“I discovered Criterion in the late eighties with the laserdisc of Citizen Kane, which I still watch,” writes director William Friedkin, whose films include The French Connection, The Exorcist, Sorcerer, and 2011’s Killer Joe. “Since switching to DVD and Blu-ray, I’ve acquired at least a hundred of your titles and don’t dare look at your complete list or I’d want them all, leaving me no time for anything else. Five of the films on this list are French and another is about France. One is from Japan, one is Danish, one is from England and one is from the U.S. Six (and a half) are in black and white. None were made later than 1979. I could easily have chosen scores of others from different countries and years. That is the power and range of the Criterion Collection, whose films occupy entire bookshelves in my home. Here are some of the ones I continue to watch—in no particular order.”
Biography via Criterion.
