Why Everyone Wants to Get Into the Criterion Closet

by

During the autumn season, a mobile version of the Criterion Closet, which is essentially a refurbished truck filled with Criterion’s collection of DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K movies, was parked outside Lincoln Center for two weekends during the New York Film Festival. This portable closet has been a frequent destination for filmmakers and other notable figures to obtain free discs and record thoughts about the films that have significantly impacted their lives. To commemorate Criterion’s 40th anniversary, common viewers were given the opportunity to spend a brief time inside this mobile collection, share their insights about the movies, and purchase up to three discs at a reduced price. The interest was so significant that there was already a two-hour wait before the Criterion Mobile Closet (in reality, an old MT45 Freightliner delivery truck) arrived at Alice Tully Hall on the first day, and it rained continuously. Despite these conditions, the line continued to grow, and waiting times quickly surpassed five, six, seven hours.

On that particular day, film critic Francisco “Fico” Cangiano traveled from Puerto Rico and made a beeline for Alice Tully Hall immediately after landing at the airport. His objective was to attend the evening premiere of Pablo Larraín’s movie titled Maria at the festival, but he also yearned to explore the Criterion Closet during his visit. As fate would have it, the queue for this experience was already quite lengthy upon his arrival. Not long after, a heavy downpour drenched him. Film at Lincoln Center volunteers graciously found him a place to change into dry garments and assisted in retrieving his Maria tickets from will call. It seemed that he might miss the screening if he persisted in standing in line. “I recognized it as a one-of-a-kind opportunity,” he recalled. “Any true Criterion enthusiast who hasn’t fantasized about being inside the closet is being less than truthful.

To some onlookers, the notion of spending hours queuing to enter a van overflowing with discounted Blu-rays (which could easily be purchased at a nearby Barnes & Noble or found online) may seem preposterous. However, to many enthusiasts, the Criterion Closet is a unique experience, and the wait was considered worthwhile. Valeria Rotella, a producer for Criterion who often works on their celebrity Closet Picks videos, managed the queue at the truck, took photos, and assisted people in finding their desired movies. She described the atmosphere as similar to “the drop” of a roller coaster after its long build-up, stating that “although they may have waited for hours, once inside, people fully immersed themselves in the excitement.

People have been following a tradition that has grown significant within modern movie enthusiasts over the last decade and a half. This custom began in 2010 when Criterion’s social media team decided to film Guillermo del Toro while he browsed through their collection for their Closet Picks videos. Typically, office visitors were allowed to take films as souvenirs, but the team thought that regular viewers might also enjoy watching del Toro choose his favorites. The first video, which was posted on Facebook, was captured using Criterion president Peter Becker’s personal phone and had a grainy, low-resolution quality. In this short, two-minute clip, Guillermo del Toro humorously referred to his selection process as a “small robbery.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=49Al7eYy6sg

The video garnered much attention, with the peek into the closet being a standout moment for fans. One viewer humorously remarked, “This has to be the most sadistic video I’ve ever watched.” Initially, additional videos were released sparingly. According to Becker, “We were quite cautious about it. Guillermo has been a wonderful friend and collaborator on numerous projects, but we didn’t really like to ask people to make these videos; we felt they were doing us a favor, so we didn’t produce them too frequently.”

Now, the Closet Picks have become a regular feature of New York promotional tours. Whether you’re a star like Ben Affleck or Janelle Monáe, an auteur like Mike Leigh or Jia Zhangke (whose latest film, “Caught by the Tides,” is being distributed theatrically by Criterion’s Sideshow/Janus), everyone seems to share a unique, unfiltered passion when they appear in the Criterion Closet. Despite being in the midst of a press tour, these artists are not in promotional mode during their Criterion Closet appearances. Instead, they discuss other people’s work and reminisce about films that have shaped their careers. The videos serve as a reflection of their personal preferences and fascinations. As Becker explains, “The Closet operates on the idea that everyone is an expert in their own taste. You don’t need to be knowledgeable about all cinema. All you need is to know what you admire, why you admire it, and how it affected you.

These videos have a casual, unscripted feel that fosters a connection between the people involved and the audience. No matter their fame or status, they all share a common passion for cinema. For a film enthusiast, it’s as if you’re having a conversation with Anna Kendrick about her emotional experience watching Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Passion of Joan of Arc, or chatting with Barry Jenkins about his quest to obtain an early copy of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog on eBay. This format brings us closer to them in a way that structured interviews might not allow.

