Netflix seems to finally be getting with the program and is about to expand its cinematic palette to include actual legitimate old-school arthouse films. The streaming giant has announced a new partnership with M2K Films which means classics from the likes of Charlie Chaplin, François Truffaut, Jacques Demy, Alain Resnais, and Krzysztof Kieślowski will finally be streaming on the platform very soon.
Netflix has been given a list of 50 movies from the MK2 Films catalog which will be streamed and spread out throughout 2020, beginning April 24 with the launch of 12 Truffaut classics: “Bed and Board,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “Confidentially Yours,” “Jules and Jim,” “Love on the Run,” “Shoot the Piano Player,” “Stolen Kisses,” “The 400 Blows,” “The Last Metro,” “The Soft Skin,” “The Woman Next Door,” and “Two English Girls.” [via IndieWire]
Other MK2 titles Netflix will be streaming this year include films directed by Steve McQueen, Xavier Dolan, Michael Haneke, Emir Kusturica, and David Lynch.
This is clearly a way for the streaming giant to start competing with more specialized auteur-driven platforms such as The Criterion Channel (which I have been addicted to ever since this lockdown started). They still have a long way to go to quench my arthouse appetite, but this is most definitely a good start and, hopefully, a sign of things to come.