Breathless: Criterion Collection

Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) is arguably the most famous example of the French New Wave, a group of film critics who were inspired by classic Hollywood films to become filmmakers themselves. Breathless certainly wasn’t the first French New... 

Leon Morin, Priest: Criterion Collection

Based on Beatrix Beck’s novel Leon Morin, Priest, initially, French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville planned on adhering closely to the source material but ended up condensing the story to a few lines and examining a handful of characters in greater detail.... 

Le Doulos: Criterion Collection

Jean-Pierre Melville was known for making genre films with rambling narratives that delighted in taking all kinds of plot diversions. His seventh film, Le Doulos (1962), based on the novel by Pierre Lesou, deviated from his usual approach to produce a... 

Classe tous risques

Despite kick-starting his career as a feature film director in the 1960s when the French New Wave was all the rage, Claude Sautet was never part of that movement. He got his start as an assistant director and got the gig for Classe tous risques (1960)... 

Pierrot le fou: Criterion Collection

Based on Lionel White’s crime novel, Obsession, Pierrot le fou (1965) was originally going to star Richard Burton as a man who leaves his family to hook up with a younger girl to be played pop singer Sylvie Vartan. However, both were unavailable, so... 

Breathless: Criterion Collection

Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) is arguably the most famous example of the French New Wave, a group of film critics who were inspired by classic Hollywood films to become filmmakers themselves. Breathless certainly wasn’t the first French New... 

Une femme est une femme (A Woman is a Woman)

Jean-Luc Godard’s Une femme est une femme (1961) is a playful battle of the sexes. It pushes the musical genre far out into exciting new directions that still seem ahead of its time. Angela (Karina) is an exotic dancer who wants to have a child with...