Scenes of City Life 0 v Sound of the Mountain 1
The Chinese film was an interesting commentary on manners. Kenji unleashed his secret weapon, Hara Setsuko. The walk down the path at the end of “Sound” is heart breaking. She is for the ages.
Two Stage Sisters 1 v After the Rain 0
Two epics with team China providing the much more interesting content.
In the Mood for Love 0 v Humanity and Paper Balloons 1
Someone has to speak up and say the great silent films had every bit the visual interest and artistry of today’s offerings.
Humanity and Paper Balloons (Yamanaka) 0 – In the Mood for Love(Wong Kar-Wai) 1
It does sound cliche, but I really couldn’t stand Humanity and Paper Balloons.Samurai culture is one I absolutely despise.
@Doinel: “Humanity and Paper Balloons” is no silent film, but I agree with you that it equals or surpasses most contemporary films.
In the Mood for Love 0 – Humanity and Paper Balloons 1
Scenes of City Life (Yuan Muzhi) 0 v Sound of the Mountain (Naruse) 1
My favorite Japanese film of all time.
In the Mood for Love 0 v Humanity and Paper Balloons 1
And my second favorite Japanese film of all time.
Give the Japan manager a new contract.
No, but it has a silent sensibility. Still staged very much in that mode.
Scenes of City Life (Yuan Muzhi) 0 vs Sound of the Mountain (Naruse) 1
Two Stage Sisters (Xie Jin) 0 vs After the Rain (Koizumi) 1
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai) 0 vs Humanity and Paper Balloons (Yamanaka) 1
“Give the Japan manager a new contract.”
of course Gringo voted only in the Japanese matches,of course…
(not the choices Kenji,you catch my drift)
I’m sorry China… I tried my best… :’(
It´s just the beginning, Myra. There are still 23 hours left…
I couldn’t possibly comment on Gringo Tex, i’m hardly one to be critical rather than glad of the votes!. Myra it’s very early days, about 1/30 through, i’m expecting a wave for In the Mood for Love, and then the little known middle pairing to be crucial…look what a swing there was in Italy v Spain, and Canada made strong comebacks..
SCENES OF LIFE 1 – (Yuan Muzhi) v Sound of the Mountain (Naruse) 0
That was the most difficult decision of this match. I love both films and SOUNDS OF THE MOUNTAIN is probably Haras best performance in an non-Ozu film. And Naruse is not only on my favorite auteurs list for decoration. SCENES OF LIFE is again an example for the vitality of chinese cinema in the 30s.
Actually I thought about not voting for this pairing. The slightly preference for SCENES is just because this film is harder to see. But though I am not happy to vote against one of the four of five greatest japanese directors of all the time.
TWO STAGE SISTERS 1 (Xie Jin) v After the Rain (Koizumi) 0
Again a very hard decision. I liked After the Rain a lot. It is a very well made film and surely more than a hommage to a director and whose script this film is based. TWO STAGE SISITERS can not be reduced on propaganda. I already recognized the director of HIBISCUS TOWN, (one of the finest films ever made on the cultural revolution). It is a film about friendship and how it is attached (or deformed) by history.
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai) v HUMANITY AND PAPERBALLOONS (Yamanaka) 1
This was an esy choice for one if not the most outstanding jiadai-geki in the history of Japanese cinema. And not only because I am not a fan of Wong Kar-Wei at all. In the Mood for love is the only film of him I saw that I can respect, last but not least through the collaboration with cinematographer Lee Ping Bin (one of the greatest cinematographers today) who is a pleasure while Chris Doyles photography I totally dislike.
Yamanakes film hasn´t aged a bit.
In the Mood for Love 0 Humanity and Paper Balloons 1
I like both equally but I think I have to go with the latter since I didn’t like In the Mood for Love at my first viewing. Maybe, the ending kind of put me off at first but that was back then when I didn’t know much about cinema and thought that the IMDB’s top 250 list is an authentic list to follow. Plus, I always prefer Wong Kar-Wai’s Fallen Angels/Happy Together/Days of Being Wild over his latest films.
I did watch Sound of the Mountain and Two Stage Sisters but didn’t get to watch the other two. I have to say that I disliked both. But I really hate Two Stage Sisters. I thought it was very stage-y and melodramatic for my tastes. I love me some Douglas Sirk-like melodrama but I just couldn’t stand the over-the-top situations and characters this time.
In the Mood for Love 0 Humanity and Paper Balloons 1
Scenes of City Life (Yuan Muzhi) v Sound of the Mountain (Naruse) 1
Sound of the Mountain isn’t my favorite Naruse, and I do wonder if Setsuko Hara ever played any characters besides those of the filial daughter or the daughter-in-law. Nevertheless, Scenes of City Life seems a bit overmatched here.
Two Stage Sisters (Xie Jin) 1 v After the Rain (Koizumi)
After the Rain is essentially a flawless film, a visually splendid work with an engaging story and an optimistic outlook. But it seems to suffer a bit from an unwillingness to take chances—perhaps out of admiration for Kurosawa? Two Stage Sisters is an ingenious blend of classical Chinese opera and social realism. I do wish that there was more of the wonderful diegetic music. But how can I vote against a film that features hot Chinese lipstick lesbian women who reject materialism?
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai) 1 v Humanity and Paper Balloons (Yamanaka)
Well, the canonical tendency would be to vote for Yamanaka’s poignant depiction of the pride of the poor. But I have this sneaky suspicion that in another 20 years or so, Wong Kar-wai’s elegant film will itself be canonized as one of the finest cinematic statements on unrequited love. It’s a very close decision, but WKW’s second best film (after Days of Being Wild) gets the nod.
