Before we dive into Winona Ryder‘s picks from the Criterion Closet, we have some breaking news that takes precedent. In a stunning reveal this week, a poster on Reddit shared a photo with the Criterion community showing that their famous closet wasn’t an actual closet, but rather a set placed within a van.
A spokesperson for Criterion responded to IndieWire’s request for comment by confirming that its videos are actually filmed in a closet in Criterion’s office in New York City. Nevertheless, this photo may imply Criterion has plans of taking their closet on the road and social media is abuzz with intrigue.
Iconic actress Ryder stopped by the closet ahead of her film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” premiering at Venice Film Festival and spoke of the space as if it were a holy sanctuary.
“I am so lucky to be in the Criterion Closet,” Ryder said. “I basically feel like I’m at church — my church — these are like my scriptures, the scriptures I follow.”
After choosing two drastically different coming-of-age films — Louis Malle’s WWII drama “Au Revoir Les Enfants” and Gordon Parks’ semi-autobiographical tale “The Learning Tree” — Ryder picked up the Five Films by John Cassavetes boxset, praising his and wife Gena Rowlands‘ collaborative efforts and reflecting on how they influenced her at a young age. The video was shot prior to Rowlands’ death.
“Gena Rowlands is, I think, the greatest actress who I’ve ever seen,” Ryder, who co-starred with Rowlands in “Night on Earth,” said. “Gena had a huge impact on me doing what I’m doing because my mother was a projectionist and when I was very very young, she had some connection and I got to watch Cassavetes films at a really young age and I didn’t really understand what was going on cause I was too young, but I remember watching Gena and I just wanted to do what she was doing.”
Following Rowlands’ death, speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Ryder said, “You just have to not compromise and I want to live in that world where artists stay really true. I feel like that’s what John and Gena did.”
In addition to showing love for Cassavetes and Rowlands, Ryder also made sure to shout out her other “Night on Earth” collaborator, Jim Jarmusch.
Pulling “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” and “Down by Law,” she said of Jarmusch, “I love every single movie he’s made. Every frame of every movie he’s made. He’s actually one of my favorite people. Jim has this ability to get subtlety that really works in all of his films, but I really do love this one.”
For her final choices, Ryder took home John Sayles’ historical drama “Matewan” and Hirokazu Koreeda’s “After Life,” which she described as a “masterpiece.” The film is a post-death fantasy that revolves around choosing the memory you want to exist in forever, an exercise Ryder has engaged in while still very much alive.
“I never told anyone this, but the two most comforting sounds growing up for me was my dad’s typewriter and my mom’s footsteps,” she said. “That would be what I would pick to live forever because that’s when I felt their presence and they’re sort of my favorite people in the world.”
Watch Ryder’s full Criterion Closet video (filmed in an actual closet) below.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in theaters on September 6.
