When the world of physical media often lacks hope, good news can land very hard. Case in point: the Criterion Collection have announced the return of their Eclipse series, which spent a little over 10 years doing as much (more?) to advance film education as the company’s primary line of releases. If you’ve explored early Kurosawa, late Ozu, the prime films of Robert Downey Sr, or work by Larisa Shepitko, it was likely thanks to Eclipse’s simple, aesthetically pleasing sets, which made their disappearance after 2018 a little disappointing. Yes, streaming can be a more viable (frankly flexible) exhibition model, but the advantages of physical media remain.
Eclipse is being resurrected in high fashion: Criterion will release 17 of Abbas Kiarostami’s early films this November in a set that also marks the series’ inauguration into Blu-ray, a gesture the company says “reaffirms its commitment to making the full richness of film history accessible with the reliable permanence of physical media.” Pursuant to said commitment are future releases comprising the six features made by Kinuyo Tanaka; five documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi; the early films of Ruben Östlund; work by Sara Gómez; and upgrades of Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy and Ernst Lubitsch’s musicals.
Spend enough time in the cinephile trenches (word used very operatively) and you’ll realize––to paraphrase George Harrison––the more you learn, the less you know; likely most reading this haven’t seen a majority of these early Kiarostami works, which can enlighten and enliven as much as his properly canonized cinema. The thought of where this project could go and how it could benefit film culture is… well, one mustn’t ever set their expectations too high, but I’m glad thinking about it all the same.
See artwork below and more at Criterion:
The post Criterion’s Resurrects Eclipse with 17-Film Abbas Kiarostami Blu-ray Set first appeared on The Film Stage.
