Podcast

Criterion Cast: The Eclipse Viewer

Film History, Film Reviews, TV & Film

Discussing the Eclipse Series from the Criterion Collection

Episodes
50
Releases
Monthly
On air since
2015
Latest episode
3 weeks ago

Episodes

50 episodes, newest first

  1. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 74 – Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/EV-74-Banner.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss five films included in the recent Blu-ray release of Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi.

    Shocking, confrontational, and made with white-hot fury, these radical documentaries—directed by Kazuo Hara and produced by his wife and longtime creative partner, Sachiko Kobayashi—give voice to the outsiders and iconoclasts who wage war against the conformism of modern Japanese society. From a woman willing to risk everything on her journey toward personal and sexual liberation (Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974) to a man whose quest to expose Japanese wartime atrocities borders on madness (The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On), the unforgettable subjects of these films are invited to be collaborators in Hara and Kobayashi’s process, resulting in works of unmatched power and immediacy.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Academia.edu
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • DesistFilm
    • Genkinahito
    • Screen Slate

    Box Set Reviews

    • Home Theater Forum
    • Let’s Talk Criterion
    • Slant

    Goodbye CP (1972)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Letterboxd
    • CinephileFix
    • DVD Savant
    • Genkinahito
    • Movie Habit
    • Recca’s Blog

    Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 (1974)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Eastern Kicks
    • Genkinahito
    • J.B. Spins
    • Shock Cinema
    • Windows on Worlds

    The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • Blueprint
    • Cineoutsider
    • Cinescope
    • Dennis Schwartz
    • Genkinahito
    • High on Films
    • Japanese Culture Reflections
    • J.B. Spins
    • Mondo Digital
    • Reel Talk
    • Slant (2007)
    • Watching Asia
    • Webs of Significance
    • Windows on Worlds

    A Dedicated Life (1994)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Variety (1995)
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • Genkinahito
    • Windows on Worlds

    Sennan Asbestos Disaster (2016)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Letterboxd
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • Genkinahito
    • Sight and Sound
    • Windows on Worlds

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes )

  2. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 73 – Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss three films included in the recent Blu-ray reissue of Eclipse Series 6: Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy. This is their second conversation about the set, following up on their previous coverage of the films in 2016 when they were available in DVD format, though the box was out of print at that time.

    One of Spanish cinema’s great auteurs, Carlos Saura brought international audiences closer to the art of his country’s dance than any other filmmaker, before or since. In his Flamenco Trilogy—Blood Wedding, Carmen, and El amor brujo—Saura merged his passion for music with his exploration of national identity. All starring and choreographed by legendary dancer Antonio Gades, the films feature thrilling physicality and electrifying cinematography and editing—colorful paeans to bodies in motion as well as to cinema itself.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Carlos Saura

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Criterion Channel Surfing – The Films of Carlos Saura – Part 1
    • Criterion Channel Surfing – The Films of Carlos Saura – Part 2
    • Criterion Channel Surfing – The Films of Carlos Saura – Part 3
    • Saura articles on CriterionCast.com
    • Film Comment
    • The Guardian (interview, 2011)
    • Enforex
    • Indiewire
    • Latino Life
    • TSPDT
    • BFI (obituary)
    • The Guardian (obituary, 2023)

    Box Set Reviews

    • The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 41 (2016)
    • Cinema Gadfly (2015)
    • Criterion Confessions (2008)
    • BFI Film Forever (review of the British Film Institute release of The Flamenco Trilogy)
    • Texas Public Radio (2026)
    • Trailers from Hell (2026)

    Blood Wedding (1981)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • A Journey Through the Eclipse Series
    • New York Times (1981)
    • I Have My Intentionalities
    • TikTok Blu-ray vs. DVD Comparison

    Carmen (1983)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • A Journey Through the Eclipse Series
    • New York Times (1983)
    • Twitch
    • I Have My Intentionalities
    • M/C Journal
    • TikTok Blu-ray vs. DVD Comparison

    El amor brujo (1986)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • A Journey Through the Eclipse Series
    • New York Times (1986)
    • Los Angeles Times (1986)
    • Bulletin of Spanish Studies (downloadable .pdf)
    • I Have My Intentionalities
    • TikTok Blu-ray vs. DVD Comparison

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes )

  3. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 72 – Kinuyo Tanaka Directs [Part 3]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Kinuyo-Tanaka-Directs-Part-3.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first of three episodes covering the recently issued Blu-ray edition of Eclipse Series 48: Kinuyo Tanaka Directs, David and Trevor discuss two films: Girls of the Night (1961) and Love Under the Crucifix (1962), her final directorial effort.

