2012 MUBI World Cup Voting, Match #27: Ireland (Six Shooter) vs. Venezuela (Araya)
Ireland (Six Shooter) 1 – Venezuela (Araya) 0
This was a very difficult match for me because Araya was an extraordinary film, and Six Shooter is very close me. However, even after watching both (yes i submitted Six Shooter) i still have to vote for the film i submitted. There is a beautiful subtly to this film underneath the pitch-black comedy, and embodied in the 27 minutes of this film are the place and culture of Ireland in the naughts. Through the dialogue and expressive acting is reflected the economic trials occurring in Ireland, the tragedy involved with the culture, and the stubbornness held by the Irish (specifically in southern Ireland), as represented in the character played by Rúaidhrí Conroy. Despite the fame of Gleeson and the fact this film won the 2006 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film, Six Shooter has not had the exposure that a film of this caliber deserves.
Gleeson leads the film, but Conroy’s character is, in my opinion the true character.
There are no superfluous characters, even down to the trolly boy; all the character serve a purpose to the plot, or the themes. The themes of death are blatant throughout, but it’s the relationships and personal bondings that the characters go through because of death that is truly important.
Six Shooter is one of the most complete and perfectly made short films on the last decade. This cup was made to exhibit films from across the world that are not only cinematically brilliant and beautiful, but also encapsulate the culture of the country they are representing, and Six Shooter does both of these things with a brilliant finesse, especially for a directorial debut from the brilliant screenwriter Martin McDonagh, who would go on to make is feature-length debut with extremely well received In Bruges.
I loved Araya, and while Six Shooter is a short, it seems to me personally to be the better, more complete film of the two, and truly exposes a culture that is often times romanticized, idealized, or mocked in a completely honest way.
“Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1”
Ireland (Six Shooter) 1 – Venezuela (Araya) 0
Araya – This is a prime example of a misdirected venture in my opinion. The filmmaker isn’t sure if she want’s to fetishize poverty and hardship(ala Naked Island) to make an artistic statement or she want’s to make an important social commentary on the plight of these people. Looking at the film it appears there is a bit of both which is clearly a morbid approach. The reduntant and often confusing voice-over especially adds to the woe’s and I feel that I might have appreciated this much more as a silent film.
Six Shooter – I like In Bruges much more than this short film venture by McDonagh. There were some good parts like the cow joke and I feel the acting was also adequate. I could have done without the dramatic slow motion action sequence but then I wasn’t the director after all. Could have been better, but as it stands it’s a decent effort.
Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1
I’m a bit confused by the idea of Araya fetishizing poverty and hardship. I can potentially see the fetishization of the workers themselves, though I don’t know that I agree with that either. The film seems to apply the idea of testimonial literature to film in this case, giving voice to a community or experience that is otherwise unknown. The personalization of the characters is notable, in that the narrator (or Benecerraf though the script) gives them names and informs us of their jobs and way of life. This follows the testimonial form, with a figure in a more privileged position relates the life or story of someone not in that same position. I would argue in this case that the presence of Benacerraf in Araya already mediates the story of the people living there, and it would be better to let them recount what they wish either to the camera or through their actions alone, but there is no question that the community is known only through this film. The positioning of the land is certainly worth mention as well, as it’s worth noticing that fully five minutes elapse at the beginning of the film before we actually see people in the area, and the community exists entirely through their link to the land.
I hated Six Shooter. To mimic Ebert, I hated, hated, hated, hated, hated it. It was to the point by the end that I halfway wished I hadn’t even watched it. It felt like McDonagh wanted to make the audience uncomfortable, and the humor derived entirely from that discomfort. Strange, since I enjoyed In Bruges quite a bit.
Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1
Six Shooter definitely packed some punch into its short duration. Gleeson and Conroy have to carry the thrust and tension of the story, as Conroy’s grating, offensive personality is somehow balanced by Gleeson’s tolerance toward his behavior. One can see in a nutshell some of the same dark, dark humor on display in McDonagh’s In Bruges – also starring Gleeson in a similarly conflicted, but empathetic role. When the film was dealing with the relationships between the couple and the two men, I thought it accomplished a lot in its condensed format. The train car becomes a sort of emotional No Exit for the four – each condemned to deal with pain and loss in their own way. Quite a heavy piece to get across in 27 short minutes.
However, the in-train shootout scene just felt a bit too over-the-top to maintain the realistic atmosphere the film established. The film then lost some of its emotional intensity and brutal realism in this scene, as it just felt a bit too contrived. The exploding cow was kind of a bit heavy-handed in its dark symbolism, too, just seeming gross and misplaced black humor. With In Bruges, McDonagh was able to flesh-out his characters, making them more three-dimensional. Depressing as this film was, even nihilistic, we can see how McDonagh is adept at capturing the sadness and terrible isolation in his characters. Good write-up on the film Brentos. Thanks for the submission, but I may need to grab a loaded six shooter myself if I see too many more of these bleak films.
Araya was down right uplifting after this. Beautifully filmed, it was quite elegiac in tone, with some fine nature photography. I first enjoyed the poetic voice-over, but then found it got a bit too repetitive and unnecessary. Yes, we get it – the sea provides them everything, is the source of everything. Enough already! A bit of romanticizing of the harsh lives, but some nice dramatizations, like the fish seller and the girl collecting sea shells. The film excelled in capturing the feel of a life even then fast disappearing with the advent of machinery to replace muscle and men. I always admire those women who can balance large items on their heads, like those carrying the buckets to and from the water truck. How do they do that???
Still, this was a close vote for me. It could go either way, but I’m trying to take a slightly less nihilistic view of the world today, hiding the six shooter, and voting for the sand, salt, and sun.
Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1
Ireland (Six Shooter) 1 – Venezuela (Araya) 0
Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1
3-5 Venezuela
i would appreciate at least one of the four submitters of ARAYA to do a write-up on why they chose this film, and why they are (most likely) voting for it over SIX SHOOTER
Ireland (Six Shooter) – (1) vs. Venezuela (Araya) 0
Araya sadly turned out to be a disappointment after anticipating it for this Cup, and that a lot of it can be blamed on the overbearing narration is even more saddening. This Cup, while showing me some great films and even masterpieces, has also shown me that documentaries are possibly the weakest area of cinema as, taking into account personal tastes, it is film making which has to grapple between being cinema and documents but also, in the case of Araya, where even the smallest technical fault can completely undermine the whole piece. The narration killed the engagement I had with the film.
As for Six Shooter, it’s not the best film in the Cup, but I appreciate its submission. A solid short which bravely skirts between the morbid and the humorous in a way that would be divisive for people, and it’s refreshing to have more comedies as I feel fatigue from all the serious and dramatic works in the matches. This is probably the first time in a MUBI Cup too where an exploding animal has appeared in a film, unless of course someone can correct me on that fact.
a few critters exploded in this:
I was thinking more real life animals like cows, but I guess exploding giant grub beasts also qualify.
ok, enjoyed the irish film, with accents much less troublesome than those in the jamaican film from the last match. love brendan gleeson and quite a bitter little story too. the documentary from venezuela is visually stunning, but as many have mentioned, the voice over becomes damned annoying. also i kind of get the complaints about fetishizing poverty; the people are perhaps a little dehumanized by the beautiful photography…
but isn’t this something of an artistic tradition? 
ireland (six shooter) 0 – venezuela (araya) 1
4-6 Venezuela
Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1
I’m with Brian Davisson on both films. I felt strongly for the workers, without feeling they were fetishised. Yes, the bodies look fit, lean, well muscled in the sun, but more than offset by the hardship, the drudgery, the heat, the overwhelming dryness and salt, the inescapable routine- inescapable it seems, though there’s a question mark over the future and the whole inter-dependent community and how it will survive, with the arrival of new machine. It made me very relieved not to have to live such a life, impressed with the emotional strength and integrity, and it also raised thoughts of the whole economic system using people as what amounts to slave labour- and look at so many now in the wasteful West, the obesity, maybe a very different form of oppression by the likes of MacDonalds, fast food giants, the merciless capitalist machine etc. I also disliked Six Shooter .. while I’m interested in the alternative views, the praise given, the apparent wider social nods, so can only assume one person’s daring and involving comment is another’s repulsive hammering by a blunt and screeching instrument.
