OWFILM WORLD CUP Round 1: Holland vs. China

By Laurent Kelly / June 27, 2010

Two matches today, as we have been falling behind uploading these.

First Round of OWFilm World Cup

Paul Verhoven is best known for classics such as Robocop and Total Recall as well as for his infamously abysmal flops such as Showgirls. In this tournament however he is representing a much loved Dutch war film entitled Soldier of Orange which during the Netherlands Film Festival of 2009 was voted the second best Dutch Film of the Twentieth Century, behind another Verhoven picture entitled Turkish delight. Whilst Holland are trailblazing through the Football World Cup with a 100% winning streak, they may come unstuck in this tournament as they face China€™s representative Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Ang Lee has seen his other entrant in this tournament Lust, Caution battered to within an inch of his life by the man with no name but he may have more luck here as Crouching Tiger has a well balanced proportion of mainstream and critical support. Tale of the Reel is after the jump...

Soldier of Orange (1977)

OSCAR COUNT (0) IMDB (7.9) ROTTEN TOMATOES (100% - based on 7 reviews) EMPIRE TOP 500 (Not listed)

Solider of Orange is a sprawling epic which shows different viewpoints of the key events of the First World War through the eyes of several Dutch men. The film certainly features some odd moments (but then you have to expect that with Verhoven, I guess) and whilst not always emotionally gripping, it is still a story which is very well executed and captivating for pretty much its entire running time. The underlying theme about the futility of war is a little too forced but Verhoven still does a commendable job of presenting an intriguing and gripping war picture. INTERESTING FACT: With a budget of ‚2,300,000, it was the most expensive Dutch movie ever made at the time.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

OSCAR COUNT (4) IMDB (8, #229) ROTTEN TOMATOES (97%) EMPIRE TOP 500 (497th)

Won Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Original Score at the 2001 ceremony. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a surreal blend of soap operatic melodrama and stunningly choreographed fight sequences which truly take your breath away even after several repeated screenings. The balance between the story and the set-pieces is not always terribly effective and the film is best enjoyed as a wonderful technical achievement which takes itself far too seriously from a dramatic stand-point. INTERESTING FACT: The only martial arts film to date to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.