STATE OF SIEGE (CRITERION)

Costa-Gavras puts the United States' involvement in South American politics under the microscope in this arresting thriller. An urban guerilla group, outraged at the counterinsurgency and torture training clandestinely organized by the CIA in their country (unnamed in the film), abducts a U.S. official (Yves Montand) to bargain for the release of political prisoners; soon the kidnapping becomes a media sensation, leading to violence. Cowritten by Franco Solinas (The Battle of Algiers), the electrifying State of Siege piercingly critiques the American government for helping institute foreign dictatorships while also asking difficult questions about the efficacy of radical violent acts to oppose such regimes.

Special Features:

• New 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Costa-Gavras, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New conversation between Costa-Gavras and film scholar Peter Cowie
• NBC News excerpts from 1970 on the kidnapping of Dan Mitrione, on which the film is based
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by journalist Mark Danner