The Criterion Collection has announced plans to revive its celebrated Eclipse line, a continuing series of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films presented in simple, affordable box-set editions. The previously DVD-only Eclipse line has been on ice for several years, but it will return this November, and this time films will be upgraded to Blu-Ray. The label is going to be upgrading some of the most popular titles as well as producing brand-new sets, and they will be kicking off the series relaunch with a new release of Abbas Kiarostami’s early films. This deep dive into the prolific and wide-ranging first two decades of the director’s career will include playful shorts made for children, probing feature-length documentaries on education, and exquisite narrative masterpieces about adolescent longing and disappointment.
Series editor Imogen Sara Smith had the following details to share about the relaunch:
In the coming months, you can look forward to Eclipse sets of the six extraordinary features directed by Kinuyo Tanaka, Japan’s first successful woman director; and five searingly radical documentaries from the husband-and-wife team of Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi. And we’ll get you singing and dancing with Blu-ray upgrades of Carlos Saura’s electrifying Flamenco Trilogy and Ernst Lubitsch’s joyously risqué pre-Code musicals. Also in the pipeline are sets devoted to the early films of Ruben Östlund and the revolutionary cinema of Sara Gómez.
With the relaunch of the Eclipse line, Criterion reaffirms its commitment to making the full richness of film history accessible with the reliable permanence of physical media. Each release will use the best available materials and feature an essay in which an expert shares historical context and insight about the films.
The standard cinema canon has been shaped—and sometimes misshapen—by what films are available. In a vicious cycle, films that can’t be seen are forgotten, and hence less likely to be restored. Preservation and access, on the other hand, form a virtuous cycle, spurring rediscovery and further efforts to ensure the survival of a fragile medium. Alongside the ever-expanding Criterion Channel, Eclipse is once again fostering this rediscovery, serving as an enduring home for deep cuts and hidden treasures.
Are you excited for this revived line of physical media releases? Let us know in the comments or over on Twitter.
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Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