    Kinuyo Tanaka was already one of Japan’s greatest actors—celebrated for her collaborations with auteurs such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, and Mikio Naruse—when she took a brave leap by embarking on a directing career in a studio system that actively discouraged female filmmakers. The six features she made over the course of a decade center on women characters who refuse to conform to restrictive roles as they seek independence. With compassion and insight, Tanaka critiques the social conditions and forces that shape her heroines’ struggles: sex work and social shaming, the expectation of passively entering arranged marriages, taboos surrounding illness and the female body, imperialism, and religious persecution and forbidden love.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/eclipse-kinuyo-tanaka.jpg

    Episode Links

    Kinuyo Tanaka

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • BFI
    • Films Fatale
    • Japan Society
    • Women Film Pioneers Project

    Box Set Reviews

    • Geek Vibes Nation
    • Ion Cinema
    • Palm Beach Arts Paper
    • PopMatters
    • Screen Anarchy
    • Slant
    • Under the Radar

    Girls of the Night (1961)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • Cinematographically Speaking
    • Japan on Film
    • Webs of Significance
    • Windows on Worlds

    Love Under the Crucifix (1962)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • Cinematographically Speaking
    • Japan on Film
    • Webs of Significance
    • Windows on the World

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  4. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 71 – Kinuyo Tanaka Directs [Part 2]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Kinuyo-Tanaka-Directs-Part-2.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first of three episodes covering the recently issued Blu-ray edition of Eclipse Series 48: Kinuyo Tanaka Directs, David and Trevor discuss two films: Forever a Woman (1955) and The Wandering Princess (1960).

    Kinuyo Tanaka was already one of Japan’s greatest actors—celebrated for her collaborations with auteurs such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, and Mikio Naruse—when she took a brave leap by embarking on a directing career in a studio system that actively discouraged female filmmakers. The six features she made over the course of a decade center on women characters who refuse to conform to restrictive roles as they seek independence. With compassion and insight, Tanaka critiques the social conditions and forces that shape her heroines’ struggles: sex work and social shaming, the expectation of passively entering arranged marriages, taboos surrounding illness and the female body, imperialism, and religious persecution and forbidden love.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/eclipse-kinuyo-tanaka.jpg

    Episode Links

    Kinuyo Tanaka

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • BFI
    • Films Fatale
    • Japan Society
    • Women Film Pioneers Project

    Box Set Reviews

    • Geek Vibes Nation
    • Ion Cinema
    • Palm Beach Arts Paper
    • PopMatters
    • Screen Anarchy
    • Slant
    • Under the Radar

    Forever a Woman (1955)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Cinematographically Speaking
    • Eastern Kicks
    • Electric Shadows
    • Japan on Film
    • Webs of Significance
    • Windows on the World

    The Wandering Princess (1960)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Cinematographically Speaking
    • Eastern Kicks
    • Eye on the Screen
    • Japan on Film
    • Webs of Significance
    • Windows on Worlds

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  5. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 70 – Kinuyo Tanaka Directs [Part 1]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Kinuyo-Tanaka-Directs-Part-1.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first of three episodes covering the recently issued Blu-ray edition of Eclipse Series 48: Kinuyo Tanaka Directs, David and Trevor discuss two films: her directorial debut Love Letter (1953) and The Moon Has Risen (1955), based on a screenplay written by Yasujiro Ozu.

    Kinuyo Tanaka was already one of Japan’s greatest actors—celebrated for her collaborations with auteurs such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, and Mikio Naruse—when she took a brave leap by embarking on a directing career in a studio system that actively discouraged female filmmakers. The six features she made over the course of a decade center on women characters who refuse to conform to restrictive roles as they seek independence. With compassion and insight, Tanaka critiques the social conditions and forces that shape her heroines’ struggles: sex work and social shaming, the expectation of passively entering arranged marriages, taboos surrounding illness and the female body, imperialism, and religious persecution and forbidden love.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/eclipse-kinuyo-tanaka.jpg

    Episode Links

    Kinuyo Tanaka

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • BFI
    • Films Fatale
    • Japan Society
    • Women Film Pioneers Project

    Box Set Reviews

    • Geek Vibes Nation
    • Ion Cinema
    • Palm Beach Arts Paper
    • PopMatters
    • Screen Anarchy
    • Slant
    • Under the Radar

    Love Letter (1953)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • BFI Programme Notes
    • Cinema Talk
    • Cinematographically Speaking
    • Establishing Shot (Indiana University)
    • Fifth about The Seventh
    • Japan on Film
    • Moving Image Source
    • Sekenbashi
    • Webs of Significance
    • Windows on Worlds

    The Moon Has Risen (1955)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Asian Movie Pulse
    • Cinema Talk
    • Cinematographically Speaking
    • Japan on Film
    • Notre Cinema
    • Outtake
    • Screen Queens
    • Windows on Worlds

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  6. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 69 – Lubitsch Musicals [Part 2]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/EV-69-Lubitsch-Musicals-Part-2.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this second of two episodes covering the recently reissued Blu-ray edition of Eclipse Series 8: Lubitsch Musicals, David and Trevor are joined by guest William Remmers to discuss two films: The Smiling Lieutenant, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, and Miriam Hopkins, and One Hour with You, featuring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.

