2012 MUBI World Cup Voting, Match #18: Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) vs. Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet)
I plan to vote in this one. I saw The Pope’s Toilet and though it was fairly good.
I just realized there is no universal streaming link up for it, so I’ll try to get one up by tomorrow. It can also be seen on Netflix streaming if you live in the USA and have it.
Janitor of Lunacy has passed on to me a review of Peach Thief in Socialist Film Review, here for anyone interested
must get round to seeing The Pope’s Toilet..
I just posted a new link on the blog for The Pope’s Toilet if you still want to see it.
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0
black & white, 60’s, eastern european. facial hair. foregone conclusion.
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 0 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 1
because i was in the laughing mood, though The Pope’s Toilet is equally as tragic as it is comical. I like that.
I don’t know if it’s the world cup that’s disillusioning me, but The Peach Thief just fell into a blur of the same old thing as many other films i’ve seen from this region. There was nothing that really stood out to me in this film, but i also probably didn’t give it the exact attention it deserved. i don’t think i’ll be revisiting it though.
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0
The Pope’s Toilet had a very good concept that just didn’t touch me as much as it should have. I generally dislike the fervent jump cut style editing of this film that I usually associate with modern commercial action films and television that I usually hate. The Peach Thief’s frivolous love story and its b&w photography ended up getting my vote(rather reluctantly) in the end.
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 0 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 1
Thanks to the new uploaded link to The Pope’s Toilet, I was able to vote in this match.
The Peach Thief was a fine film, but seemed a rather conventional product of its time. The story of the cold, older husband; the trapped, younger wife; the ardent, attentive lover that comes to release her – all felt a bit too familiar. Of course, we know it will all come to a bad end from the first frames. A film that offers little hope of any possibility of eventually ending the cycle of war, as we can see the next war looming in the shadows of the war coming to an end in the film. Well-acted and filmed.
The Pope’s Toilet uses a gentle humor to convey a strong political message re how poverty can strip away a man’s dignity and self-respect. Nothing can save our lowly smuggler, not even the Pope’s visit, or the installation of the new toilet designed to capitalize on it. The film pulls no punches in showing that nothing is going to ‘save’ the village or its people either, from its continuing cycle of poverty. Only the clear vision of the young girl and her dream of bettering herself offers some hope. The scene where the father smashes a bottle against the tv in the bar showing the Pope’s visit is quite revealing of the dark heart at the center of this social satire. Some great faces from what I’m guessing is mainly a group of amateur actors.
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 — Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0
I like the satire as approach to sad reality and The Pope’s Toilet is a good example. A good tragicomedy, highly recommended.
But The Peach Thief is a favorite of mine. A not very common humanist film from Eastern Europe, it could join Konrad Wolf’s Stars (similar plot set in WWII) in an excellent double bill.
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 0 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 1
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 0 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 1
7-4 Bulgaria
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 0 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 1
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 0 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 1
The people and places in The Peach Thief reminded me for some reason of Lust for Gold. I wonder if this is just because of the proximity of Romania and Bulgaria geographically. These are the kinds of things I find interesting when seeing the world cup. How some places in the world seem similar or different.
While The Peach Thief is probably a better construction of a script than The Pope’s Toilet, I agree with Brentos and Oxymoron that the story itself seems too familiar without anything to make it stand out. It’s a tight film which in this case I do not necessarily think is to it’s advantage. It seems like the kind of film that could have benefited from another half hour of exploration into the pasts of the main characters.
Also, thanks to Kenji for the link to the review.
The Pope’s Toilet had some acting and filming that seemed a bit amateurish, but it had good sincerity, sense of place, and sense of humor. And there were some impressive compositions at times. And I liked the few moments of documentary peppered in once or twice. Not too much, but it made an impact.
What did the Pope even say when he came to town. Everyone was too busy hoping to make money off of his arrival, not that I’m expecting he said or did anything that could have helped them if they’d listened instead, but the film seemed like a misdirection of efforts and ideas from every direction. Not that I have an easy solution about what the right direction would have been instead.
I do think I prefer The Pope’s Toilet overall, but even if I hadn’t I would have been tempted to vote for it for this fanastic line alone:
“The events of this story are in essence true and it’s only by chance they didn’t occur the way they are told here”
brentos and oxy pretty much summed up my feelings too which is why I didn’t warble on repeating same:)
The Peach Thief reminded me for some reason of Lust for Gold
also thought of this
this is getting close!@
VOTING IS CLOSED
Final tally:
Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) – 7
Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) – 6
The winner is:
BULGARIA!
Unity makes strength!!
Dear Motherland,
you are heaven on earth,
your beauty, your loveliness,
ah, they are boundless.
Risselada
This topic is part of the 2012 MUBI World Cup. If you have not already done so, please read the first post at the topic for an introduction to and rules about this year’s World Cup:
http://mubi.com/topics/2012-mubi-world-cup-introduction-submit-your-list-of-films
Bulgaria
Original title: Kradetzat na praskovi
Directed by: Vulo Radev
Approximate runtime: 84 min
Submitted by: Angel, Kenji, Stavrogin
Uruguay
Original title: El baño del Papa
Directed by: César Charlone, Enrique Fernández
Approximate runtime: 90 min
Submitted by: kuxa kanema, Stavrogin
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The purpose of this topic is to cast votes in the matchup listed above and also to be a forum for discussing the films in the match.
Anyone who has seen both of the films listed above may vote in this match. You must vote for whichever of the two films you personally like better. In order to vote you must post a reply to this topic containing one of the following sequences:
If you are voting for The Peach Thief: “Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 1 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 0”
If you are voting for The Pope’s Toilet: “Bulgaria (The Peach Thief) 0 – Uruguay (The Pope’s Toilet) 1”
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This match will end on Saturday, April 21 at 10:00 PM GMT. No votes attempted to be cast after that time will be counted. Shortly after the match ends the votes will be tallied and a winner of the match will be declared. If the films both receive the same number of votes, the match will be considered a tie.
The percentage of votes each film receives in a match will have an effect on whether or not the corresponding country will participate in the final round of the World Cup. Thus even if the film you vote for loses in this match, your vote will still be important.
The results of the matches as well as the schedule for future matches can be found here:
http://mubi.com/lists/2012-mubi-world-cup
If you would like to participate but are unable to find sources to watch these films, please send me a personal message so that I can invite you to the private website featuring internet links to view the films.