Who said the French and British couldn’t get along? When they’re not lighting up the screen together in films like Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient, the 1992 adaptation of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights,” and recently in “The Return,” based on the last chapters of Homer’s “Odyssey,” pals and collaborators Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes enjoy just getting to spend a little time with one another. And thankfully, Criterion gave them the chance to do just that.
Stepping into the Criterion Closet, Binoche and Fiennes pretended not to know one another, but soon became quite intimate, a not-so-unforeseen side effect of the tight quarters they found themselves in. Binoche led most of the selection efforts, with the “Conclave” star serving as the curious pupil, having heard of many films she pulled down, but not actually having seen them. After coming across Jim Jarmusch’s moody prison comedy “Down by Law,” featuring Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Italian actor/director Roberto Benigni, Binoche dropped it in Fiennes’ bag and moved on to the work of Orson Welles.
“I’ve seen ‘Citizen Kane,’” said Fiennes, but added, “I’ve never seen ‘Magnificent Ambersons,’ to my shame.”
With that, Fiennes added Welles’ sophomore feature to his collection. Upon grabbing Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Amores perros” and already having fun less than a minute into shopping, Binoche said, “DVDs are great because you can share them with your friends, your children, your parents.”
As a Christmas/birthday present, Fiennes treated himself to the Essential Fellini box set, which includes masterpieces such as “8 1/2,” “La Dolce Vita,” “Amarcord,” and many more. When it came to Italian directors, Binoche preferred to go for the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini, but both actors felt called to the work of Japanese filmmakers Akira Kurosawa, known for films like “Seven Samurai” and “Ran,” and Yasujirō Ozu, whose output includes “Tokyo Story,” “Late Spring,” and “Floating Weeds.” Fiennes later picked up the documentary work of Louis Malle and offered it to Binoche as a fellow Francophile, but she had her eyes set on other material.
“I know Louis because I worked with him,” said Binoche, “so I want to go to places I’ve never been.”
Leaning on his own cultural ties, Fiennes offered Binoche Basil Deardon’s London Underground set, featured in Criterion as part of the Eclipse series and including “Sapphire” and “Victim.”
“I’ve seen ‘Victim’ with Dirk Bogarde. It’s one of the early films dealing with homosexuality,” Fiennes said, adding, ” It’s very strong — Basil Dearden’s a great British director, postwar.”
Watch Binoche and Fiennes’ full Criterion Closet visit below.