    Renowned as a silent-film pioneer and the man who refined Hollywood comedy with such masterpieces as Trouble in Paradise, The Shop Around the Corner, and To Be or Not to Be, Ernst Lubitsch also had another claim to fame: he helped invent the modern movie musical. With the advent of sound, and with audiences clamoring for “talkies,” Lubitsch combined his love of European operettas and his mastery of cinema to develop this entirely new genre. These elegant, bawdy films, made before strict enforcement of the moralizing Production Code, feature some of the greatest stars of early Hollywood (Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins), as well as that elusive style of comedy that would thereafter be known as “the Lubitsch touch.”

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/517-eclipse-series-8-lubitsch-musicals

    Episode Links

    Ernst Lubitsch

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • The Cinema of Ernst Lubitsch
    • The Current
    • They Shoot Pictures Don’t They
    • Turner Classic Movies

    Box Set Reviews

    • Cinema Retro
    • Criterion Confessions (2008)
    • Films in Review (2008)
    • From the Front Row
    • Geek Vibes Nation
    • Trailers from Hell

    The Smiling Lieutenant (1930)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • A Journey Through the Eclipse Series
    • New York Times (1931)
    • Cinepassion
    • Comet Over Hollywood
    • Criterion Confessions
    • Dennis Schwarz
    • Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings
    • pre-code.com
    • TCM

    One Hour with You (1932)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • A Journey Through the Eclipse Series
    • New York Times (1932)
    • Cinepassion
    • Criterion Confessions
    • Culled Culture
    • Dennis Schwarz
    • Edward Copeland’s Tangents
    • Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings
    • pre-code.com
    • TCM

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  7. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 68 – Lubitsch Musicals [Part 1]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/EV-68-Lubitsch-Musicals-Part-1.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first of two episodes covering the recently reissued Blu-ray edition of Eclipse Series 8: Lubitsch Musicals, David and Trevor are joined by guest William Remmers to discuss two films: The Love Parade, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, and Monte Carlo, also featuring Jeanette MacDonald, with Jack Buchanan.

    About the films:

    Renowned as a silent-film pioneer and the man who refined Hollywood comedy with such masterpieces as Trouble in Paradise, The Shop Around the Corner, and To Be or Not to Be, Ernst Lubitsch also had another claim to fame: he helped invent the modern movie musical. With the advent of sound, and with audiences clamoring for “talkies,” Lubitsch combined his love of European operettas and his mastery of cinema to develop this entirely new genre. These elegant, bawdy films, made before strict enforcement of the moralizing Production Code, feature some of the greatest stars of early Hollywood (Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins), as well as that elusive style of comedy that would thereafter be known as “the Lubitsch touch.”

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/517-eclipse-series-8-lubitsch-musicals

    Episode Links

    Ernst Lubitsch

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • The Cinema of Ernst Lubitsch
    • The Current
    • They Shoot Pictures Don’t They
    • Turner Classic Movies

    Box Set Reviews

    • Cinema Retro
    • Criterion Confessions (2008)
    • Films in Review (2008)
    • From the Front Row
    • Geek Vibes Nation
    • Trailers from Hell

    The Love Parade (1929)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • A Journey Through the Eclipse Series
    • Cinepassion
    • Virtual History
    • Flickdom Dictum
    • Senses of Cinema
    • The Top Ten Movie Project

    Monte Carlo (1930)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • A Journey Through the Eclipse Series
    • New York Times (1930)
    • Cinepassion
    • The Top 10 Movie Project
    • pre-code.com

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  8. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 67 – Abbas Kiarostami: Early Shorts and Features [Part 4]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/EV-banner-67.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this last of four episodes, David and Trevor discuss six “School Films” (Two Solutions for One Problem, So Can I, Tribute to Teachers, Toothache, Orderly or Disorderly, and Homework) from Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami – Early Shorts and Features. Eleven other films included in this set are covered in earlier episodes.

    About the films:

    Long before he became one of the most renowned artists in world cinema, the great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami began his cinematic career at Tehran’s Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (a.k.a. Kanoon), where he honed his distinctive style and themes. During his first decades as a filmmaker, Kiarostami moved freely among documentary, narrative, and even animation, and between joyous short films made for children and subtle works exploring the struggles of adolescents. Often using the classroom as a laboratory, he probed social and political tensions in Iranian society during the turbulent years before and after the 1979 revolution. Spanning his very first short, Bread and Alley (which the director called the “mother of all my films”); other underseen early revelations, like Experience and The Traveler; and nonfiction masterpieces such as Homework, the graceful, warm, and playful works collected here find moments of transcendent poetry within everyday life, and use deceptively simple premises to express universal truths about the human condition.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Part 1: Beginnings and Journeys (featuring Colors, Bread and Alley, Breaktime, and The Traveler)
    Part 2: Adolescence and Poverty (featuring Experience and A Wedding Suit)
    Part 3: Political Allegories (featuring Solution No. 1, First Case, Second Case, The Chorus, Fellow Citizen, and First Graders)

