re-experience and reevaluate The Wizard of Oz by way of David Lynch, delivering new appreciations of both the original film and one of cinema’s most unique visionaries.
Below are the special features for each other films from the March 2024 Criterion Collection releases.
TO DIE FOR Director-Approved Special Edition Features:
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Gus Van Sant and director of photography Eric Alan Edwards, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Audio commentary featuring Van Sant, Edwards, and editor Curtiss Clayton
- Deleted scenes
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Jessica Kiang
SAINT OMER Director-Approved Special Edition Features:
- New 2K digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interviews with director Alice Diop
- Conversation between Diop and author Hélène Frappat
- Conversation between Diop and filmmaker Dee Rees from a 2023 episode of The Director’s Cut – A DGA Podcast
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Jennifer Padjemi
THE RUNNER Director-Approved Special Edition Features:
- New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Amir Naderi, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New conversation between Naderi and filmmaker Ramin Bahrani
- Audio interview from 2022 with Naderi and actor Madjid Niroumand, moderated by curator Bruce Goldstein
- Waiting, a 1974 film by Naderi, featuring an afterword by the director
- Trailer
- English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by filmmaker and critic Ehsan Khoshbakht
LYNCH/OZ Special Edition Features:
- New Meet the Filmmaker, a new interview with director Alexandre O. Philippe
- Trailer
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED Director-Approved Special Edition Features:
- New high-definition digital master, approved by director Laura Poitras and artist Nan Goldin, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interview with Poitras
- Two conversations from the 2022 New York Film Festival, one featuring Poitras, Goldin, coproducer and PAIN activist Megan Kapler, PAIN activist Harry Cullen, and lawyer and PAIN member Mike Quinn discussing the making of the film, and the other featuring Goldin on art and activism
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
- PLUS: An essay by author and activist Sarah Schulman
ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY (a.k.a. THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER)
Blu-Ray Special Edition Features:
- • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder and Steven C. Smith, biographer of composer Bernard Herrmann
- New restoration demonstration
- Reading by actor Alec Baldwin of the short story by Stephen Vincent Benét on which the film is based
- Episode of the Criterion Channel series Observations on Film Art about the film’s editing
- Comparison of the differences between the July 1941 preview version of the film, Here Is a Man, and the film’s 1943 rerelease as The Devil and Daniel Webster
- The Columbia Workshop’s radio adaptations of Benét’s short stories “The Devil and Daniel Webster” and “Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent,” both featuring music by Herrmann h
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by author Tom Piazza and a 1941 article by Benét i
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