As the tournament favourite and United States representative
The Godfather trounced its opposition on Day One of the Obsessed with Film World Cup; it set a trend that most of the big names were able to follow. Etablished filmic nations such as Italy, England, Spain and Germany were all fairly comfortable in their respective first round victories. That is not to say however there werent some dramatic upsets during the first round. Just as the mighty French Football team fell at the first hurdle in the football so did the giant French film industry. At least
Amelie was able to put on a brave face however as it endured a tight back and forth battle against
District 9 but in perhaps the most exciting contest so far the South African representative stayed strong to produce a 30-28 vote upset. What will the French camp make of this was the wrong film chosen? Or is it more down to the fact that District 9 is the modern classic fresher in peoples minds? Whatever the cause this was a disappointing result for a French industry which has given us Godard, Truffaut, Renoir and Melies. Another surprising outcome to some might have been Sweden's
Let the Right One In defeating South Korean revenge film
Oldboy. We now move onto the Second Round where a series of tasty matches await. Highlights include
Spain vs. Mexico where Guillermo del Toro will go up against his good friend, and frequent collobrator Alejandro González Iñárritu when Pan's Labyrinth takes on Amores Perros. In an OWFilm World Cup first, Del Toro will actually be kind of competing against himself as he worked as an 'assistant editor' on Amores Perros. Another highlight will be a modern classic against a time-old classic when
Brazil take on the Germans, and a movie of conflicting cultures andn fighting styles could make for some interesting viewing when
Japan (Seven Samurai) take on
China (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) in what is a derby. The fixtures were seeded according to the winning percentages of the First Round Encounters. As before itll be up to you to decide which films head into the quarter finals.
OBSESSED WITH FILM CUP ROUND TWO THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Italy) VS DISTRICT 9 (South Africa) THE GODFATHER (U.S.A.) VS THE PIANIST (Poland) GOLDFINGER (England) VS THE COUNTERFEITERS (Austria) PANS LABYRINTH (Spain) VS AMORES PERROS (Mexico) LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (New Zealand) VS LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden) CITY OF GOD (Brazil) VS M (Germany) TRAINSPOTTING (Scotland) VS INSOMNIA (Norway) CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (China) VS SEVEN SAMURAI (Japan)
ROUND 2 PREVIEW: If the First Round was intriguing if a little predictable then the Second Round has truly raised the stakes in terms of drama and tension. South Africas
District 9 have toppled the mighty French Film Industry but now can they do the same against the equally prestigious Italians?
The Godfather could face tough competition from
The Pianist.
England will have to work hard to avoid a world cup repeat of being knocked out in the last 16two of the most internationally acclaimed films of the past decade face off as
Pans Labryinth takes on
Amores Perros.
The Return of the King have an awesome challenge in the form of Swedens
Let the Right One In, Brazil's
City of God will need all the young support they can muster as they take on the German classic
M
Trainspotting (Scotland) may have the easiest fixture as they take on the quality but obscure
Insomnia and then
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon represent China in battle against Japans
Seven Samurai. which could potentially be the tightest match in this round. Regardless of the various outcomes this promises to be a truly electrifying round of competition.