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

It’s the time again, my friends. When I go through Hulu’s Criterion page and give you what’s new, what’s exciting and what might be a hint at a future release within the collection. There’s even a ton of new supplemental material from various films that are worth getting into. If you like this series of article, please sign up for your own Hulu Plus account. Every little bit counts and is much appreciated.

Let’s just get right to it then. Remember, all the links will be included with each listing. We make it as easy as possible for all of you. First up is a film that isn’t in the collection but I can easily see it being welcomed with open arms.

La Cérémonie (1995), a Claude Chabrol film, is about Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset) who hires a new maid by the name of Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire), an illiterate woman. Sophie then falls for a mysterious postal worker (Isabelle Huppert) which leads down a dark path. A fantastic film, with all three leads really selling it and it just shows why Chabrol should already be in the collection with his immense directorial output. Hopefully this is a hint at what is coming down the pipeline.

Next up is Gillo Pontecorvo’s Kapò(1959), a film that was recently only part of an Essential Art House box set. Surprisingly, this was never officially added to the collection, with no spine number attached to it. It tells the story of a young Jewish woman, in a Nazi concentration camp who saves herself by taking the identity of a ruthless warden. It’s brutally honest and one of the first films to show the horrors of the Holocaust, and this is 7 years before Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers.

We get another wonderful Yasujiro Ozu film with his 1932 film I Was Born, But…. It’s another entry in the Three Family Comedies Eclipse set.

Mamma Roma (1962), a fantastic Italian neo-realist film from one of the most controversial directors of all time, Pier Paolo Pasolini. An early spine number (236), it’s one that I doubt most people have seen and now there’s no excuse.

Another early Criterion release is Ermanno Olli’s I fidanzati (1962) which appears to be a drama about a strained relationship and decisions that might ultimately rip it apart. It’s one that is in my queue now to watch as soon as possible.

Akira Kurosawa gets another entry, this time with one from his Post War Eclipse set, Scandal (1950). Toshiro Mifune is amazing in this film, as is Takashi Shimura, which tells the story of how the tabloids can ruin someone’s life. A great film that certainly bumped up in my Kurosawa favorites list this last year.

Three of Allan King’s films, A Married Couple (1969), Come On Children (1973) and Dying At Grace (2003, which is the most recent feature film to be featured in this article series so far) are all from his Eclipse set. The first shows us an in depth look at a marriage in trouble. The second shows us 5 boys and 5 girls leaving their parents and living on a farm for 10 weeks. The latter film King gives us a look at 5 terminally ill cancer patients and their dying days. All three show different aspects of life and won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Whenever there’s a new Kenji Mizoguchi film added to Hulu Plus, it’s a better place to go and this week is no different. We have Osaka Elegy (1936), another one from his Fallen Women Eclipse Set. This was the film that elevated him in Japan as a force to be reckoned with. You will fall in love with Isuzu Yamada after watching this.

The last feature film this week is Hiroshi Shimzu’s Ornamental Hairpin (1941), a film from the Travels From Shimzu Eclipse set. Another one I’ve sadly hadn’t gotten to check out yet, it being a playful wartime story which sounds like my cup of tea.

We then have a plethora of supplements Criterion has put up on their Hulu page. Here’s a listing of them all for your perusal:

Revanche – Interview With Gotz Spielmann

Harlan County USA – Interview With Hazel Dickens

Grey Gardens – Interview With Todd Oldham

Grey Gardens – Interview With John Bartlett

The Beales of Grey Gardens – Introduction by Albert Maysles

The Battle of Algiers – Marxist Poetry: the Making of “the Battle of Algiers

An Angel at My Table – The Making of an Angel at My Table

Equinox – Interview With Dennis Muren

Amarcord – Interview With Magali Noël

Bergman Island – Bergman 101

The Earrings of Madame de… – Introduction by Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist – Robeson On Robeson

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist – Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson

F for Fake – Introduction by Peter Bogdanovich

F for Fake – Extended 9-minute Trailer

House (1977) – Constructing a House

À nos amours – Interview With Jean-Pierre Gorin

À nos amours – Interview With Catherine Breillat

Burden of Dreams – Dreams and Burdens

Jigoku – Building the Inferno

Remember, these supplements are best after you watch the films they are attached to, as they do give away some spoilers within them. So we here at Criterion Cast suggest watching the films first if you haven’t done so already. And that wraps up this weeks Hulu-baloo. If you want to help the article to keep going, please sign up here. Until next week, keep it streaming.