Home to some of the best films in the world as well as some of the finest DVD (and now Blu-ray) editions ever created, the Criterion Collection is beloved by most anyone who takes their movies seriously enough to have not just a few discs lying around the home but a cinematic “library” ready for any mood or occasion. Criterion clearly puts an enormous amount of thought and effort into its releases from top to bottom. The particular films chosen are important but so are the supplements which accompany them and the overall presentation of each edition. It’s often the cover art which gives us the initial impression of a Criterion release. Unlike Warner Bros. and Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Series, both of which typically try to use original poster art or some variation of such, Criterion tends to create new designs as part of tying the specific release with the film (though some of my favorite Criterion covers do derive from the film’s poster).

After noticing yesterday that a truly lackluster cover for the forthcoming release of Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale had been abandoned for a far more pleasing alternative, I started to think about which Criterion covers were my favorites. My preference seems to be for the drawn ones rather than covers using film stills. I think I also preferred Criterion’s artwork prior to the rebranding two years ago. Regardless, narrowing it down to just 12 covers wasn’t as easy as I’d expected and I had to leave out some like Diabolique, Charade and The Red Shoes which are early, simple designs but nonetheless perfect in my eyes. The sepia-toned still of Jean Gabin on La Bête Humaine and the covers for Jules Dassin’s Thieves’ Highway and Night and the City also fell just short.

Here are the dozen I chose as favorites, in spine-numbered order because when you’re talking Criterion that’s how it’s done:

M (Lang, 1931)

Mon Oncle (Tati, 1958)

Sullivan's Travels (Sturges, 1942)

 

In the Mood for Love (Wong, 2000)

The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson, 2001)

Le Corbeau (Clouzot, 1943)

Eyes Without a Face (Franju, 1960)

Divorce Italian Style (Germi, 1961)

Heaven Can Wait (Lubitsch, 1943)

Boudu Saved from Drowning (Renoir, 1932)

Harakiri (Kobayashi, 1962)

The Furies (Mann, 1950)