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In a Western film market saturated with Übermensch police propaganda in the form of superhero movies, and an art cinema stuffed with placifying bourgeois masturbation, it's easy to forget the revolutionary power cinema can hold. And yet images continue to cut through state disinformation—whether it's the proliferation of videos on TikTok depicting the war crimes being committed in Gaza, or the utility of social media during the Arab Spring protests between 2010-2012.

“If you can’t bear pain, you don’t live up to your reputation.”

That line, spoken in Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-li’s The Boxer from Shantung (1972), speaks to a common sentiment found in the many kung fu films produced in Hong Kong under the Shaw Brothers. For the humble martial artist, the body isn’t only the means by which they perform their craft, or enact violent comeuppance on local goons, it’s a physical manifestation of their reputation in the wider community.

Each new crop of Criterion releases seems to drum up the same discourse, whether it's the perceived unworthiness of a fresh-from-the-theatres release, or excessive groaning at the inclusion of a classic that's rarely been out of print—so much so, in fact, that it somewhat counterintuitively drowns out releases like Dogfight (1991), a sleeper hit that should have long since gotten its due.

What is a courtroom if not a staging ground for storytelling? Every aspect of a trial, be it criminal or corporate, hinges on two opposing sides laying claim to a particular version of events, each new witness and piece of evidence placed in a neat order to lead their audience, the jury, to a set conclusion. In the end, the victor will be the side that spins the most convincing yarn, regardless of any overriding “truth” of the matter. But what pushes a juror to ignore the ambiguities such duelling perspectives leave behind and choose one narrative over another? In French director Justine Triet’s latest film, the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall (2023), it’s not only the lawyers that are leading the witness but the formalised aspects of filmmaking craft.