Ireland (Six Shooter) 1 – Venezuela (Araya) 0
basically, i have to choose between fetishized tarantinoesque crap talk, blood and brashness + the self-restrained good manners and helplessness of some grief-struck folks vs. fetishized poverty. i am all with poverty. i don’t hink benacerraf is more fetishizing than , say, eisenstein in october. if you judge the consequences of watching those films, i really doubt that whoever watched eisenstein got out in the streets the next day trying to topple down the government, compared to those who watched araya and supposedly stayed at home, simply empathizing and resigning to a harsh and painful order of things. both end in sterility. the difference is in brain chemistry that generates different emotions and reactions. telling a story and presenting a state of things does not mean justifying it, finding excuses or stating its inevitability. it says what is, not what should/could be. the eye of the camera is not so artificially selective as to choose only the compensating aspects of that life. poverty is inside that marvellous landscape, but the nature around it is not compensatory, the beauty of the film does not have this tendentious goal. well, i think so. it dignifies people, but does not make poverty more justifiable, just like the flight of seagulls is not a compensation for sore ankles. stating that poverty is fetishized is comparable to saying that poverty has no dignity of its own, that it has to be exhibitionistic, shameless in exposing its sorrows and eyes in tears of eternal victims. i mean, why deny the poor their only pride in a revoltingly degrading life: that of refusing our pity? solidarity is not based on that alone.
Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1
sorry for the spoilers
I do not expect to be around at the time of the close of this match. Can someone close it for me?
THANK YOU!
Despite its beauty I didn’t feel Araya held much integrity feeling wholly concerned with its aesthete and “how I want this to be” instead of how it might really have been…the human side of the people was not shared, nothing was spontaneous, I know that is no secret, I just didn’t appreciate it. The stentorious voice over repetitive and robotic to parallel the movements of the people reminding us endlessly of the implacable sun and barren nature of the land was just another conceit of the director, where was the spirit of the people of Araya. MIA. And it would have been there, there was a strong feeling of communal togetherness, there would have been weddings, drinking, spirituality, dancing, they have kids don’t they? everyone finds time for this stuff no matter what – at least we got to visit the cemetary which I’d been curious about. So yes, it was very beautiful, stunningly so at times, but a poetic record of the labours of the Arayan people enslaved by the white gold; the exploitative implication of the film kept me not only distanced from it but a little disdainful of it.
I also thought of the capitalist system and the daily march from mortgage to computer and home again (often to another computer), millions grumpily plugged into their “i-whatevers” so many on anti depressants/anti anxiety medication, no less enslaved. Interesting that no one in Araya actually looked miserable, but then again nothing of the internal world is revealed, we are told they are having a hellish time and are in abject misery because of their enslavement, and it must be true because it is what the big voice in the sky is telling us, but they looked purposeful, going about their labours with verve in brotherhood and resolve. There was a wisp of romance at one point, and the mention of having a coffee…I’d like to have seen a bit more of that but then that would have been untidy and outside the unified aesthetic of the film so wasn’t going to happen.
McDonagh produces deliberate self conscious work, In Bruges carried it because of its many charms and distractions but Six Shooter was very nearly derailed for me by it. Example…couldn’t we just have been allowed to sit with dead David, the discharged gun and the black comedy of the whole ghastly thing of life passing and the many circumstances of how it does….without him stating (overstating) the bleedin obvious in a reduction of the moment. But am voting for it as I disliked it the least of the two.
