19 Best Raw Movies On Criterionchannel (Page 2)

It’s a bold move, centering a drama around a creature as docile as a donkey, but EO pulls it off without ever leaning on the crutch of CGI. Instead, the film makes ingenious use of a hundred-year-old film technique: the Kuleshov effect. By splicing the image of the titular donkey’s placid, expressionless face against visual stimulus, the illusion of a genuine reaction is produced.

But don’t be mistaken: this is no twee Disney-esque tale of anthropomorphism. Inspired by the classic Au Hasard Balthasar, EO tracks the haphazard journey of a former circus donkey across Europe — one that is often depicted in surreal psychedelic reds instead of idyllic picture-book tones, and punctured by more horrors than joys (though we do, thankfully, get to see him munch away on some well-deserved carrot treats). EO’s docility frames him as a kind of holy innocent, making the cruelty meted out to him feel all the more like a grave violation of something sacrosanct. Seeing the world through his oft-neglected perspective also makes this a movie about humans by proxy — a fresh, empathetic approach that, even in its obvious dramatic liberties, makes us meditate on both the depth of experience that may be unfolding in our animal neighbors and our role in shaping it.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Isabelle Huppert, Kateřina Holánová, Lolita Chammah, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Sandra Drzymalska, Tomasz Organek, Waldemar Barwiński

Director: Jerzy Skolimowski

Rating: NR

When forming a nation, governments would like to view the entire populace as one people– for example, the Norwegians live in Norway. But plenty of these nations have smaller populations of different ethnicities, some that have been on the land far longer than the nation itself. Pathfinder is the first ever feature film depicting the Sámi people, depicting one of their tales. The film plays out like a familiar folk adventure, where a boy comes of age through clever thinking, but it also mirrors their struggle to keep their culture from Norwegianization, to protect their people from extinction. Pathfinder may not have the best special effects, but there’s a beauty in the way writer-director Nils Gaup depicts his home county of Finnmark, and the way he depicts his people’s past.

Genre: Adventure

Actor: Helgi Skúlason, Ingvald Guttorm, John Sigurd Kristensen, Knut Walle, Mikkel Gaup, Nils Utsi, Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Svein Scharffenberg, Sverre Porsanger

Director: Nils Gaup

Betty Blue looks gorgeous. Of course, as an erotic film, there’s the beauty of the female form, but Jean-Jacques Beineix frames each moment in excellently lit, colorful frames, making each sunkissed scene a pleasure for the eyes. His approach, alongside that of Luc Besson and Leos Carax, have formed a movement titled Cinéma du look, and inspired plenty of films due to how gorgeous this style looks. But frankly, the style is the only thing that makes Betty Blue watchable, as the plot plays out with the usual aspiring artist, whose talents are recognized by stunning beauties that somehow turn insane for no reason and thus become future muses for their work. We’d hate to be that guy’s girlfriend.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: André Julien, Béatrice Dalle, Catherine D'At, Claude Aufaure, Claude Confortès, Clémentine Célarié, Consuelo De Haviland, Dominique Besnehard, Dominique Pinon, Gérard Darmon, Jacques Mathou, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Nathalie Dalyan, Philippe Laudenbach, Raoul Billerey, Robin Bernard, Simon de La Brosse, Vincent Lindon

Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix

Rating: Not Rated