    Abbas Kiarostami

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Abbas Kiarostami’s Childhood Films (Criterion Channel documentary short, suggested viewing mentioned on inside cover of the set)
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami Foundation
    • The American Scholar
    • British Journal of Photography
    • Harper’s
    • Henna Platform
    • The Point
    • Senses of Cinema
    • ShotDeck
    • Sight & Sound
    • Mania Akbari Tells Her Story
    • Criterion – In Memoriam

    Box Set Reviews

    • Blu-ray.com
    • Home Theater Forum
    • Let’s Talk Criterion (video)
    • Under the Radar

    Two Solutions for One Problem (1975)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami Foundation
    • Cagey Films
    • Cinephilic Musings
    • The Cultural Me
    • Webs of Significance

    So Can I (1975)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami Foundation

    Tribute to Teachers (1977)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami Foundation
    • Webs of Significance

    Toothache (1980)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami Foundation

    Orderly or Disorderly (1981)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Cagey Films
    • Kiarostami Foundation

    Homework (1989)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami Foundation
    • Errata (podcast)
    • Senses of Cinema

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  9. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 66 – Abbas Kiarostami: Early Shorts and Features [Part 3]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/EV-banner-66.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss five films (Solution No. 1, First Case/Second Case, The Chorus, Fellow Citizen, and First Graders) from Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami – Early Shorts and Features. Thirteen other films included in this set are covered in other episodes.

    About the films:

    Long before he became one of the most renowned artists in world cinema, the great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami began his cinematic career at Tehran’s Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (a.k.a. Kanoon), where he honed his distinctive style and themes. During his first decades as a filmmaker, Kiarostami moved freely among documentary, narrative, and even animation, and between joyous short films made for children and subtle works exploring the struggles of adolescents. Often using the classroom as a laboratory, he probed social and political tensions in Iranian society during the turbulent years before and after the 1979 revolution. Spanning his very first short, Bread and Alley (which the director called the “mother of all my films”); other underseen early revelations, like Experience and The Traveler; and nonfiction masterpieces such as Homework, the graceful, warm, and playful works collected here find moments of transcendent poetry within everyday life, and use deceptively simple premises to express universal truths about the human condition.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Part 1: Beginnings and Journeys (featuring Colors, Bread and Alley, Breaktime, and The Traveler)
    Part 2: Adolescence and Poverty (featuring Experience and A Wedding Suit)

    Abbas Kiarostami

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Abbas Kiarostami’s Childhood Films (Criterion Channel documentary short, suggested viewing mentioned on inside cover of the set)
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • The American Scholar
    • British Journal of Photography
    • Harper’s
    • The Point
    • Senses of Cinema
    • ShotDeck
    • Sight & Sound
    • Criterion – In Memoriam

    Box Set Reviews

    • Blu-ray.com
    • Home Theater Forum
    • Let’s Talk Criterion (video)
    • Under the Radar

    Solution No. 1 (1978)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami.org
    • Notes on Cinematograph

    First Case, Second Case (1979)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami.org
    • Notes on Cinematograph
    • Webs of Significance

    The Chorus (1982)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami.org
    • Notes on Cinematograph
    • Asian Movie Pulse

    Fellow Citizen (1983)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami.org
    • Senses of Cinema
    • Pierre Henry’s “Psyche Rock” (featured in soundtrack, mentioned in episode):

    First Graders (1984)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Kiarostami.org
    • Notes on Cinematograph
    • Filmofiles Hideout

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  10. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 65 – Abbas Kiarostami: Early Shorts and Features [Part 2]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/EV-banner-65.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss two films (Experience and A Wedding Suit) from Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami – Early Shorts and Features. Thirteen other films included in this set will be covered in future episodes.

    About the films:

    Long before he became one of the most renowned artists in world cinema, the great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami began his cinematic career at Tehran’s Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (a.k.a. Kanoon), where he honed his distinctive style and themes. During his first decades as a filmmaker, Kiarostami moved freely among documentary, narrative, and even animation, and between joyous short films made for children and subtle works exploring the struggles of adolescents. Often using the classroom as a laboratory, he probed social and political tensions in Iranian society during the turbulent years before and after the 1979 revolution. Spanning his very first short, Bread and Alley (which the director called the “mother of all my films”); other underseen early revelations, like Experience and The Traveler; and nonfiction masterpieces such as Homework, the graceful, warm, and playful works collected here find moments of transcendent poetry within everyday life, and use deceptively simple premises to express universal truths about the human condition.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Part 1: Beginnings and Journeys (featuring Colors, Bread and Alley, Breaktime, and The Traveler)

    Part 3: Political Allegories (featuring Solution No. 1, First Case, Second Case, The Chorus, Fellow Citizen, and First Graders)

