“What a thrill to be here in the Criterion … cupboard,” said Jude Law as he cheekily hinted at his British sensibilities within what is actually — quite famously — known as the Criterion Closet. Though America has many faults, this is not one of them and we will forgive Law this grievous correction.
Taking a stop in the closet amidst promoting his period cop thriller “The Order” and the upcoming Disney+ series “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” Law took home six films that reflect his broad appreciation for cinema and all it can offer. After pulling off Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” and discussing its “stillness” alongside another one of the filmmaker’s epic works, “Andrei Rubelev,” the actor selected a classic French film with connections to one of his earliest roles.
“So this holds a very special place in my heart. ‘Purple Noon’ or ‘Plein Soleil,’ which was the first realization of ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ or Patricia Highsmith’s ‘Talented Mr. Ripley.’ And, of course, I was recommended this by Anthony Minghella,” said Law. “A little like the series that’s on at the moment, ‘Ripley,’ it demonstrates how this incredible character from this book can be interpreted in so many different ways because it’s very different to ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ that I made with Minghella. If anything to choose Delon to play Ripley himself. And they don’t change it from the book that he’s a painter. In the film I did, we made him a musician. It’s got lots of twists and turns. The same color, blue, in the sea as our one. And not quite as dark as the ‘Ripley’ on TV at the moment.”
Grabbing another French film, Law chose Henri-Georges Clouzot’s highly influential “The Wages of Fear” next. He said of it, “This film is about men in desperate, desperate, situations who will do anything for money, anything to survive. And they go on the darkest, most dangerous journey. And it’s — it’s just brilliant. It’s moving and incredibly shot.”
After extolling the qualities of Stephen Frears’ London-set “My Beautiful Laundrette” and the Bill Forsyth Scottish dramedy “Local Hero,” Law chose yet another British export, the neo-noir crime film “Mona Lisa.”
“This was a film that introduced me to Bob Hoskins, who I luckily got to work with,” Law said. “Neil Jordan’s ‘Mona Lisa,’ which, again, at a very formative time in my life showed a side of London that I sort of saw and felt around me, but hadn’t necessarily seen on film. And Bob Hoskins demonstrating his brilliant ability to be incredibly tough, plausibly real, of-the-street, and yet with this incredible heart of gold, which was kind of Bob himself. And Cathy Tyson gives a great performance in that. And there’s a great supporting role by Michael Caine who, no surprise, steals every scene he’s in. But it’s Bob’s film.”
Watch Law’s full Criterion Closet video below.
