OWFilm World Cup Round Two: Spain vs. Mexico

By Laurent Kelly / June 30, 2011

Voting has now ended on the England match, with Goldfinger shaking, stirring and ultimately using it's license to kill to take out Russia's Battleship Potemkin. England (Goldfinger) 65% beat 35% Russia (Battleship Potemkin)

OWF Film World Cup Round Two

It may be all smiles in this picture between friends Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu but there is no time for companionship in the art of battle as the directors see their nation€™s representatives battle it out amongst one another for a place in the Obsessed with Film World Cup Quarter Finals.... Pan€™s Labryinth easily pulled through their first round encounter with Wales but will face a tougher challenge in the form of Amores Perros; the toast of European film at the start of the last decade and the film with momentum on its side after its well fought victory over tough first round opponent Breaking the Waves. It is time for the clash between two of the most critically acclaimed European films of the past ten years and as always the decision is in your hands! Tale of the reel is after the jump...

Pan€™s Labryinth (2006)

OSCAR COUNT (3) IMDB (8.4, #68) RT 95% EMPIRE TOP 500: (#132nd)

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Make-up

Pan€™s Labryinth presents the darker side of the fairy tale, albeit one without the fleeting close ups and uplifting sentimentality. Its $37 million domestic box office proves however that there is an adult audience for the genre when it is handled with such creative flair and told with such bold emotion. The film works as both a war story featuring some brilliant character studies of courage and cowardice and as a fascinating fantasy tale where creatures such as the Pale Man both excite and disturb in equal measure. Ultimately director Guillermo del Toro pulls off a major feat in being able to ground fantasy in the harshness of the real world. What he creates is an awesome visual spectacle carried through with great gusto and heart. In 2006 esteemed critics Roger Ebert and Mark Kermode both named Pan€™s Labryinth as their film of the year. INTERESTING FACT: The film received twenty two minutes of applause at the Cannes Film Festival.

Amores Perros (2000)

OSCAR COUNT (0) IMDB (8.2, #164) ROTTEN TOMATOES (92%) EMPIRE TOP 500 (#492nd)

Amores Perros is a cleverly constructed interlinking drama which tells three different stories which all explain the opening car crash. Many critics have praised the film for its authentically presented arena, naturalistic dialogue and tremendous attention to detail concerning character. Acclaimed critic Roger Ebert is clearly impressed with the film€™s realism as he states in his review that the €œ€characters are not the bland, amoral totems of so much modern Hollywood violence, but people with feelings and motives. They want love, money and revenge.€ The film€™s gritty visual style has also been highly praised with Peter Bradshaw writing in his Guardian review about how the film€™s arena is so vividly brought to life: €œInarritu and his cinematographer, Rodrigo Prieto, have created a flickering, sun-bleached look for this tale of the barrio in the world's biggest city - a look similar to the Diesel ads or the desert glare that you saw in the old Foster Grant commercials.€ Amores Perros won the €œprize of the critics week€ at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. INTERESTING FACT: Despite a clear and concise opening message which stated that no animals were harmed during the production the film€™s twenty one second, brutal dog fight scene still earned a complaint from The Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.