Ireland (Six Shooter) 1 – Venezuela (Araya) 0
VOTING IS CLOSED
Final tally:
Venezuela (Araya) – 8
Ireland (Six Shooter) – 6
The winner is:
VENEZUELA!
Glory to the brave people
who shook off the yoke,
the Law respecting
virtue and honour.
Down with the chains!
Cried out the Lord;
and the poor man in his hovel
for freedom implored.
Upon this holy name trembled in fear
the vile selfishness
that had once triumphed.
Let’s cry out aloud
Down with oppression!
Faithful countrymen, your strength
lies in your unity;
and from the heavens the supreme Creator
breathed a sublime spirit
into the nation.
United by bonds
made by heaven,
all America exists as a Nation;
and if tyranny raises its voice,
follow the example
given by Caracas!
Here are some brief thoughts……..
Araya is a beautiful looking documentary and while I do understand complaints of fetishsizing poverty I ultimately cannot agree with this conclusion. It is closely aligned to the neo realist tradition and although it can call itself a documentary Benacerraf has fashioned this film into a docu drama poem. One has to remember that although this film looks like it may have been made many years later, this film was made in 1959 and the narrative is very much of its time. The stunning camerawork is every bit the equal of Bergman and Fischer or Fellini and Martelli or di Venazio….. The look of this film from lowly Venezuela directed by an unknown woman director catapults this work into a film that defines a new form of cinema. The narrative is overbearing and the film has its flaws, but its beauty is there for all to see.
A quote which may clarify a few points…
When it first premiered, ARAYA was compared to Robert Flaherty’s Man of Aran and Luchino Visconti’s La terra trema. But according to the filmmaker, the film was never meant to be a documentary — it was meticulously planned as a tone poem — a composition in which cinematography, music, sound and language combine to create a moving and magical exploration of a desolate place and the remarkable people who lived there. ARAYA is a film of such lasting beauty that Jean Renoir told Benacerraf, “Above all … don’t cut a single image
An interview with Benacerraf…..
BENACERRAF:: Well, it was unexpected. There has been a lot of confusion about the film, because it’s not so easy to classify. It got a lot of attention after the Cannes Film Festival. Well, even before we got the prizes, China and Canada bought it, and then after the prizes most everyone bought it — except for the United States and my own country, Venezuela. They said it was a difficult film — not a documentary, not fiction, but a poetic film — and that’s difficult to classify.
Cannes accepted it in competition at the highest level, with Hiroshima Mon Amour and it didn’t matter if it was fiction or documentary — they said it was a cinematographic revolution, a new way of telling a story that was unique to Venezuela.
MERIN: I’ve seen and heard the film referred to as a documentary, yet you say it’s not. Why is that?
BENACERRAF:: It was not intended to be documentary. It was intended to be a poetic film, a poetic statement or a 24-hour saga about the lives of the three families, and how they relate to the land and each other.
MERIN: Did you work from a script? Did you use actors, or the real people who were living on the peninsula?
BENACERRAF:: I had a meticulously detailed script that was written after a long period of investigation with the people, and then it was shot very fast, very fast — because the salt mines were disappearing and the new way of getting the salt was coming in. We had to shoot very fast to tell the story of the people that I just love. And, I think their story is so interesting.
MERIN: Did you choose the families before or after you wrote the script?
BENACERRAF:: Before. The script was based on the families who actually lived there — but I also composed families and relationships. For example, the grandmother and daughter are not really related to each other, and also the lovers, they really hated each other. So the family structure is the same, but I did do some changing. But they are the people who live there, not actors.
MERIN: I think that’s quite unusual, and it interests me because I’m curious about the definition of documentary cinema and how it differs from fiction filmmaking. I think the borders between the genres are blurry…
BENACERRAF:: Yes…
MERIN: It’s interesting, for example, that fiction features often use archival footage, and documentaries are using more and more non-verite elements such as graphics, infra red cameras, special effects and entering into still photos as though they’re living environments. And, in a way, you could say that all movies are documents — artifacts, if you will — of their times.
