2012 MUBI World Cup - Voting Secrets
naderi ♥ vs pita&veroiu ♥ ?
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
argh/yay/ad infinitum
this cup is going to be lovely.
can’t wait!!! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
I see one of the first two films online with English subtitles, easily searchable.
Just watched The Runner. Create a Frankenstein monster and give him the heart of Spielberg and the brain of Michael Bay and stick him in post-revolution Iran. This is the film he makes. Cliche-ridden wrought by sentimental telephoto lens. Of course, I’m sure Naderi (self-proclaimed film critic) wanted to think he was following in the steps of Rossellini. But the key to Rossellini is that you never know what’s coming next; whereas here, you’re falling asleep waiting for the inevitable to happen.
Nice. This just got real.
I saw The Runner years ago; let’s say, there’s room for Lust for Gold to win! But what intrigues me is, where is the structure, the groups etc, or are we gonna be kept in the dark till each match comes up in turn? Now that is a fascinating way of handling such a tournament, that wouldn’t have occurred to me, like some spy intrigue on a strictly need to know basis, or the great unknown of the universe .
Yes, I also am wondering about that, but I am a little more uneasy about it as having a list of films which one knows will be used can provide a better opportunity to watch more of them for some of us as we can schedule our viewing time more efficiently that way.
Just watched The Runner. Basically disagree with Jerry completely. Like we watched different films.
And the great thing about this cup is that now I have the ability to watch these films on my TV through my blu ray player. No more huddling around the PC screen for me!
@ Greg: Yes that may be a drawback, but i’m glad to find the original prototype is flexible.
This mystery reminds me of my time in the 80s as an agent in the Albanian secret services, in the time first of Enver Hoxha then Ramiz Alia. I was recruited in my last year at Leeds uni. Task 1: collect a package at Darlington, deliver to Frau Schneider at an apartment in Trier. Task 2: collect a package from box number 3 at Metz station, deposit at box 6 at Zagreb station. Rather peculiar way of working, i thought. Task 9: eliminate Brian Wright in Cornwall. That set my pulse racing. More by luck than judgment. Task 153, eliminate Svetlana Nokemova in London. This is where i had a problem. She was too sexy and i didn’t have the heart. Instead we became lovers, just as the regime changed and i retired.
Hoverkrafti im është plot me ngjala
i love it when kenji is enthused! :) what did poor brian wright ever do to the world? although i’m more worried about riss’ god-like delusions. springing matches on us is one fun thing, but inventing neologisms and demanding we use them – opi-onions? it’s like he’s anticipating bitter acrimony already….
Basically disagree with Jerry completely. Like we watched different films.
I’ll watch the version where Naderi shoots with a wide-angle lens. Please send me the link.
@Twodeadmagpies: the phrase above was one we used in the service, and it suited me perfectly cos i became known, to the frustrated MI5 as well as in Tirana, as The Eel. The one that got away.
" i’m more worried about riss’ god-like delusions"
This is Riss’ true identity – we are mere products of his evil corporation
There’s nothing wrong with god-like delusions if they are sprung from benevolence. :) The opi-onions are like SUPER opinions. I’m spurring you on to give your best.
And the thing about the matches, it’s true I wont’ be revealing the entire schedule at once, but I’m introducing one match at a time both for intrigue but also because it make it easier for me to keep track of. I will be introducing films more rapidly than they last at first though, so by the end of the week or so you should have a lot more announced. So for Greg’s concerns, you should have a list of films going out a couple of months to help you prepare.
can i vote if i did not submit any films or the party is only for the merituous ones :P?
i’m sure everyone can participate, right riss? at least i hope so. i didn’t feel qualified to submit any films but i certainly am interested to watch what others have submitted. i’m off to check out lust for gold…
Yes please, everyone can participate. It doesn’t matter at all if you didn’t submit any films.
Very pleased to wake up to Kenji’s missions, Jerry’s delusions, and Meg’s return.
