Spanish and Portuguese films: POLL RESULTS

Thanks to all who took part. A wide variety of films chosen. I’ll count down the top 25, according to number of votes and where these were equal, separated where possible by their placements when selected.

25. Open Your Eyes (Amenabar)

24. El Cochecito (Ferreri)

23. The Flower of my Secret (Almodovar)

21= Death of a Cyclist (Bardem)

21= Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Medem)

18= Volver (Almodovar)

18= The State of Things (Wenders)

18= The Sea Inside (Amenabar)

17. Talk to Her (Almodovar)

16. Aniki Bobo (Oliveira)

15. A Talking Picture (Oliveira)

14. Abraham Valley (Oliveira)

well, it’s getting late here and i may have to leave you with the great actress Leonor Silveira, in this wonderful film, in suspense over the remaining 13.

13. Bad Education (Almodovar)

12. Tesis (Amenabar)

11. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Almodovar)

10. I’m Going Home (Oliveira)

9. Orphanage (Bayona)

8. All About my Mother (Almodovar)

7. Land Without Bread (Bunuel)

6. Cria Cuervos (Saura)

5. The Quince Tree Sun (Erice)

4. The Devil’s Backbone (Del Toro)

and then there were 3…..

well, there were plenty of participants in the poll, but silence here as we come to

3. Pan’s Labyrinth (Del Toro)

2. Viridiana (Bunuel)

It’s 2.15 am here. Monteiro and Costa from Portugal were unlucky not to make the top 25 as their votes were spread thinly. Do check out the treasures of that country. And Berlanga surprisingly missed out on the 25 too. Lots of films had a single vote, plenty of goodies to discover. For all the films chosen and some comments see the other thread.

so here it is, the one you’ve all been waiting for, and what a worthy winner…The Auteurs’ choice as best film from Spain and Portugal

1. Spirit of the Beehive (Erice)

well, this thread has been almost overwhelmed with the huge hordes dashing here, clouds of dust with them, i’m notifying participants and here it is.

in 26th place was The Silence before Bach, in 27th The Machinist then a huge tie

Thanks for the original thread + the results Kenji! Some films I haven’t seen yet (The Quince Tree Sun, and Oliveira’s films). I am looking forward to watch every film listed on this thread :-)

The Orphanage that high??and Sea Inside looks soooo simplistic and safe…
and i love Bunuel,Oliveira and Almovodar but there’s too much of them,where is Pedro Costa or Mario Camus??
cool list but even for the Auteurs,it’s NOT representative…
thanks Kenji for compiling the results ;)

The overall result wasn’t very surprising. The top 3- if not in that order- hardly a shock. There are numerous pearls hidden away on the original thread, thanks to which i saw O Patio das Cantigas and i look forward to El Cochecito, The Silence before Bach and others. It’s the individual lists that i tend to find most interesting in polls like this. Dimitris, well, Costa, Monteiro, who had several votes each but split- and Camus too- all came close. This list is dominated by recent films, I think people should find older classics well worth exploring. For me it’s all about expanding horizons, new discoveries from unexpected and unsung sources, which is why i’m cheesed off with the local film society, they play safe with the latest usual world cinema and arthouse suspects, that’s fine for most of the selection but it needs a spark, to separate from countless others up and down the country doing the same. So no Sansho the Bailiff or Iosseliani from them this year either.

I’ve not seen The Quince Tree Sun for years, when i did i wasn’t aware of Antonio Lopez Garcia but i now rate him among the world’s best modern painters- which wasn’t apparent to me in the film.

i knew of him but hadn’t noticed explicitly his paintings before observing the meticulous procession of Erice’s masterful iconography..
people rarely want to be punched in the groins in order for them to either appreciate or endure the likes of “:unknown” cinema..in Greece,it’s epidemic,even the recent famous non-English works are becoming “repulsive” to the majority of the public,i was furious to hear a lady on the rental store cursing Iwo Jima by Eastwood as am movie with “yellow people”(her words)and in spite of whatever people think Iwo Jima is,it’s insulting to condemn both older or newer non-english films as purely for cine-buffs..
so yes,this list does have mainstream picks,mostly Almodovarian relativities,hehe.and i feel glad people don’t take it for granted like many in my country do..

still…surprise is vanishing and that’s what i yearn for…the constant surprise…i’d love to see that fuckin’ critics’ poll drastically changing with NO Hitchcock,NO Bergman and NO Tarkovsky on the top 10 list,instead Jancso,Ruiz and Varda being on the first places,just for ONCE DAMMIT!!
but like with a simple Auteurs list,same old song and dance Kenji for the typical critics’ and big lists in general..

Wow, I haven’t seen most of these! Including number 1! I need to catch up…

Grey Daisies voted for El Sur by Erice, which i’ve just finally seen, and i think i’d pick in my 10 now. It’s about a young girl in the north of Spain who idolises her father. She’s in awe of his special powers with a pendulum and water divining, but she comes to realise his life isn’t so wonderfully idyllic after all; there’s a troubling secret from the past. This is another beautiful film, Erice may be cinema’s Vermeer, with his love of light and intimacy, and he’s also a poet of mystery, moonlight and the magic hour. Perhaps not quite up to Spirit of the Beehive (that would be going some) but highly recommended.