    Abbas Kiarostami

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Abbas Kiarostami’s Childhood Films (Criterion Channel documentary short, suggested viewing mentioned on inside cover of the set)
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • The American Scholar
    • British Journal of Photography
    • Harper’s
    • The Point
    • Senses of Cinema
    • ShotDeck
    • Sight & Sound
    • Criterion – In Memoriam

    Box Set Reviews

    • Blu-ray.com
    • Home Theater Forum
    • Let’s Talk Criterion (video)
    • Under the Radar
    • Wall Street Journal

    Experience (1973)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • In Review Online
    • Senses of Cinema

    A Wedding Suit (1976)

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • In Review Online
    • Senses of Cinema

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  11. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 64 – Abbas Kiarostami: Early Shorts and Features [Part 1]

    Show notes

    https://criterioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/EV-banner-64-1.png

    This podcast focuses on the Eclipse Series, Blu-ray box set editions of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films recently revived by the Criterion Collection. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each set and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss four films (Colors, Bread and Alley, Breaktime, and The Traveler) from Eclipse Series 47: Abbas Kiarostami – Early Shorts and Features. Thirteen other films included in this set will be covered in future episodes.

    About the films:

    Long before he became one of the most renowned artists in world cinema, the great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami began his cinematic career at Tehran’s Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (a.k.a. Kanoon), where he honed his distinctive style and themes. During his first decades as a filmmaker, Kiarostami moved freely among documentary, narrative, and even animation, and between joyous short films made for children and subtle works exploring the struggles of adolescents. Often using the classroom as a laboratory, he probed social and political tensions in Iranian society during the turbulent years before and after the 1979 revolution. Spanning his very first short, Bread and Alley (which the director called the “mother of all my films”); other underseen early revelations, like Experience and The Traveler; and nonfiction masterpieces such as Homework, the graceful, warm, and playful works collected here find moments of transcendent poetry within everyday life, and use deceptively simple premises to express universal truths about the human condition.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Part 2: Adolescence and Poverty (featuring Experience and A Wedding Suit)
    Part 3: Political Allegories (featuring Solution No. 1, First Case, Second Case, The Chorus, Fellow Citizen, and First Graders)

    Abbas Kiarostami

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Abbas Kiarostami’s Childhood Films (Criterion Channel documentary short, suggested viewing mentioned on inside cover of the set)
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • The American Scholar
    • British Journal of Photography
    • Harper’s
    • The Point
    • Senses of Cinema
    • ShotDeck
    • Sight & Sound
    • Criterion – In Memoriam

    Box Set Reviews

    • Blu-ray.com
    • Under the Radar

    Colors

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • Le Cinema Club

    Bread and Alley

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • High on Films
    • An Awadh Boy’s Panorama

    Breaktime

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Letterboxd
    • Sabzian

    The Traveler

    • The Criterion Collection
    • The Criterion Channel
    • Wikipedia
    • Letterboxd
    • In Review Online
    • Senses of Cinema

    Contact us

    • David Blakeslee ( TikTok / YouTube / Facebook / CriterionCast / Blog )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Instagram / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  12. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 63 – Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish Years [Part 2]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss three films (Dollar, A Woman’s Face and June Night) from Eclipse Series 46: Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish Years.

    About the films:

    Ingrid Bergman appeared in eleven films in her native Sweden before the age of twenty-five, and while that work tends to be overshadowed by her time in Hollywood, it showcases the actor summoning an impressive depth of emotion to deliver astute, passionate performances. Under the direction of filmmakers such as the prolific studio hand Gustaf Molander, Bergman embraced a range of roles and worked with some of the most celebrated actors in the Swedish film industry, including Gösta Ekman, Karin Swanström, Victor Sjöström, and Lars Hanson. Comedies, romances, and thrillers, the six fascinating films collected here—including Intermezzo, the movie that took Bergman to America—exhibit the precociously assured talent of a young artist with an illustrious international career ahead of her.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Ingrid Bergman

    • Criterion
    • https://www.ingridbergman.com/
    • Sight & Sound
    • New York Times (obituary)

    Box Set Reviews

    • Cinapse
    • DVD Talk
    • Trailers From Hell
    • Wall Street Journal

    Dollar

    • CineMagazine
    • TCM

    A Woman’s Face

    • Criterion Confessions
    • TCM

    June Night

    • Criterion Confessions
    • TCM

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  13. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 62 – Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish Years [Part 1]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss three films (The Count of the Old Town, Walpurgis Night and Intermezzo) from Eclipse Series 46: Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish Years.

