32 nations, one winner. A test of skill, passion and all-round ability. This Friday, destiny is in their hands. No, Im not talking about the Football World Cup but rather a bigger and better tournament which is going to take place this summer here! Yes readers, I am talking about the
Obsessed With Film World Cup 2010. In this unique knock-out tournament thirty two countries will be represented by one of their finest filmic achivements. The films were chosen on the basis of their wide-ranging critical success (Oscars, RT, Sight and Sound), their patriotism to their specific country as well as mainstream appeal (IMDB, Box Office) and their lasting contribution to the cinematic medium. As well as being a fun and involving exercise which should hopefully inspire lots of hearty banter and debate; this contest is also designed to celebrate the influence and impact of world cinema and to raise awareness of the great films that exist in many different languages, genres and locations. The first round fixtures (as seen below) will take place twice a day over the next 8 days and for all the matches
YOU will decide the fate of which nations film progresses to the next round. I will do my best to persuade you of the right choices to make but ultimately at the end of the day your votes will determine the eventual winner of the Obsessed With Film World Cup. The absolute highlight of the first round is last year's much lauded Swedish vampire movie
Let the Right One In attempting to suck the life out of Chan-Wook Park's
Oldboy So, get those DVDs out and begin the painstaking process that comes with having to compare one classic to the other. Enjoy! ROUND 1 FIXTURES: (USA)
THE GODFATHER VS
NEVER ON SUNDAY (GREECE) (1972, F.Coppola) (1960, J.Dassin) (ENG)
GOLDFINGER VS
L'ENFANT (BEL) (1964, G. Hamilton) (2005,Dardenne) (SCO)
TRAINSPOTTING VS
THE CAVE OF THE YELLOW DOG (MONG) (1996, D.Boyle) (2005, B.Daava) (ESP)
PANS LABYRINTH VS
SOLOMON AND GAENOR (WEL) (2006, G.D.Toro) (1995, P. Morrison) (IRE)
ONCE VS
INSOMNIA (NOR) (2006, J.Carney) (1997, E. Skjoldbjærg) (GER)
M VS
NO MANS LAND (SLOV) (1931, F.Lang) (2001, D.Tanovic) (FRA)
AMELIE VS
DISTRICT 9 (SA) (2000, J.P. Jeunet) (2009, N.Bloomkamp) (SWE)
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN VS
OLDBOY (S.KOR) (2008, T.Alfredson) (2003, C.W. Park) (ITA)
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY VS
MAN BITES DOG (BELG) (1966, S.Leone) (1992, R.Belvaux) (BRA)
CITY OF GOD VS
CUBE (CAN) (2002, F. Mereilles) (1997. F.Natali)
SOLDIER OF ORANGE VS
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (NED, 1977. P.Verhoven) (CHI, 2000. A.Lee) (AUS)
MOULIN ROUGE VS
THE PIANIST (POL) (2001, B.Lurhmann) (2002, R.Polanski) (RUS)
THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN VS
THE COUNTERFEITERS (AUS) (1925, S.M.Eisenstein) (2007, S.Ruzowitzky) (MEX)
AMORES PERROS VS
BREAKING THE WAVES (DEN) (2000, A.J. Inarritu) (1996, L.V.Trier) ( NZ)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING VS
GANDHI (IND) (2004, P.Jackson ) (1982, R.Attenborough) (ARG)
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES VS
SEVEN SAMURAI (JAP) (2004, W.Salles) (1954, A.Kurosawa)