Also, thanks again, Riss, you lazy sod! ;)
“Just watched The Runner. Create a Frankenstein monster and give him the heart of Spielberg and the brain of Michael Bay and stick him in post-revolution Iran. This is the film he makes. Cliche-ridden wrought by sentimental telephoto lens. Of course, I’m sure Naderi (self-proclaimed film critic) wanted to think he was following in the steps of Rossellini. But the key to Rossellini is that you never know what’s coming next; whereas here, you’re falling asleep waiting for the inevitable to happen.”
I’ve seen two of Naderi’s American films and thought they were two of the more painfully awful no budget indie films I can recall watching. I was always curious about his good reputation that stems mainly from his Iranian films. Now I’m very suspicious.
Lust for Gold is a belter! If anything, i like it even more than Stone Wedding. 1st half is beguilingly dark, mysterious and extraordinary with the apertures, windows, changes of focus, framing etc, the 2nd slow and elegant with fluid camera and longer takes, suiting a certain inevitability- and delightful understated humour to the moral. Who could blame the old man? Great feel for setting and decor too. I was wondering if the directors had seen Solas’ great Cuban film Lucia. I am delighted with that selection for Romania- who chose it?
Lily Edsdóttir
i’m gonna start a spreadsheet! wazoo!
In the mid 90s there was a poll of Romanian critics’ favourite films- in the top 100 were loads from Italy, and a healthy number from Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, but just 2 from Romania (Reconstruction and Sequences); i think the critics may have missed a chance to highlight the strength of their own national cinema.
Anyone want to start a World Cup topic talking about Romanian cinema in light of this, please feel free to do so.
Lust for Gold was nice, although the subtitles for the Romanian hymn often lent it a Monty Python feel. Still looking for some historical context. Was it set in the late 1800s? It frequently felt like a western.
Lust for Gold is set in Rosia Montana, a small village in Transylvania, in the late 1800s. From a review of Stone Wedding and Lust for Gold:
“The location of both movies is Rosia Montana, a small village in Transylvania, very well known for the gold you could find in the neighborhood, that was extracted since the Roman occupation (between ~ 100 – 270 our era). The choice of location is perfect, as the village remained virtually unchanged from the 1800s. This little Romanian village can be considered a correspondent (in all points of view) for what San Francisco was in United States in the 1800s. From getting rich over night, to years of hard working for nothing, to gambling and casinos, a point of attraction for all kind of adventurers and gold diggers. In communist times all gold was extracted exclusive by the state. After the fell of communism, in the 90s (and the process is still going on), a Canadian company wants to exploit the gold there, buying all the land from the owners. There was and still is, a big scandal about the major ethical and environmental problems this would cause. I say all this for those who don’t know why this makes such a special place, apart from its aesthetic value.”
Lust for Gold is indeed a good film. But I’m holding my vote for the match.
Just finished The Runner. I had to stop by the corner store and buy a red-bull to keep me awake long enough to make it through the film. The version i watched had some pretty terrible subtitle work, but that’s nothing to do with the film itself.
Personally i agree 100% with Jerry’s critique. It seemed to drag on way too long. I am admittedly ignorant when it comes to current (meaning the last 100 years or so) Iranian history, so i’m sure that this film may have some very important and significant cultural value, however it didn’t quite “do it” for me, for lack of a better way to put it.
Also, i’m not sure if it was the version i watched, or if it’s always like this but the Part 9 Fire and Ice scene had some of the most annoyingly autrocious sound-mixing i’ve had to subject my ears to. The constant cutting in and out of booming flames to shrill laughter to dead silence, repeat—it was too much for me.
I will be watching Lust for Gold this evening, but judging by the way i felt about The Runner i’m guessing it may get my vote for this match-up.
Also, something i was wondering and i’m sure some of you have considered this as well: at first i felt the soundtrack to be a bit cliched (It’s a Wonderful World, etc) but then i remembered that i was watching an Iranian film from the ’80s, and while songs like the aforementioned are cliched in Western pop culture, does that automatically make them a cliche in every part of the globe? i.e. is the soundtrack of The Runner exempt from being cliche because of the time and place it was made?
Risselada
Use this topic for general discussion about upcoming matches, which films you are watching, and your opionions on them.