    About the films:

    Ingrid Bergman appeared in eleven films in her native Sweden before the age of twenty-five, and while that work tends to be overshadowed by her time in Hollywood, it showcases the actor summoning an impressive depth of emotion to deliver astute, passionate performances. Under the direction of filmmakers such as the prolific studio hand Gustaf Molander, Bergman embraced a range of roles and worked with some of the most celebrated actors in the Swedish film industry, including Gösta Ekman, Karin Swanström, Victor Sjöström, and Lars Hanson. Comedies, romances, and thrillers, the six fascinating films collected here—including Intermezzo, the movie that took Bergman to America—exhibit the precociously assured talent of a young artist with an illustrious international career ahead of her.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Ingrid Bergman

    • Criterion
    • https://www.ingridbergman.com/ (official)
    • Sight & Sound
    • Pamela Hutchinson’s blog (essayist for the Eclipse Series liner notes)

    Box Set Reviews

    • Cinapse
    • Ion Cinema
    • Trailers From Hell

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  14. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 61 – Claude Autant-Lara: Four Romantic Escapes From Occupied France

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss four films from Eclipse Series 45: Claude Autante-Lara – Four Romantic Escapes from Occupied France.

    About the films:

    Too often overlooked after his work was spurned by the New Wave iconoclasts as belonging to the “tradition of quality,” Claude Autant-Lara was one of France’s leading directors of the 1940s and ’50s. He began as a set and costume designer and went on to direct French-language versions of American comedies in Hollywood, but it was back in his home country that Autant-Lara came into his own as a filmmaker. He found his sophisticated and slyly subversive voice with these four romances, produced during the dark days of the German occupation. Sumptuously appointed even while being critical of class hierarchy, these films—all made with the same corps of collaborators, including the charmingly impetuous star Odette Joyeux—endure as a testament to the quick wit and exquisite visual sense of the director whose name they established.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Claude Autant-Lara

    • Wikipedia
    • Films de France
    • The Guardian (obituary)
    • New York Times (obituary)

    Box Set Reviews

    • CageyFilms
    • Cinapse
    • DVDBlu Review
    • Pop Matters
    • Stream On Demand
    • Trailers From Hell

    Bertrand Tavernier on Claude Autant-Lara’s DOUCE from Criterion Collection on Vimeo.

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website / The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast )

  15. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 60 – Late Ozu [Part 3]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this final episode of a three-part series (and perhaps the podcast itself), David and Trevor are joined by Matt Gasteier to discuss two films (Late Autumn and The End of Summer) from Eclipse Series 3: Late Ozu.

    About the films:

    Master filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu directed fifty-three feature films over the course of his long career. Yet it was in the final decade of his life, his “old master” phase, that he entered his artistic prime. Centered more than ever on the modern sensibilities of the younger generation, these delicate family dramas are marked by an exquisite formal elegance and emotional sensitivity about birth and death, love and marriage, and all the accompanying joys and loneliness. Along with such better-known films as Floating Weeds and An Autumn Afternoon, these five works illustrate the worldly wisdom of one of cinema’s great artists at the height of his powers.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Yasujiro Ozu

    • Criterion Explore Page
    • Ozu and Setsuko Hara (Donald Richie)
    • Wikipedia
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Film Comment
    • Japan Times
    • Roger Ebert
    • Senses of Cinema (bio)
    • Senses of Cinema (article: “Is Ozu Slow?”)

    Box Set Reviews

    • Combustible Celluloid
    • Criterion Confessions
    • Digitally Obsessed

    Late Autumn

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • New York Times (1973)
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Celluloid Wicker Man
    • Ozu’s World
    • Pop Matters
    • Senses of Cinema
    • Strictly Film School
    • The Film Sufi
    • The Flickering Wall
    • The Guardian
    • Webs of Significance
    • World Cinema Review

    The End of Summer

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Boomtron
    • J-Film Pow-Wow
    • Japanese Culture Reflections
    • Movie Rapture
    • Nishikata Film Review
    • Only the Cinema
    • Ozekiland
    • Ozu’s World
    • The Film Sufi
    • Webs of Significance
    • World Cinema Review

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )
    • Matt Gasteier ( Twitter / Facebook / Website )

    … And before I wrap this up, I’d like to take a moment to thank Rob Nishimura and Trevor Berrett for being great podcasting partners in their respective stints in that role, and for providing their editing skills so that all I had to do was sit back and talk. Also gotta give credit to Rob and my son Brandon Blakeslee for brilliantly handling the graphic design chores in creating the logos, headers and feature images. Lots of love to all of our guests who graciously enhanced our conversations over the past five years:

    • Scott Nye (Silent Naruse and Mizoguchi’s Fallen Women)
    • West Anthony (The First Films of Samuel Fuller)
    • Joshua Brunsting (The Actuality Dramas of Allan King)
    • Ryan Gallagher (2012 in Review and Sabu!)
    • Lauren LoGiudice (Lubitsch Musicals)
    • Michael Koresky (A Conversation with Michael Koresky – former staff writer for the Criterion Collection)
    • Mark Hurne (Raymond Bernard)
    • Aaron West (Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties and Julien Duvivier in the Thirties)
    • Pauline Lampert (Chantal Akerman in the Seventies and George Bernard Shaw on Film)
    • Pablo Knote (The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara and Nikkatsu Noir)
    • Keith Enright (The Documentaries of Louis Malle)
    • Matt Gasteier (Late Ozu)

    And finally, my sincere appreciation for everyone who’s dropped us a comment, passed along a link, told their cinephile friends about our podcast or just sent us the occasional good vibes and note of encouragement in any way. I’m really glad we got the chance to connect and I am eager to continue on with new projects, very soon!

