WORLD CUP FINAL: VOTING- CHINA V INDIA

Pre-Christmas stress, unfortunately :(

Little Toys 1 – Days and Nights in the Forest 0
Tie Xi Qu 1 – Donkey in a Brahmin Village 0

The Actress 0 v The Seventh Horse of the Sun 1

Little Toys 0 Days and Nights in the Forest 1
The Actress 0 The Seventh Horse of the Sun 1
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks: Rust 1 Donkey in a Brahmin Village 0

Tie Xi Qu 1 – Donkey in a Brahmin Village 0

What an incredible pairing. I have seen all three parts of Wang Bing’s documentary, but I considered only part 1 Rust for the purposes of judging this pairing. On the other hand, my ignorant ass had never even heard of Donkey in a Brahmin Village. Yet, I was transfixed during the entire film, as the villagers ascribed various attributes to a mere donkey. With its mesmerizing music, the film provided a profound insight into the fickle and perfidious and foolish landmine that is human nature. I was ready to vote for the Indian film, and then I thought that it would be prudent to at least re-watch Tie Xi Qu as it’s been a couple of years since I had seen it along with the other two parts all in one day. Well, what can I say? Wang Bing is the Chinese lovechild of Frederick Wiseman and Andrei Tarkovsky. His 4 hour opus is a near perfect confluence of direct cinema and sculpting in time. Oh, and that ending…

I deliberately have avoided looking at the tally, so I don’t know who’s winning. But all I can say is that it was a superbly played match, and while it feels a little bittersweet for me as my Team Africa got edged out by Team India, I think I can honestly say that the final more than lived up to its billing. I’m just really sorry that someone has to place second…

Standing ovation to the two managers!!!

Tie Xi Qu: 0 vs Agraharathil Kazhuthai 0

This is a tie for me.

Tie Xi Qu: A film with a heart. A bold, strong heart. Very few of them around.
Agraharathil Kazhuthai: “O Mother, as you execute your dance, my heart jumps with joy…” This is a fable that starts at sunrise and ends at sunset. And in the day that ensues, it kicks off a theater of human follies, insecurities, indolence, deification resulting in unjustified violence and hatred. And ultimately, in the personification of Kali, the heat waves that kick the day off are required to end it too.
“There are only 2 castes in this world: the one who is educated and the one who isn’t.” – Bharathi

I have not yet got a chance to see the other 2 chinese films, unfortunately.

Little Toys 0 – Days and Nights in the Forest 1
The Actress 0 – The Seventh Horse of the Sun 1

Now that was a fitting finale…

the Donkey link is a wmv and my mac kicked it out….could have tried conversion but it was 4 AM in the morning after a marathon film session and had to sleep.

Little Toys (Sun Yu) 0 v Days and Nights in the Forest (Satyajit Ray)
The Actress (Stanley Kwan) 1 v The Seventh Horse of the Sun (Shyam Benegal) 0
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks- Part 1: Rust (Wang Bing) 1 v Donkey in a Brahmin Village (John Abraham) 0

fantastic final. standing o.

Kenji, wouldnt it be yummy with a statistical thread?

The Actress (Stanley Kwan) 1 – The Seventh Horse of the Sun (Shayain Benegal) 0

Kenji, wouldnt it be yummy with a statistical thread?

No!

75 minutes to go….

a statistical thread? mmmmmm…if one has the patience, hahaha.

i’m back, scores:

Little Toys 3 Days and Nights in the Forest 15
Actress 8 Seventh Horse of the Sun 6
West of the Tracks 8 Donkey in a Brahmin Village 2

India desperately need to square up the middle pairing, then votes difference would come into play. Alex and Hai’s votes for Actress could be the ones to win the world cup for China, or are we in for a late comeback, with just over an hour to go?

I’ve just remembered i’ve not yet voted in the crucial middle pairing, and a vote for Seventh Horse of the Sun would make things very exciting, but in all honesty i really can’t separate the 2 films. A large deposit in a Swiss bank account from some Chinese or Indian representative might bring enlightenment, erm..

Little Toys 0 – Days and Nights in the Forest 1
The Actress 1 – The Seventh Horse of the Sun 0

I am disappointed with myself for not being able to finish Tie Xi Qu on time. Still this is best lineup of films I have watched for the AWC. Great job, Myra and Marc.

ooh that could be the decider!

15 minutes to go

Little Toys 0 Days and Nights in the Forest 1
The Actress 1 The Seventh Horse of the Sun 0
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks: Rust 0 Donkey in a Brahmin Village 1

Little Toys (Sun Yu) v Days and Nights in the Forest (Satyajit Ray)
The Actress (Stanley Kwan) v The Seventh Horse of the Sun (Shyam Benegal)
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks- Part 1: Rust (Wang Bing) v Donkey in a Brahmin Village (John Abraham)

Can’t wait for the next installment of the AWC!

There are people on the pitch..they think it’s all over. It is now!!

MATCH OVER.

CHINA HAVE WON THE FIRST AUTEURS WORLD CUP!!

Congratulations to Myra. She gave us some great insight into past decades of Chinese film. I just came back at time and am glad to see that there were at least some more voters despite Christmas preparations, when I last looked Dimitris was still desperately trying to keep this thread alive. Thanks to all those who participated throughout this competition.

RESULT:

CHINA 2 INDIA 1

Little Toys 3 Days and Nights in the Forest 18
Actress 11 The Seventh Horse of the Sun 6
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks- Part 1: Rust 9 Donkey in a Brahmin Village 3

China 23 votes India 27 votes

with some of the best match line-ups in the whole of AWC from both teams, China parades and India loses but not without the best goal-scorer in all matches!!!

Yes, Ray proved once again to be a worthy team captain. It´s fortunate that the world cup gave me a possibility to shine a light on various lesser works of his filmography. And there´s still much more to discover. I would recommend to everyone to watch “Kanchenjungha” on youtube, one of his most brilliant and experimental films.

Congrats Myra and runner up Apursansar!

And the Panda just keeps rolling along…

Congratulations, Myra, on a well-deserved victory! You proved that China’s films are second to none. Great choices and strategies throughout. You did luck out, though, in not facing Blue K in the finals with his bunch of great African films. But you won fair and square. Wow!!!

Satyajit Ray is happy so many loved his films throughout this event and that that Days and Nights in the Forest actually gave India the vote lead overall. Very well done, Apursansar, throughout, showcasing many great Indian films for us to see.

Thanks again to both managers for an exciting finale and again thanks to Kenji for getting this off the ground. Great stuff, guys and gals. Now I can finally get some rest!!!

Hey, and it proves it was all above board as neither of the 2 organizers got the Cup, even though they were both very close :)

Commiserations, Marc. Ray was the star director of the tournament (Mizoguchi the other stand-out of course!).

2 very late votes again, in fact 3 late ones that could have swung the match. I suspected the top 2 pairings would go that way, but not having seen either of the bottom pairing had only imdb ratings to go on for what to expect (Wang Bing much higher than Abraham, but what a discovery the Donkey was)

Well done to you both. Myra will now be a legend in China for eternity, they will be erecting statues in her honour now (and something at Vancouver, there’s a strong Chinese population there isn’t there?)

Okay

Seventh Horse of the Sun 1- The Actress 0

It was tough. Really tough.

Crap. Damn my startup and damn my business. I was late.

Thanks, Sushi. Unfortunately the voting time is already over. I´m glad to see that you appreciate Benegal´s late masterpiece.

Congrats to Myra.
Thanks to Apursansar and his team captain Satyajit, India is back!