BENACERRAF:: Yes, that’s right…
MERIN: And then the director — you — are an artist who takes something you’ve accidentally found in nature or in human society — Araya and the families — and changes it, transforming the accidental encounters into art…
BENACERRAF:: Yes, actually you can see that in my script, too. For example, I wrote it so that there is the tight structure with Take 20 and Take 21, and so forth, and they are very specific with everything in detail, but I also left open spaces so when I found something that happened — those accidents — that I hadn’t expected, I could just insert them, find the right place where they would fit and belong.
MERIN: Did you shoot chronologically?
BENACERRAF:: No, I would have liked that, but I couldn’t because the sun is terrible…it’s very hot and harsh and brutal. You could work from 5 to 7 AM, when the light was right. Then it got brutal and you had to wait until 3 or 4 in the afternoon to shoot, and then shoot until six, and then the sun goes down very fast. People always ask me about the sunset, if I used time lapse because it was so quick. But, no, I didn‘t. That was a normal take, and that‘s how fast it went.
Light in the 24 hours cycle was very important to me. I had to give the editor all the right times of the day for the story of the families, to show what each family does. So, the editor has to switch from family to family to keep the right time in the cycle — and it was very difficult to keep that going.
The sun is a protagonist — it makes everything. You combine it with the wind and water and it makes salt — and it marked what happened day after day, over and over again, for 500 years, every day — until the machines came and everything changed.
That‘s why I had to shoot quickly. I chose to do the 24-hour cycle that happened every day until the day the machine arrives and changes everything. I chose that moment at the end of 500 years, where there is that clash, and you question what’s going to happen. I don‘t know. Will flowers now come through the salt for the dead people of Araya? What is going to happen? There is that question…
MERIN: Yes, and that raises another interesting difference between documentaries and narrative features — that narratives come to a conclusion. Everything is resolved, and the story is over. But, documentaries present an ongoing issue, and suggest that life goes on without resolution. Your film is documentary-like in that it ends with a question…
BENACERRAF:: I couldn’t make a conclusion because I observed that the people who were making the industry didn’t care about the human beings. That meant that from one family that had six or seven family members working, there would now be only one who was needed, only one who had to work, and he just had to push a button. What would happen to the others. I couldn’t give an answer. That would be dishonest.
MERIN: Was it difficult to shoot in such a remote place?
BENACERRAF:: Very difficult.
MERIN: Other than sun, what were the other difficult conditions?
BENACERRAF:: First of all, we had limited time because of the sun. Second we didn’t have very good equipment. It was actually very primitive — an Arriflex with battery and little Nagra, and that was it. When we got to Cannes, nobody could believe we were just two persons shooting this film. It was me and my cameraman, Giuseppe Nisoli. And they would ask how did you make this shot or that shot, and I said it was because I asked one of the industry workers who came there to lend me a crane, and I put a platform on the crane and made shot. It was just a matter of finding solutions. My cameraman was wonderful.
You know, I studied cinema in Paris, and it was very theoretical — they told me don’t do this or that, but I told Guiseppi to do the opposite of the theory. He held the camera, and I was in the salt mine with him — and the salt was burning me. You cant imagine how terrible it was.
MERIN: This is one of just two films you‘ve made…
BENACERRAF:: No. I made a third film — of Picasso. I spent a sort of magic summer with him in the south of France. He saw my first film on the Venezuelan painter, Reverón, and he said he wanted to do a film with me. It was a sort of diary, but he kept the film. Then he moved, changed wives, changed houses. The film was lost. One day it will come out.
But for this film, I was thinking of making a different film, a Venezuelan trilogy where one story is on the coast, on in the Andes and one on the plains. I wanted to work with different Venezuelan writers. But I didn’t want to have a typical coast with palms, and one day I was looking at magazine and saw a photograph and said where is that? Nobody knew this place called Araya. I thought it might be the right place and decided to go there to see it.