Even in an era where we’re frequently told that traditional media is obsolete, the popularity of the Criterion Closet indicates that there’s still hope. For those of us who recall, the Criterion Collection first emerged as a rather elitist venture, offering expensive laser discs for film enthusiasts already versed in cinema classics and eager to spend more to listen to Martin Scorsese discuss Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s “Black Narcissus.” When they transitioned to DVDs in the late 90s, prices did decrease, but their prestige remained. So it’s heartening to see this once niche brand become popular over time – all while maintaining its curatorial influence. Despite jabs about them releasing an edition of Michael Bay’s “The Rock” (a true masterpiece, by the way), they’ve managed to grow without compromising their quality. Yes, they did put out a comprehensive Godzilla collection, but they’ve also released box sets featuring Agnès Varda, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Ousmane Sembène – demonstrating a commitment to art-house cinema rather than pandering to popular tastes.

In this situation, I’m not simply a detached spectator; I have personal connections and involvement, having written essays for Criterion releases and knowing Becker and many of his colleagues for years. When given the opportunity to browse their collection a few years ago, I found myself utterly baffled. Despite it being a long-cherished dream, I was at a loss about which films to select. To my surprise, I discovered titles like Costa-Gavras’s “The Confession” and “State of Siege”, films I hadn’t even known were part of the collection. This disorientation is quite common among users of this library. Unlike typical libraries, the movies here are not categorized by title, director, year, or genre. Instead, they are arranged based on when they entered the Criterion Collection, with the earliest releases – classics such as Jean Renoir’s “Grand Illusion”, Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru”, and Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” – located on one wall, while more recent additions like Sean Baker’s “Anora”, Dee Rees’s “Pariah”, and Abbas Kiarostami’s “The Wind Will Carry Us” are on the opposite wall. As your gaze sweeps across the collection from one side to the other, you embark on a journey through the evolution of film culture, with the films becoming increasingly diverse and internationally representative as you progress. Becker explains that the Criterion Collection has made a concerted effort to engage with a wider range of voices than they did when they first started, focusing more on expanding the received canon of film culture.

He explains that their workspace closet doesn’t follow a conventional organization system because it’s most practical to add new items at the end as they are completed. Rearranging alphabetically would be inconvenient, but he also finds pleasure in the disordered state of the closet since it forces him to engage with every item instead of just scanning for familiar names. He likens this experience to browsing a bookstore’s fiction section and being drawn to known authors while overlooking others; the chaotic closet encourages a more open-minded, receptive approach, leading to unexpected discoveries and thoughtful reflections. It seems that this unconventional organization has become a unique aspect of their workspace, even evoking an emotional response from actors like Andrew Garfield, who described it as a “confessional booth.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=3tH0irhiQVg

Right after the New York Film Festival, the Criterion Mobile Closet journeyed to Brooklyn. In March, it stopped by SXSW before proceeding to Los Angeles, where it will come back on June 6 and 7 to align with the American Cinematheque’s “Bleak Week” schedule (which features films like Funny Games, Come and See, and Beau Travail). The queues are still long, sometimes even longer than during the NYFF.

Over that inaugural weekend at Lincoln Center, I deliberately found myself stationed at a humorous spot I dubbed “the Slough of Despond,” a reference from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. This was the area where the queue stretched on for nearly 70 to 80 minutes, and folks had been waiting for hours already. Given my concerns that many might abandon their wait at this point, I decided to remain there, offering words of encouragement to my fellow enthusiasts. And since I was close enough to hear it, I also happened to be within earshot of the truck itself.

It was during the early evening that a thunderous cheer erupted. I couldn’t help but wonder if another famous face had arrived on the scene, so I peeked to see what all the fuss was about.

Fico Cangiano, who had been waiting all day, eventually stepped into the closet. He chose his films (Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Amores Perros”, and Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers”) and filmed his video. As he exited into the light, his movie enthusiast friends cheered and clapped for him. He appreciated the moment, thanked his new friends, and hurried into Alice Tully Hall to watch “Maria”.

Read More

2025-05-30 00:54