As we go deep into Spring, we have another jammed month of picks from the last legs of the Code era to only last year. We have not one, not two, but three re-editions, and five new entrants, including two movies and a piece from two different directors. It’s an incredible month full of classics and one of them is a new Oscar-winning masterpiece that Criterion is honored to have already for us Oscar-loving collectors to add. Here are April’s releases for the C.
Ugetsu (1953)
Director Kenji Mizoguchi mixed the period drama with a ghost story that remains a masterpiece of Japanese cinema. In the middle of a war, a potter leaves his family to make money on his own and finds himself caught by a spirit who leads him astray from the honor of taking care of his family. The film critiques Japanese views before World War II and the damage that resulted in this fantasy of ultimate power. Along with Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Ozu’s Tokyo Story, Ugetsu is a film that popularized Japanese movies to Western audiences.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Billy Wilder’s legendary comedy poked holes into the dying Hays Code with taboo subjects on cross-dressing and homosexuality. Two jazz musicians (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) in Depression-era Chicago accidentally witness a mob gunning down fellow gangsters and flee the city by dressing up as women to join an all-ladies jazz band. The sultry lead singer (Marilyn Monroe) challenges their secret identities and has the two stragglers getting too comfortable with their alter-egos. It remains an incredible comedy from the Golden Age, a style that would soon die out with the changing times a decade later.
Jean de Florette / Manon of The Spring (1986)
This two-part film by Claude Berri follows two families in a decade-long story as they go through strife and revenge in the fields of Southern France. The patriarch, Cesar (Yves Montand), seeks to improve his position with the help of his nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) by trying to buy the land of his neighbor, who is accidentally killed in a fight. The neighbor’s nephew, the titular Jean (Gerald Depardieu), inherits the farm and fights them to get it. Years later, the family feud comes to a head when Jean’s daughter (Emmanuelle Beart) discovers the reason behind the battle and decides to seek vengeance against Cesar and Ugolin.
Basquiat (1996)
Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell & The Butterfly) transitioned from painter to film director with this biopic of his late friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright). In his twenties, the street artist became an art sensation with this eye-popping art that attracted the likes of Andy Warhol (David Bowie) and art dealer Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper). With the quick fame, however, he finds himself distancing himself from his original friends and soon gets hooked on heroin, which eventually takes his life. It’s an incredible debut feature made perfectly by someone who knew an artistic genius and sadly saw it burn out quickly.
Prince Of Broadway (2008)
Still, in his first decade of filmmaking, Sean Baker made another American neo-realist stunner in New York City following an African immigrant (Prince Adu) who suddenly had to become a father to a child he never knew he had. It’s another challenge to his survival in the counterfeit merchandise game with his Armenian boss (Karren Karagulian). As we would see later on, the film was just a stepping stone on Baker’s path in the indie scene raising his profile to mainstream acclaim with his most recent film – and the last Criterion of the month.
Anora (2024)
This has one of the sexiest covers Criterion has ever produced. Mikey Madison wipes the floor with raw, passionate energy as the titular character, the unlikely Cinderella in Baker’s frantic love story, and a fight against a clan who will never accept a shlyukha into the family. The supporting cast – Yura Borisov, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Darya Ekamasova – are incredible in this perfect mix of comedy and dramatic realism that speaks a brutal truth which Sean Baker has always been good at – finally giving him that Best Picture honor, one of four Oscars this year for him, as well as for Madison herself taking home Best Actress.
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