  16. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 59 – Late Ozu [Part 2]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this second episode of a three-part series, David and Trevor are joined by Matt Gasteier to discuss the first three color films directed by Yasujiro Ozu: Equinox Flower, from Eclipse Series 3: Late Ozu, along with Good Morning and Floating Weeds. released as spine-numbered editions in the Criterion Collection.

    About the films:

    Master filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu directed fifty-three feature films over the course of his long career. Yet it was in the final decade of his life, his “old master” phase, that he entered his artistic prime. Centered more than ever on the modern sensibilities of the younger generation, these delicate family dramas are marked by an exquisite formal elegance and emotional sensitivity about birth and death, love and marriage, and all the accompanying joys and loneliness. Along with such better-known films as Floating Weeds and An Autumn Afternoon, these five works illustrate the worldly wisdom of one of cinema’s great artists at the height of his powers.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Yasujiro Ozu

    • Criterion Explore Page
    • Wikipedia
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Film Comment
    • Japan Times
    • Roger Ebert
    • Senses of Cinema (bio)
    • Senses of Cinema (article: “Is Ozu Slow?”)

    Box Set Reviews

    • Combustible Celluloid
    • Criterion Confessions
    • Digitally Obsessed

    Equinox Flower

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • New York Times (1977)
    • Films de France
    • Only the Cinema
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Senses of Cinema
    • The Film Sufi
    • 3 Quarks Daily
    • Guide to Flower Symbolism – Higanbana/Equinox Flower

    Good Morning

    • David’s Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review
    • David’s Criterion Reflections review
    • Matt’s Criterion on the Brain review

    Floating Weeds

    • David’s Criterion Reflections review
    • Matt’s Criterion on the Brain review
    • Scott Nye’s Masters of Cinema Blu-ray review

    Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 3: Late Ozu [Part 3]

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )
    • Matt Gasteier ( Twitter / Facebook / Website )

  17. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 58 – Late Ozu [Part 1]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first episode of a three-part series, David and Trevor are joined by Matthew Gasteier to discuss two films (Early Spring and Tokyo Twilight) from Eclipse Series 3: Late Ozu.

    About the films:

    Master filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu directed fifty-three feature films over the course of his long career. Yet it was in the final decade of his life, his “old master” phase, that he entered his artistic prime. Centered more than ever on the modern sensibilities of the younger generation, these delicate family dramas are marked by an exquisite formal elegance and emotional sensitivity about birth and death, love and marriage, and all the accompanying joys and loneliness. Along with such better-known films as Floating Weeds and An Autumn Afternoon, these five works illustrate the worldly wisdom of one of cinema’s great artists at the height of his powers.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Yasujiro Ozu

    • Criterion Explore Page
    • Wikipedia
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Film Comment
    • Japan Times
    • Roger Ebert
    • Senses of Cinema (bio)
    • Senses of Cinema (article: “Is Ozu Slow?”)

    Box Set Reviews

    • Combustible Celluloid
    • Criterion Confessions
    • Digitally Obsessed

    Early Spring

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • New York Times (1974)
    • Blueprint: Review
    • Films de France
    • J-Film Pow-Wow
    • Only the Cinema
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Ozu’s World
    • Strictly Film School
    • TCM
    • The Film Sufi

    Tokyo Twilight

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • Acting-Out Politics
    • Adventures in Vertigo
    • Blueprint: Review
    • CineSlice
    • Dennis Grunes
    • J-Film Pow-Wow
    • Japanese Film Reflections
    • MovieRapture
    • Ozu-San.com
    • Ozu’s World
    • The Film Sufi

    Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 3: Late Ozu [Part 2]

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )
    • Matt Gasteier ( Twitter / Facebook / Website )

  18. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 57 – Postwar Kurosawa [Part 2]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first episode of a two-part series, David and Trevor discuss two films (The Idiot and I Live in Fear) from Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa.