It was on the coast, in front of Trinidad and you have to take boat and jeep…and I was astonished by the solitude of place and dignity of people. I started to do research there, and it began to take over…
MERIN: So the film became not three parts, but one. You went to investigate and you were hooked.
BENACERRAF:: Yes. That’s what happened. But I want to ask you, did you meet Alain Renais?
MERIN: Yes…but why do you ask?
BENACERRAF:: Because it’s interesting that we shared the prize and you mention synchronicity. You know, Araya is al fresco, and Hirsoshima Mon Amour takes place indoors…do you find it amazing that we shared the award at Cannes?
MERIN: Well, the films seem to be in contrast — from the outside. But, actually, I think they’re similar in the intimate way in which they’re shot….
BENACERRAF:: You are right. And we had a lot of parallel things going on. We even had the same musician, Guy Bernard. But there’s something more — about my first film. When they wanted to make film about Reverón, they called Alain Renais to do it, but he couldn’t because he was working on another project. And so they chose me to make that film.
I was between my first and second year of cinema studies and they called — I said, “Yes, I know that painter.” He was fascinating to me because he was hallucinogenic. A bit like Gaugin, but he didn’t leave his country, he went deep into it and built a house in a remote place on the coast, and lived there by himself.
I accepted the offer to make the film, and went to his place. We made friends, as I did with the people on Araya, so he was not concerned with the camera. But everything we shot during the day seemed to become diabolic at night — he had giant dolls that hang from the ceiling. At that time, back in ‘50 or ‘51, people thought he was crasy. Three years ago, MOMA made a retrospective of his work. I was looking at the difference between madness and talent, and it was fascinating.
MERIN: You mentioned working with Guy Bernard. What is the importance of music and natural sound for you? Which do you prefer?
BENACERRAF:: Sound is very important to me. And I use everthing — music and natural sound. I mix it. Guy Bernard agreed with me and mixed everything.
Sound must not illustrate the scene. No. I must underscore the image, giving it a poetic quality and depth.
Let me tell you a story — well, two stories — one has to do with Alain Renais.
We were editing [I[Araya in a studio outside of Paris, there was a famous sound engineer who came to work with me after working with another director who was editing a film on the ground floor. I was in the basement. I showed him this image — it was the first moments of earth — and I told him I wanted the sound of earth that cracks open with heat.
When I said that’s what I wanted, he went crazy. “I can‘t do that,” he said. “You‘re crazy. You’re all crazy. Why can‘t you ask me for something normal like music or a door slamming. That man upstairs is crazy, too. He rubbed his hands together and said he that’s what he wants — the sound of skin rubbing on skin….
MERIN: Don’t tell me…it was Alain Renais upstairs, editing Hiroshima Mon Amour.?
BENACERRAF:: Yes! And I came to Alain Renais’ defence even if I didn’t know him == because I said that even if someone in the audience doesn’t recognize that sound of skin rubbing on skin, it does have a sound, and you should put it in the track. “No, no, no, no, no,“ he said, “You’re too intellectual.“
But, after Cannes, we won the critics’ prize for cinematography and for sound. Remember the scene in the graveyard? I got the impression that the audience didn‘t feel what was happening there. So, I put eight or ten tracks of the sea to underline that it was a seaside cemetery, so you feel something but are not consciously of it.
MERIN: That’s amazing. Why did you stop making films? After just three?
BENACERRAF:: It’s a very complicated story. First, it was because of health, because I paid for my effort. It was three hard years. Then, I had good friends in Venezuela who wanted me to help make a Ministry of Culture. They knew they could count on me. So, congress voted for a Ministry of Culture, and then asked me to become one of its directors. I agreed to do it for one year…but when you start doing something like that, suddenly your realize years have passed. And, that’s why I’ve only made three films.
I hope that explains a little about why I chose this film to be represented. Life hasn’t been that kind to me of late so unfortuntely seperate film threads have become impossible of late….. I hope to do some in the future though as they can be insightful and promote discussion.
