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IF YOU WERE FORCED TO LIVE ON AN ISLAND AND YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONE CRITERION FILM...WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?

Before you ask the answer is yes. Somehow this island has electricity and a DVD (not Blu Ray, it’s not that advanced) player. Not only that, but deep within its jungle it possesses the most advanced projector known to humans and the biggest screen you’ve seen in your whole life.

Somehow you’re forced to live on this island and the people who are forcing you are letting you take ONE Criterion film from the collection. No Box Sets (otherwise we’d all choose Janus 50 films and that just wouldn’t be fun), so no Eclipse Series, no Essential Arthouse…you can choose a film that has multiple discs obviously like Fanny and Alexander or Berlin Alexanderplatz since it’s all one film but we can’t choose director sets.

Ok, oh and an explanation as to why would be nice.

My choice:

Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (3 Discs)

Why? Because it’s one of the best films ever made, it’s long but the time flies by as you watch it so it’ll keep me busy on the island, every single frame tells a story and I would probably learn a thing or two about protecting myself if bandits ever decided to invade my hut and take my vegetables…

I thought about Fanny and Alexander as well since there’s so much material to watch and I love the film to death but I think it would remind me too much of my family and make me feel more lonely on the island.

What’s your choice?

tom kern

over 3 years ago

Rules of the Game
Because it has everything in it that came in cinema before and after thematically and from a technical standpoint.
Because everytime I watch it I find something new.
Because it is cinema entire.
Because it is the shizzle.
Becasue everybody has their reasons…

Neo-Glo​om

over 3 years ago

“In the Realm of the Senses” because it would suffice as both a movie to watch and a source of comfort for those lonely nights on the island if you catch my drift.

Ben Simingt​on

over 3 years ago

The old CAV BLADE RUNNER. Opt for laserdisc for sturdier, larger digging or ligh-reflecting tools.

CJ Roy

over 3 years ago

I’m with Nikola, it would have to be Seven Samurai (3 Disc, duh).

I really don’t have to explain this.

Mike Volpe

over 3 years ago

i’d take Che, even though it hasn’t come out yet. I saw it in theatres and didn’t care for it but the movie was overall pretty well done. i want to give it a second chance very badly plus its 4.5 hrs long plus special features it would take a damn long time to watch

Law

over 3 years ago

I wouldn’t choose a Criterion film. Celine and Julie Go Boating for me. Pleasant, long and very pleasant.

Nathan M.

over 3 years ago

The desert island question has never made much sense to me, at least in terms of logic.

If I were trapped on a deserted island, I don’t know that I’d want any one movie at all. Even the best films would get boring eventually, and you’d long for a new experience that you’d never be able to have. In fact, having only one film would be only a little less than pure torture. It would constantly remind you there there is a world beyond the island that you couldn’t get to and participate in.

But, since it’s my favorite movie anyway, I guess I’ll pick Black Narcissus.

Stefan Ramsted​t

over 3 years ago

Masculin féminin. For obvious reasons.

Spladoo​dlekein​t

over 3 years ago

Berlin Alexanderplatz – because I’d finally have an excuse to watch it all in one sitting – all 15 hours and 40 minutes worth.

@ Nathan: Logic has nothing to do with it. The question is just a roundabout way of asking what is your most preferred Criterion and why but with a little humor thrown into the mix.

WakeUpS​tudios

over 3 years ago

The Life Aquatic (2-disc) or Rushmore…

Mainly because of the light-heartedness and the fact that the jokes stay funny through multiple viewings so it’d keep me happy while on the somehow awesome island with a huge IMAX screen and surround sound…

All in all the bottomline is Wes Anderson is deeelightfull!

Leigh

over 3 years ago

The Royal Tenenbaums

I agree- Wes Anderson is delightful! And great music too.

JL21

over 3 years ago

Is it too obvious to say Bunuel’s “Simon of the Desert”?

Redrum4

over 3 years ago

Yeah but Simon of the Desert is only 45 minutes long. That’d get old fast

JL21

over 3 years ago

Touche.

Michael Barraco

over 3 years ago

Contempt if it had to be Criterion, but what I’d really be yearning for is a copy of Persona

Mel Brown

over 3 years ago

Fellini’s – - 8 1/2 – - would be my choice. Fun all the way, and the relationships of the actors, on-screen & off-screen, make this fantasy a touch surreal. A brilliant comedy, in my estimation.

Intend to smuggle in a non-Criterion too. Seeing as the immediate future finds me on a desert island, I may someday want to vacate the place. Peter Weir’s – - THE TRUMAN SHOW – - Will help keep my hopes up.

Dennis Brian

over 3 years ago

Salo by passolini its never boring

Marcus WP

over 3 years ago

i guess stranger than paradise. its one of my favs and permanent vacation is on the 2nd disc.

Dennis Brian

over 3 years ago

i love jarmusch broken flowers is one of the best films ever made but i could not watch permanent vacation again

Doinel

over 3 years ago

Koko the Talking Gorilla.

If I’m stuck on an island I want to go insane quickly.

animalc​alls

over 3 years ago

This is tough….

I’m stuck between Do The Right Thing and 5-disc Fanny and Alexander…

I’ll say Do The Right Thing, One of my all time favorite films.

animalc​alls

over 3 years ago

This is tough….

I’m stuck between Do The Right Thing and 5-disc Fanny and Alexander…

I’ll say Do The Right Thing, One of my all time favorite films.

Pedja

over 3 years ago

Federico Fellini’s
And the Ship Sails On (1984)
; )

idreami​ncellul​oid

over 3 years ago

Fellini’s La Dolce Vita.

Marcus WP

over 3 years ago

@ Den…yeah i hear ya. its one of those movies i really like, but wouldnt argue with someone if they said they didnt like it. lol, it was my desert island pick, because you 2 movies out of the stranger than paradise disc. id go crazy on an island with just one movie.

Tag Simler

over 3 years ago

Can I take that Janus box set with like 50 films in it? No? Okay, 3 disc Seven Samurai.

H. K. ‡

over 3 years ago

The Bank Dick because I still find it hilarious and I’ll need some cheering up.

plaidgo​rilla

over 3 years ago

The Royal Tenenbaums, because even after watching it a dozen times, it’s still as enjoyable and funny as the first viewing. Plus it looks damn awesome in terms of direction and bright colors.