Directors' Cup Voting, Round 2, Match 28: František Vláčil (Adelheid) vs Hou Hsiao-Hsien (A City of Sadness)

Awwwwwwwww.

I’ll take the runt if no one wants it!

Okay, but stop bad-mouthing HHH. He’s very upset with you.

See?

He will come at me with some kind of a sword or knife and swing wildly for several minutes, but I’ll never get even a nick.

Ah, you obviously haven’t seen the excellent A Time to Live a Time to Die.

He’ll get you when you least expect it. Sitting in your favorite chair.

Good thing I won’t be going anywhere near my favorite chair for a while…

16—16 Hou

;)

be back in a few hours with my thoughts. When are we allowed to continue voting?

Patapon, you’re allowed to continue voting now

František Vláčil (Adelheid) 1 – Hou Hsiao-Hsien (A City of Sadness) 0

For me, the emotional attachment/investment I felt/perceived with the soldier and, particularly, the maid immersed me in this story much more than the visual immersion of sound-scape and poetry of Marketa. The one and only complaint I had about Marketa would be the distance, or separation, I felt from what was going on. The narrative in Adelheid carries the tragedy of war on its shoulders and I can think of no other film that so eloquently clouds the screen with that kind of desolation and discomfort. The lack of noise, or distraction, left me holding my breath for minutes at a time (relatively speaking).

I completely understand why most people will appreciate Marketa more but I am one to connect better with a clean and precise dedication to a polished narrative, or moment in time. Marketa is a lengthy meditation piece which I respect as well but I guess it comes down to the fact that we all cant adore the same artistic perspective.

A City of Sadness really opened my eyes to the historical, though not necessarily political, consequences of that era. The film reminded me of Ugetsu in the sense that the fear and chaos brought about by a national tragedy or war significantly effected the small, insignificant families throughout the country. Tony Leung, of course, gives a fantastic performance as does the entire cast for that matter. I love this film and though its a bit long I would watch it again in a heartbeat. I have much respect for Hou and his films and I will be seeing more from the man soon.

I wonder if we’ll see The Puppetmaster if Hou beats out Vlacil :P

Unless…

unless.

František Vláčil (Adelheid) 1 – Hou Hsiao-Hsien (A City of Sadness) 0

bleh

Well, unless we see some Hou voters, it seems Vlacil will be getting this match. Either way, both directors deserve respect and I’d much prefer to see both of them in the next round instead of Woody Allen, Godard or Coppola.

c’mon, Hou fans. You still have five hours to vote.

František Vláčil (Adelheid) – 1 vs Hou Hsiao-Hsien (A City of Sadness) – 0

Easy. Didn’t like City when I saw it.

Dude, I said “Hou fans.”

This is the end….

Hou’s that knockin’ at my door?

lol

mubi needs “The Hou”, maybe some Japanese fans can help out

František Vláčil (Adelheid) 0 – Hou Hsiao-Hsien (A City of Sadness) 1

Adelheid 0 vs. A City of Sadness 1

:) another tie?

I think it’s 19—18 Vlacil. One more vote for HHH and it goes into OT again.

Hou can do it.

Voting is over

Adelheid wins 19-18. Well done Vlacil!

A worthy foe.

As strong as Hou is (and he’s one of the best), seeing Vlacil as my second round opponent was disheartening. I’m still happy with my pick, since if any Hou was going to beat Vlacil it was this one (those who didn’t like his style in this film likely wouldn’t have been won over by his more minimalist [and in my opinion superior] films like A Time to Live a Time to Die and so on).

But my hat’s off to Nick B, who played a hell of a game. I’m pleased, at least, that Hou was able to give him a run for his money.

Actually, Hou is pronounced “Ho”, as in “Dirty Ho”.

“A Time to Live and a Time to Die” is among the greatest movies I have ever seen.

It’s sad to see “Dirty Hou” leave, but on the other hand František Vláčil is likely one of the greatest European directors with only a few films known to international audiences. I’m curious to see which of his films will be selected next, so far I’ve only seen four of them.

As much as I complained about Hou, I would still gladly have swapped Yoshida for him.