I have to commend both managers for their bold selections. Taken as a whole, I feel that Team Japan’s selections are a bit stronger than Team China’s. This has much to do with the first pairing, which was the only relatively easy decision that I had. But just as in real football matches, it’s the goals that count, not the overall flow of the match.
Current scores:
Scenes of City Life 1 Sound of the Mountain 4
Two Stage Sisters 3 After the Rain 1
In the Mood for Love 2 Humanity and Paper Balloons 7
Blue, how about Hara in The Idiot? There’s also her tango at the end of Ball at the House of Anjo.
Scenes of City Life 1 v Sound of the Mountain 0
Two Stage Sisters 1 v After the Rain 0
In the Mood for Love v Humanity and Paper Balloons 1
My internet connection is gone, and I’m posting this outside on battery power, so no comments at this time other than to say I liked all six films a great deal.
Scenes of City Life 0 – Sound of the Mountain 1
Two Stage Sisters 0 – After the Rain 1
In the Mood for Love 1 – Humanity and Paper Balloons 0
Greg and Joe cancelled each other out!
Ha! All for the best really since I felt bad voting against the others.
@ Kenji,
Oh, I’m just nitpicking with my comment about the divine Setsuko-sama. I’m a bit of a contrarian by nature, so I just take potshots at sacred cows at times. Even when one considers only those filial asexual daughter roles Hara played, one has to admit that she was able to convey more depth and range than 95% of the actors out there. Maybe it’s just a fundamental issue I have with Japanese cinema in general. There seems to be a tendency—especially in the works of the universally revered Japanese directors—to portray characters as too idealized.
I definitely agree with you that she was superb in The Idiot, one of her few roles in which I find her incredibly sexy as well. She looks absolutely beguiling in those closeups of her with the beret.
Scenes of City Life 0 v Sound of the Mountain 1
In the Mood for Love 1 v Humanity and Paper Balloons 0
updated scores
Scenes of City Life 2 Sound of the Mountain 6
Two Stage Sisters 4 After the Rain 2
In the Mood for Love 4 Humanity and Paper Balloons 8
dp
In the Mood for Love 1 – Humanity and Paper Ballons 0
Two Stage Sisters (Xie Jin) 0 – After the Rain (Takashi Koizumi) 1
I enjoyed the musical content of both – but hearing Haiku put to song, in the rain, was a delight. I’m still chuckling at a barely audible comment : “Best of all, he’s got a meaningless appearance” : )
In The Mood For Love (WongKarWai) 1 – Humanity and Paper Balloons (Sadao Yamanaka) 0
ah ha, as i expected, the In the Mood for Love comeback to swing the match!
Scenes of City Life 1 – Sound of the Mountain 0
In the Mood for Love 1 – Humanity and Paper Balloons 0
Well, I would love to give a draw for at least two line-ups, but forced myself to make a decision.
Scenes of City Life 0 – Sound of the Mountain 1
I enjoyed the playfulness and variety of brilliant ideas that make Yuan Muzhi´s debut a wonderful discovery, but my passion for Kawabata´s literature that has likely never been adapted more adequately, as well as the tender relationship between father and daughter-in-law that ends in a heartbreaking final scene make “The Sound of the Mountain” my favorite by Naruse.
Two Stage Sisters 0 – After the Rain 1
This has been an extremely difficult decision since I wouldn´t necessarily consider both films as masterpieces, but find aspects about either work that I admire. The selfless humanity and compassion displayed in “After the Rain” ultimately made me prefer it to the unhuman conditions and greed in “Two Stage Sisters”.
In the Mood for Love 1 – Humanity and Paper Balloons 0
I decided to use this opportunity in order to rewatch “Humanity and Paper Balloons” which left a huge impression on me the first time I saw it, and was once again astonished by the acting performances, and Shinza´s brilliant attempt to deconstruct tradition and supremacy which he has to die for. “In the Mood for Love” on the other hand had an emotional impact on me as few other films, and features scenes of such extraordinary beauty that it makes me watch it again and again.
Kenji
THE AUTEURS WORLD CUP 2009 : SEMI FINAL VOTING
After over 3 months of exciting competition, we are now in the pair of semi-final matches, with only 4 teams left! New participants are still most welcome and allowed to vote in the following match-ups.
On this thread, voting will be on China v Japan. The other match between India and Africa will be on another thread.
The extended voting period for this match lasts from 7 pm GTM on Tuesday 15th December until 6 pm GMT on Wednesday 16th December, which means that users will have 23 hours in order to publish their votes. The world map which lists all current time zones can be found on www.worldtimezone.com, so that everyone can be up to date about how much time is left.
After the voting period is over the votes will be counted and the results published. We will then be having a break for selection and then viewing of the films for the grand final, which should take place from 22nd to 23rd December.
There is a separate world cup section of the forum, and a world cup page (to be updated): http://www.theauteurs.com/worldcup2009
Each user can vote on any line-up of each match as long as he/she has watched both films that are paired against each other. An explanation for the preference in each case would be greatly appreciated, as provided by most voters in the previous matches. You can vote on any single pairing; you do not have to vote on all 3 pairings of a match. Team managers are not allowed to vote on matches their own team participates in. The voting should be handled like this:
Film A 1 (or 0) – Film B 0 (or 1)
Film C 0 (or 1) – Film D 1 (or 0)
Film E 1 (or 0) – Film F 0 (or 1)
Please mark the winning film/score in large or heavy print. You can give your explanatory statements either after each vote or after all 3 votes.
The match you´re going to vote for on this thread is
CHINA v JAPAN
Scenes of City Life (Yuan Muzhi) v Sound of the Mountain (Naruse)
Two Stage Sisters (Xie Jin) v After the Rain (Koizumi)
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai) v Humanity and Paper Balloons (Yamanaka)