For the uninitiated, the Criterion Collection does for film nerds what the laugh tracks do for The Big Bang Theory: remove them and everything becomes totally and utterly pointless.
Dedicated to restoring and distributing obscure films from ancient to contemporary eras, the Criterion Collection dedicates an overwhelming amount of love and attention to every single film they chose to tackle. Most of the times supervised by a key person in charge of the film, every restoration they make is simply magisterial. And that dedication is shown through their magnificent choices for their art covers.
Today, I'm picking my 10 personal favorites. What's the criteria, pun intended, you might ask? Well, I try to pick something that's both relevant to the film in question and at the same times, the cover provides something interesting and unusual from the dull movie posters we're accustomed to. In no particular order, here they are.
–The Silence of the Lambs
Jonathan Demme's masterpiece is without a doubt one of the finest psychological horror's ever committed to celluloid. This cover instantly brings us back to Buffalo Bill's keen interest on bugs as well as the process of metamorphosis and changing oneself physically. Hidden in it we can also see what appears to be a human skull. An omen and reminder of the killer's malignancy entrapped within a beautiful animal which is born out of something hideous.
–Election
Alexander Payne's film is an unexpectedly funny view through the horrendous back-stabbing and hypocrisy present in modern politics. It shows Tracy Flick, a goody-two-shoes as tolerable as having a liquid nitrogen poured on your eyes, as she does whatever it takes to be elected for student president. For those of us who know the film, that muffin says it all.
–Persona
Ingmar Bergman shows us through his very unique set of eyes just how powerful the mind can be. A film dealing with everything from motherhood to homosexuality, like all good things ahead of their time, it was banned from many countries for… whatever reason. An exploration of what identity is, the art cover shows two faces. One is in plain sight while the other is partially hidden. Could this be a reference to that dark side we all have but we refuse to acknowledge?
–Blood Simple
We all know Joel and Ethan Coen for their twisted sense of humor, amazing photography and dark subject matters. Such is the case with Blood Simple where a man is trapped in a series of complicated events through a simple misunderstanding. This frame, incredibly beautiful yet downright dooming uses light (and the lack of it) to inflict this mysterious aura to a picture I would have loved to have taken myself. Love it.
–Sid and Nancy
I was never a fan of Alex Cox's film. But I must admit that the cover art for this one is amazing. Almost like dog tags retrieved from a World War II battlefield, we observe two tiny locks with two simple words engraved on them: "Love Kills". A perfect description of punk rock's most infamous couple Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Simple yet effective.
–The Game
For another simple yet effective art cover, David Fincher's masterpiece The Game minimalist cover is downright awesome. I might be biased on this one since this is one of my all time favourites (read all about it here). But this image perfectly encapsulates Nicholas Van Orton's descent to madness as well as a reference to its fantastic ending which I won't spoil here. One of my top three covers, for sure.
–Y tu mamá también
Alfonso Cuaron's lesser known film about adolescence, friendship, and our obsession with MILF's is a must see for people who love coming-of-age movies. The cover art combines the three protagonists in a blurred out almost bokeh style picture which illustrates both the dream-like nature of their road trip as well as its documentary style approach. A fantastic cover for a fantastic movie which got him the gig for The Prisoner of Azkaban, might I add.
–Being John Malkovich
Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman joined forces to make a film very few directors would dare to attempt after having done 15 pictures. Yet these crazy assholes did it for their opera prima. John Cusack plays Craig Schwartz as he dives into the mind of John Malkovich. By the way, I don't mean a character played by John Malkovich. I literally mean him. Craig "takes a look" at this man in a crazy and fantastical ride through his mind. Get it?
–The Thin Red Line
I have never been a fan of Terrence Malick's messy storytelling and primordially poetic filmmaking. I do love this gut wrenching story about the hardship and utter misery American soldiers had to endure during World War II at the Pacific theater of war. Told from multiple perspectives, it could be seen as a collection of stories from soldiers with completely different personalities tackling the nonsensical nature of war. Like a collection of biographies, I love the fact this art cover appears to be like the pages of a novel. Great stuff.
–The Mirror
Saying Andrei Tarkovski's films are harder to digest than a 600 pound hamburger made of cement is an understatement. The fact some of them even require you to read his essay to be properly understood makes it even worse. And this film, being nonlinear isn't an exception. But we all have to admit that this art cover with the same beautiful frame turned upside down is not only a great nod to the film's theme but also an excellent exercise in visual storytelling. Love it.
What are your favorite Criterion Collection covers? Please, share them in the comments!