Oh yes and Six Shooter…. I liked the film if that is the right word for it!! The film often seems to be violent for violent sakes though and is at times painfully self aware of what it is trying to be. Haneke’s Funny Games seemed to be a huge influence. That said Brendan Gleeson is a quality actor and always brings something to the table. I didn’t really like In Bruges either but McDonagh clearly has an eye for composition and has a talent for script and I’m sure he has a future as long as evades dreaded Hollywood which might prove difficult.
Thanks for posting this very insightful interview, Kuxa. You can now see how Benacerraf composed this film. I could certainly see some of the ‘staging’ in this, but think her definition of it not as a documentary, but a ‘film poem’ an accurate one. Enjoyed her story about Resnais, as I knew from some reading that her film was in competition against Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour at Cannes. Boy, those were the days! Sad that Benacerraf didn’t do more films, but she is still with us (b. 1926), which is a good thing.
They said it was a difficult film — not a documentary, not fiction, but a poetic film — and that’s difficult to classify.
More like a moronic film if you ask me. Anyway, nice analysis Meg. Agree with you on several points. I could actually describe how bad Araya was but I didn’t feel like harping on about it. I am not surprised that it wins this match.
thanks for the write-up Kuxa! i really appreciate that at least one of you submitters did a thorough analysis of ARAYA! I’m glad you enjoyed SIX SHOOTER. For all of those who aren’t away, Martin McDonagh is a very accomplished playwright and quit writing stage-plays to pursue his passion of film. SIX SHOOTER is very reminiscent of some of his earlier plays. In my opinion, that’s one of the biggest flaws with the film; it’s as if he was writing as a play instead of a screenplay. I also have to admit that I am not a very big fan of the train shootout, however the final scene that it precedes is worth the shootout, even though it was just an extravagant way for Gleeson to obtain the pistol, but i don’t exactly agree with the notion that the film is “violent for violence’s sake.” In the same vein, he certainly honed his writing and directing talents for film much better with IN BRUGES. His next film SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS is getting a US release date of 11/2/12, I hope many of you are looking forward to it as much as I am.
This was a very good match, and like Rohit, I am not at all surprised ARAYA took it.
Kuxa, thanks again for the write-up! Very informative and i really appreciate you going out of your way to do it! :D
@Coheed
I believe you are correct; if memory serves me (and i haven’t seen every film from every Auteurs/Mubi cup) Six Shooter is the first film we’ve had with a live-action exploding animal, so i guess that counts for something lol
@Rapcuine
I don’t find very much of Six Shooter to be anything like Tarantino at all. The film is very Irish at it’s core, and on the surface, and mainly exhibits McDonagh’s own writing talents, with bits of influence from Tom Stoppard, Sebastian Berry, and even Samuel Beckett, as well as a bit of somewhat obscure Irish pop culture. (My family is from there and i’ve lived in Cork a few different times in my life and even I didn’t understand the reference to the baby looking like the “bald gay fellow off Bronski Beat” until i googled it)
LOL!
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
Ireland
Original title: Six Shooter
Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Approximate runtime: 27 min
Submitted by: brentos
Venezuela
Original title: Araya
Directed by: Margot Benacerraf
Approximate runtime: 82 min
Submitted by: Angel, apursansar, javier quintero, kuxa kanema
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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 Six Shooter: “Ireland (Six Shooter) 1 – Venezuela (Araya) 0”
If you are voting for Araya: “Ireland (Six Shooter) 0 – Venezuela (Araya) 1”
Your vote must contain the names of both films with a “one” after the film you are voting for and a “zero” after the other film. If your vote is not formatted in this way it will not be counted.
Along with your vote you are strongly encouraged to leave additional comments regarding your reactions to the films, your reasons for why you voted the way you did, and responses to other participants’ comments. Being able to have deep discussion about the films and different aspects of them is an important part of finding enjoyment in participating in the World Cup.
This match will end on Friday, May 18 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.