Best History Movies on Criterion Channel in Canada

1. 1
   Harakiri 1962

   Directed by Masaki Kobayashi · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   8.3

   8.5 · 1.3K votes
2. 2
   Night and Fog 1956

   Directed by Alain Resnais · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   8.0

   8.3 · 594 votes
3. 3
   The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer 1961

   Directed by Masaki Kobayashi · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   7.8

   8.4 · 233 votes
4. 4
   Throne of Blood 1957

   Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   7.8

   7.9 · 1K votes
5. 5
   The Human Condition I: No Greater Love 1959

   Directed by Masaki Kobayashi · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   7.7

   8.2 · 306 votes
6. 6
   The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity 1959

   Directed by Masaki Kobayashi · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   7.7

   8.2 · 242 votes
7. 7
   The Virgin Spring 1960

   Directed by Ingmar Bergman · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   7.7

   7.8 · 696 votes
8. 8
   Pather Panchali 1955

   Directed by Satyajit Ray · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Plex
   7.6

   7.8 · 517 votes
9. 9
   The Last Emperor 1987

   Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   7.5

   7.6 · 2K votes
10. 10
    Day of Wrath 1943

    Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Plex
    7.5

    8.0 · 260 votes
11. 11
    Battleship Potemkin 1925

    Directed by Sergei Eisenstein · Streaming on JustWatch TV Free, Criterion Channel, FlixFling
    7.5

    7.6 · 1.4K votes
12. 12
    Marketa Lazarová 1967

    Directed by František Vláčil · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    7.2

    7.8 · 167 votes
13. 13
    The Bridge 1959

    Directed by Bernhard Wicki · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    7.1

    7.6 · 206 votes
14. 14
    Marighella 2021

    Directed by Wagner Moura · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    7.0

    7.6 · 138 votes
15. 15
    Babette's Feast 1987

    Directed by Gabriel Axel · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    7.0

    7.2 · 460 votes
16. 16
    Chimes at Midnight 1965

    Directed by Orson Welles · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.9

    7.2 · 256 votes
17. 17
    Story of Women 1988

    Directed by Claude Chabrol · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.9

    7.3 · 192 votes
18. 18
    The Trial of Joan of Arc 1963

    Directed by Robert Bresson · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.8

    7.2 · 157 votes
19. 19
    Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island 1956

    Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Plex
    6.8

    7.2 · 144 votes
20. 20
    Breaker Morant 1980

    Directed by Bruce Beresford · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi TV, Criterion Channel
    6.7

    7.1 · 164 votes
21. 21
    Humanity and Paper Balloons 1937

    Directed by Sadao Yamanaka · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Fandor, Plex
    6.7

    7.8 · 55 votes
22. 22
    The Four Feathers 1939

    Directed by Zoltan Korda · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Artiflix
    6.6

    7.1 · 108 votes
23. 23
    Danton 1983

    Directed by Andrzej Wajda · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.6

    6.9 · 182 votes
24. 24
    Gate of Hell 1953

    Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.6

    7.1 · 102 votes
25. 25
    The Flowers of St. Francis 1950

    Directed by Roberto Rossellini · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.6

    7.1 · 101 votes
26. 26
    That Hamilton Woman 1941

    Directed by Alexander Korda · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.6

    7.1 · 96 votes
27. 27
    A Man There Was 1917

    Directed by Victor Sjöström · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Filmtap
    6.6

    7.1 · 87 votes
28. 28
    The Judge and the Assassin 1976

    Directed by Bertrand Tavernier · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.6

    6.9 · 149 votes
29. 29
    Carnival in Flanders 1935

    Directed by Jacques Feyder · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.5

    7.3 · 53 votes
30. 30
    Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words 2015

    Directed by Stig Björkman · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.5

    7.1 · 70 votes
31. 31
    Basquiat 1996

    Directed by Julian Schnabel · Streaming on Crave, Criterion Channel, Plex
    6.5

    6.6 · 328 votes
32. 32
    Forever a Woman 1955

    Directed by Kinuyo Tanaka · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.5

    7.5 · 37 votes
33. 33
    The Taking of Power by Louis XIV 1966

    Directed by Roberto Rossellini · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.5

    7.1 · 54 votes
34. 34
    That Night of Varennes 1982

    Directed by Ettore Scola · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    6.9 · 75 votes
35. 35
    Silence 1971

    Directed by Masahiro Shinoda · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    7.2 · 40 votes
36. 36
    Zatoichi on the Road 1963

    Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    6.9 · 64 votes
37. 37
    The Valley of the Bees 1968

    Directed by František Vláčil · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    7.0 · 52 votes
38. 38
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail 1952

    Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Plex, Cineverse
    6.4

    6.7 · 104 votes
39. 39
    The War Room 1993

    Directed by Chris Hegedus · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    6.8 · 72 votes
40. 40
    Socrates 1970

    Directed by Roberto Rossellini · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    7.1 · 41 votes
41. 41
    Sandakan No. 8 1974

    Directed by Kei Kumai · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    7.8 · 20 votes
42. 42
    Saladin 1963

    Directed by Youssef Chahine · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.4

    7.1 · 37 votes
43. 43
    Princess Yang Kwei-fei 1955

    Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Plex
    6.3

    6.7 · 70 votes
44. 44
    Here Is Your Life 1966

    Directed by Jan Troell · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.3

    7.1 · 30 votes
45. 45
    Himiko 1974

    Directed by Masahiro Shinoda · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.3

    6.9 · 35 votes
46. 46
    Joan the Maid I: The Battles 1994

    Directed by Jacques Rivette · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.3

    7.0 · 30 votes
47. 47
    Rembrandt 1936

    Directed by Alexander Korda · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Artiflix
    6.3

    6.8 · 38 votes
48. 48
    Paragraph 175 2000

    Directed by Rob Epstein · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.3

    6.7 · 44 votes
49. 49
    The River Fuefuki 1960

    Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.3

    7.7 · 13 votes
50. 50
    The Private Life of Henry VIII 1933

    Directed by Alexander Korda · Streaming on Hoopla, Tubi TV, Criterion Channel
    6.3

    6.4 · 100 votes

Smart score = (votes × rating + 82 × 6.03) ÷ (votes + 82): the TMDB rating, pulled toward the catalog average as if every film had 82 extra average votes. Streaming data by JustWatch.

1. 1
   Blaise Pascal 1972

   Directed by Roberto Rossellini · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.2

   7.5 · 14 votes
2. 2
   Joan the Maid II: The Prisons 1994

   Directed by Jacques Rivette · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.2

   7.0 · 23 votes
3. 3
   Love Under the Crucifix 1962

   Directed by Kinuyo Tanaka · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.2

   7.1 · 17 votes
4. 4
   Destiny's Son 1962

   Directed by Kenji Misumi · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.2

   6.8 · 25 votes
5. 5
   Effi Briest 1974

   Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.3

   6.6 · 52 votes
6. 6
   Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt 1989

   Directed by Rob Epstein · Streaming on Hoopla, Criterion Channel
   6.2

   6.9 · 19 votes
7. 7
   Adalen 31 1969

   Directed by Bo Widerberg · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.2

   6.6 · 49 votes
8. 8
   The Dumb Girl of Portici 1916

   Directed by Lois Weber · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.2

   7.0 · 13 votes
9. 9
   Rosa Luxemburg 1986

   Directed by Margarethe von Trotta · Streaming on Criterion Channel
   6.2

   6.5 · 59 votes
10. 10
    Rabindranath Tagore 1961

    Directed by Satyajit Ray · Streaming on Criterion Channel
    6.1

    7.0 · 11 votes