James Acheson

Name: James Acheson visits the Criterion Closet
Uploaded: 2013-01-30T00:00:00.000Z
Description: Hear what James Acheson has to say about 3 picks from the Criterion Closet — including Down by Law, Bicycle Thieves, The Leopard.

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Aired 2013

View 3 Picks Full Video Criterion Page

3 Picks

Down by Law — Jim Jarmusch, 1986 · #166

“I want to take Down by Law because I didn't know who Roberto Benigni was but I saw this in an Italian version in Rome in about 1986 and I remember him being the funniest man I've ever seen. To a Roman audience he just had to walk into shot and they laugh but he never said anything... I have to have this movie.”

Bicycle Thieves — Vittorio De Sica, 1948 · #374

“I remember this film Bicycle Thieves and I remember it was made by an aristocrat and this aristocrat was making movies about poor people... I remember this beautiful film. I remember the emptiness of their lives and the central Performance of this actor... De Sica showed me something I've never seen before which was I guess in a post Second World War Italian poverty.”

The Leopard — Luchino Visconti, 1963 · #235

“This was a complete revelation to see this movie... Mid 19th century Sicily. I knew I was looking at something that was so special and the evocation of a period was so vivid... It introduced me to the work of Piero Tosi the costume designer... Most of the costume designers work is often jeopardized and sabotaged by the work of hair and makeup departments and so to see a man in control creating this world... When they're in this movie they inhabit the clothes.”