My favorite color palettes from classic Criterion Collection films

I am obsessed with The Criterion Collection—and it’s streaming service The Criterion Channel.

It’s one of the only streaming services I’m genuinely happy to pay for, because I know my money is going to a team of passionate curators who keep the history of filmmaking alive—and support new independent cinema in the process.

(This is not an ad—I am genuinely a fan. I rave about Criterion to anyone who will listen in my real life!)

From international films to Hollywood classics and contemporary independents, Criterion is impeccably curated with heartbreaking, hilarious, beautiful, and bold films.

I especially love the breadth of international films they feature—there’s no better way to expand your mind than stepping into somebody else’s imagination from halfway across the world.

As a designer, Criterion is really the only streamer I can rely on when I’m feeling dull and in need of some gorgeous visual inspiration. Here are a few of my all-time favorites.

A few of my favorite Criterion films

Solaris (1972)

The first Criterion Collection film I ever watched was the 1972 film Solaris. It opens with ethereal, eerie, late summer landscape shots in Russia, and continues to unfold with mind-blowing 70s design that reaches all the way to outerspace.

I love how the color palettes maintain earthy tones, even as our protagonist arrives at a space station circling a mysterious alien world.

The planet they’re visiting has a strange power that brings dead people back to life. The earth-y color palettes that exist on Earth and the alien world tell us a visual story that mirrors the story itself: that there’s no escaping grief, no matter how far you go in space.

Black Narcissus (1947)

Black Narcissus is a film about a group of nuns who arrive at an abandoned mountaintop palace somewhere in the Himalayas, with plans to start a school and a hospital for the locals.

However, the unrelenting wind, harsh climate, and high elevation slowly turn the nuns mad—as beautifully illustrated throughout the film as the Technicolor color palette morphs from icy cold blues to warm reds.

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

The Thief of Bagdad is a predecessor to Disney’s Aladdin—both inspired by the book of middle eastern folktales One Thousand and One Nights.

I can only describe the Technicolor color palette in The Thief of Bagdad as incredibly delicious. It’s filled with beautifully saturated colors—blues, pinks, reds, greens—that all pop out at you as if you could taste them.

The Seventh Seal (1957)

The Seventh Seal follows a Swedish soldier who has just returned from the Crusades, only to find his country has been plagued with the Black Death. The solider meets Death on the beach, and challenges him to a game of chess for his life.

The film’s black and white color palette—potentially alluding to the black and white nature of life and death—is hauntingly rich with bold contrast and rhythmic textures.

Do you have a favorite Criterion Channel film? Share yours below!