What’s All The Hulu-baloo About? [This Week In Criterion’s Hulu Channel]

It’s that time of the week when you want to sit back, relax a bit and throw on something new and exciting. Well, you’ve come to the right place. It’s the second week in this Hulu Plus excursion, and I’ve had a blast with it. A lot of Daily Show, Colbert Report and Kitchen Nightmares intake in the last week. I can’t help but love my politically minded comedy and angry chef shows. But I digress.

This last week there was a ton of new content from Criterion put onto Hulu Plus. A wonderful array of films and a ton of supplemental material from certain films, which I will yet again break down for all of you, and the links will be within, so you don’t even have to search for them. We here at the Criterion Cast aim to please.

When the first entry in this series went up, Criterion put up a huge chunk of films on their Hulu page. Coincidence? I think so.

The gem of the week is one that hasn’t been featured in the Criterion Collection or their Eclipse series. Utamaro and His Five Women, another fantastic film in Kenji Mizoguchi’s repertoire, is based on a novel of the same name by Kanji Kunieda. It’s one of only a handful of Jidaigeki or period films that were made during the Allied occupation of Japan after WWII. A wonderful tale of a printmaker who is pursued by 5 different women, the art of Utamaro and the trouble it sometimes gets him in. This might be a hint at a future Criterion release. I’m definitely hoping for that.

Pair that Mizoguchi film with a previous entry in the Criterion Collection, Sansho the Bailiff (1954), an epic tale of resilience into the face of evil, especially when all seems lost. Starring Mizoguchi regular Kinuyo Tanaka (Ugetsu), it just gets better with repeat viewings.

We get two films from Mikio Naruse from his silent period. Street Without End (1934), Mikio Naruse’s final silent film (recently included in the Eclipse Series 26: Silent Naruse), a beautiful story of a waitress and how a single act can turn your life upside down. Apart From You (1933), Mikio shows us a working woman (something he would do for most of his career afterward), an aging geisha whose son is ashamed of her and her young counterpart, who hates being forced into this life. A devastating hour of heartbreaking drama.

Withing the silent world of Japanese cinema, we get an entry in Ozu’s own body of work (Eclipse Series 10: Silent Ozu Three Family Comedies). Tokyo Chorus (1931), a heartwarming family comedy which combines a few genres of the day (student comedy, domestic drama and salary an film) which is definitely a good pick me up after watching the earlier Naruse film.

Next is an under-appreciated Criterion release, Martha Graham: Dance on Film (spine #406), where we get all three collaborations with Nathan Kroll from that entry: Night Journey, Appalachian Spring and A Dancer’s World. If you’re into dance on film more so because of the recent Oscar winner Black Swan or with the amazing The Red Shoes, watch pure unadulterated dance on-screen with these short films.

Peter Weir’s The Last Wave (1977), an early spine number (142), about David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), a lawyer who is trying to defend an aborigine who is accused of murder. We get into some crazy apocalyptic visions and see the Australian landscapes as beautiful as we ever have. Definitely one to check out.

One that I’m really excited to see is from the Eclipse Series 20: George Bernard Shaw on Film, which is Major Barbara (1941). A film that was troubled from the start, during the blitz of London in WWII but became a huge hit for both Shaw and producer/director Gabriel Pascal. A controversial film, where it talks about the hypocrisy of the Christian organization The Salvation Army? You had me at controversial.

A film from Eclipse Series 21: Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties with Pleasures of the Flesh (1965), a film which journeys into the Pinku Eiga genre, a Japanese soft-core pornographic film. A man is blackmailed into holding a criminal’s suitcase of money while he is in prison. Instead of doing so, he instead spends the money on a spree, then expecting to be tracked down and killed. Goes great with a viewing of Oshima’s Empire of Passion (1978). Most find that a demented pairing, but I tend to find a loose theme within films for double features.

The last feature film from the Criterion library is one that everybody should watch. Twenty-four Eyes (1954), a film by Keisuke Kinoshita, is a touching tale of a teacher seeing her pupils grow up around her. Never giving up on them, always supporting them, this film takes place between 1928, to World War II and beyond that, it’s a sentimental look at aging, war, death and how one person can be there for you, ever step of the way. A lovely film that deserves examination from film buffs.

There are a bunch more that were just posted, while I was writing this very article. I’m thinking Criterion is noticing the buzz and are upping the ante every week now. Instead of keeping this entry going, I’m going to stop it with this, a first half, and continue with another one detailing the newest batch of goodies.

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