The Criterion Collection - E (2024)

While often overshadowed in public consciousness by Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin , Pudovkin’s film is a masterclass in the editing techniques that defined a century of cinema. Criterion’s treatment of the film—featuring a score composed and conducted by Timothy Brock—transforms a historical artifact into a living, breathing experience. It is a reminder that the "E" section is not just about entertainment; it is about education. To own this disc is to own a textbook on how to build a narrative through the collision of images. No discussion of the letter "E" would be complete without acknowledging the towering presence of Ingmar Bergman. While many of his most famous works (the Persona and Seventh Seal varieties) occupy other letters, Criterion houses his epic masterpiece The Emigrants (Spine #781) and its sequel, The New Land .

These films, starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann, represent a different side of Bergman—less metaphysical, more visceral. They tell the story of a group of peasants fleeing poverty in Sweden for the promise of America. Criterion’s release is a stunner, restoring the films’ austere beauty and highlighting the crushing weight of the landscape. It is a testament to the Collection’s commitment to presenting complete filmographies; they do not just offer the "greatest hits," but the essential deeper cuts that define a director’s evolution. While David Cronenberg’s Videodrome sits under "V," its central philosophy—regarding the "New Flesh" and the melding of man and machine—finds a spiritual cousin in the "E" section through the works of Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Specifically, Eyes of the Spider (Spine #1010) and Serpent's Path represent the darker, more nefarious side of the letter "E." The Criterion Collection - E

Released as a double feature, these films showcase the Japanese master’s ability to conjure dread out of mundanity. Eyes of the Spider deals with the yakuza and the banality of violence, but it does so with a detached, eerie calm While often overshadowed in public consciousness by Sergei

Today, we turn our gaze to the letter .

In the rarefied air of cinephilia, few logos command as much instant respect as the "C" in a square. The Criterion Collection, since its inception in 1984, has functioned not merely as a distributor but as a canon-maker, a preservative agency for the art of cinema. For the devoted collector, the thrill often lies in the hunt—scouring shelves for that distinctive spine number. While the collection is vast, spanning thousands of titles, looking at a specific cross-section reveals the breadth of the medium’s history. To own this disc is to own a

In the index of The Criterion Collection, "E" is a letter of contradictions. It houses the terrifying and the tranquil, the silent and the deafening, the underground and the existential. From the nightmares of Swedish cinema to the neon-lit streets of Hong Kong, the "E" section of the Criterion shelf is a microcosm of film history itself. If one were to judge the "E" section by heft alone, the crown might go to Vsevolod Pudovkin’s 1927 Soviet silent classic, The End of St. Petersburg . Released as spine #523, this film represents the Collection’s dedication to the foundations of montage theory.