    About the films:

    Akira Kurosawa came into his own as a filmmaker directly following World War II, delving into the state of his devastated nation with a series of pensive, topical dramas. Amid Japan’s economic collapse and U.S. occupation, Kurosawa managed to find humor and redemption existing alongside despair and anxiety. In these five early films, which range from political epic to Capraesque whimsy to courtroom potboiler, Kurosawa revealed the artistic range and social acuity that would mark his career and make him the most popular Japanese director in the world.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Akira Kurosawa

    • Criterion Explore Page
    • Wikipedia
    • AkiraKurosawa.info Bio (International Breakthrough and Darker Themes)
    • A.V. Club
    • BFI – 10 Essential Films
    • Biography.com
    • KurosawaMovies.com
    • Senses of Cinema

    Box Set Reviews

    • Criterion Confessions
    • DVD Talk
    • PopMatters

    The Idiot

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • Akira Kurosawa Info
    • Can’t Stop the Movies
    • Celluloid Wicker Man
    • Critic After Dark
    • Dennis Grunes
    • Films de France
    • Japanese Culture Reflections
    • Lewis Saul
    • Ozu’s World
    • Printculture
    • Where the Long Tail Ends

    I Live in Fear

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • A.V. Club
    • Cinelogue
    • Ferdy on Films
    • Filmnomenon
    • J-Film PowWow
    • Kurosawa in Review
    • Movie Martyr
    • Phil-Zine!
    • Slate
    • TCM
    • Varied Celluloid

    Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 3: Late Ozu [Part 1]

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )

  19. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 56 – Postwar Kurosawa [Part 1]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first episode of a two-part series, David and Trevor discuss three films (No Regrets for Our Youth, One Wonderful Sunday and Scandal) from Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa.

    About the films:

    Akira Kurosawa came into his own as a filmmaker directly following World War II, delving into the state of his devastated nation with a series of pensive, topical dramas. Amid Japan’s economic collapse and U.S. occupation, Kurosawa managed to find humor and redemption existing alongside despair and anxiety. In these five early films, which range from political epic to Capraesque whimsy to courtroom potboiler, Kurosawa revealed the artistic range and social acuity that would mark his career and make him the most popular Japanese director in the world.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Akira Kurosawa

    • Criterion Explore Page
    • Wikipedia
    • AkiraKurosawa.info Bio (Immediate Postwar Works)
    • A.V. Club
    • BFI – 10 Essential Films
    • Biography.com
    • KurosawaMovies.com
    • Senses of Cinema

    Box Set Reviews

    • Criterion Confessions
    • DVD Talk
    • PopMatters

    No Regrets for Our Youth

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • Can’t Stop the Movies
    • Cinelogue
    • Film Comment
    • J-Film PowWow
    • Japanese Culture Reflections
    • Kurosawa in Review
    • Noel Network
    • Ozu’s World
    • Senses of Cinema
    • TCM
    • Webs of Significance
    • Where the Long Tail Ends

    One Wonderful Sunday

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • Bill’s Movie Emporium
    • Brian Camp’s Film and Anime Blog
    • Can’t Stop the Movies
    • Cinelogue
    • Flickers in Time
    • J-Film PowWow
    • Japanese Culture Reflections
    • Noel Network
    • Washington Post (1986)
    • Where the Long Tail Ends

    Scandal

    • David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
    • Can’t Stop the Movies
    • Celluloid Highway
    • Cinemaholic
    • Digital Fix
    • Film Sufi
    • Happy Otter
    • J-Film PowWow
    • Lone Wolves and Hidden Dragons
    • Oggs’ Movie Thoughts
    • Ozu’s World
    • The Stop Button
    • Where the Long Tail Ends

    Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa [Part 2]

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )

  20. The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 55 – Julien Duvivier in the Thirties [Part 2]

    Show notes

    This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first episode of a two-part series, David and Trevor discuss two films (La tête d’un homme and Un carnet de bal) from Eclipse Series 44: Julien Duvivier in the Thirties.

    About the films:

    Remembered primarily for directing the classic crime drama Pépé le moko, Julien Duvivier was one of the finest filmmakers working in France in the 1930s. Thanks to a formidable innate understanding of the cinematic medium, Duvivier made the transition from silents to talkies with ease, marrying his expressive camera work to a strikingly inventive use of sound with a singular dexterity. His deeply shadowed, fatalistic early sound films David Golder and La tête d’un homme anticipate the poetic realist style that would come to define the decade in French cinema and, together with the small-town family drama Poil de Carotte and the swooning tale of love and illusion Un carnet de bal, showcase his stunning versatility. These four films—all featuring the great stage and screen actor Harry Baur—are collected here, each evidence of an immense and often overlooked cinematic talent.

    Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.

    Episode Links

    Julien Duvivier

    • Criterion Explore Page
    • Wikipedia
    • Alchetron
    • Films de France
    • Screening the Past

    Box Set Reviews

    • Cagey Films
    • Criterion Confessions
    • DVDBlu Review
    • DVD Talk
    • Marvel Presents Salò
    • New York Times
    • PopMatters
    • Slant
    • Streamline

    La tête d’un homme

    • DVD Classik (French, nice collection of screencaps)
    • Films de France
    • JB Spins

    Un carnet de bal

    • Pittsburgh Press (1938)
    • Berkeley Daily Gazette (1939)
    • Dennis Grunes
    • Derek Winnert
    • DVD Classik
    • Films de France
    • Pauline Kael

    Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa [Part 1]

    Contact us

    • Twitter
    • Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
    • David Blakeslee ( Twitter/ Website )
    • Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )