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Saturday, July 26, 2014

2014 Movie World Cup: Top 16

All 96 films of the 2014 Movie World Cup have been viewed and the group phase is now complete. The top 2 nations from each of the 8 groups advance to the Round of 16. Each nation's best film will take part in the Round of 16 and the winning films will move on to the Quarter-Finals.

Each nation had 3 films in the group phase with the following criteria:

Film 1: previously seen film from 2000 - 2013

The results of all Film #1 contests can be found in these 3 posts: Group A, Groups B-D, Groups E-H

Film 2: unseen film from 2000 - 2013


Film 3: film from 1960 - 2004


The Final standings of all 8 groups, along with the head-to-head results are listed below. As per the rules, if two nations were tied with the same points, all 3 films from each nation faced-off against each other. If the nations were still tied, then a coin toss was used to pick a winner.

Group A

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
Brazil Neigboring Sounds (2012, Kleber Mendonça Filho): W Once Upon a Time Veronica (2012, Marcelo Gomes): L Entranced Earth (1967, Glauber Rocha): W 6
Mexico El Violin (2005, Francisco Vargas): W Post Tenebras Lux(2012, Carlos Reygadas): W Presagio (1975, Luis Alcoriza): L 6
Croatia Buick Riviera (2009, Goran Rusinovic): L Karaula (2006, Rajko Grlic): L Witnesses (2003, Vinko Bresan): W 3
Cameroon A Trip to the Country (2000, Jean-Marie Téno): L Aristotle’s Plan (2006, Jean-Pierre Bekolo): W Quartier Mozart (1992, Jean-Pierre Bekolo): L 3

Brazil takes first place after winning a head-to-head match with Mexico 2-1.
Brazil 2 (Film #1, #3) - Mexico 1 (Film #2)

Croatia takes 3rd place after a 2-1 win over Cameroon in a head-to-head match.
Croatia 2 (Film #1, #3) - Cameroon 1 (Film #2)

Group B

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
Chile Tony Manero (2008, Pablo Larraín): D Old Cats (2010, Pedro Peirano/Sebastián Silva): W The Battle of Chile (1975-79, Patricio Guzmán): W 7
Australia Snowtown (2011, Justin Kurzel): D The Hunter (2011, Daniel Nettheim): L The Last Wave (1977, Peter Weir): W 4
Holland Borgman (2013, Alex van Warmerdam): L The Last Days of Emma Black (2009, Alex van Warmerdam): W The Northerners (1992, Alex van Warmerdam): L 3
Spain In the City of Sylvia (2007, José Luis Guerín): W Blancanieves (2012, Pablo Berger): L The Red Squirrel (1993, Julio Medem): L 3

Holland wins 2-1 over Spain in a head-to-head.
Holland 2 (Film #2, #3) - Spain 1 (Film #1)

Group C

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
Japan Like Father, Like Son (2013, Hirokazu Koreeda): W Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (2013, Sion Sono): W When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960, Mikio Naruse): W 9
Ivory Coast Adanggaman (2000, Roger Gnoan M’Bala): L Black Diamond (2010, Pascale Lamche): W Burn it up Djassa (2012, Lonesome Solo): W 6
Greece Unfair World (2011, Filippos Tsitos): W Dos (2011, Stathis Athanasiou): L Ghost of a Chance (2001, Vangelis Seitanidis): L 3
Colombia Crab Trap (2009, Oscar Ruiz Navia): L Dog Eat Dog (2008, Carlos Moreno): L Oedipus Mayor (1996, Jorge Alí Triana): L 0

Group D

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
Italy Le Quattro Volte (2010, Michelangelo Frammartino): W The Great Beauty (2013, Paolo Sorrentino): W Il Posto (1961, Ermanno Olmi): W 9
Uruguay A Useful Life (2010, Federico Veiroj): W Bad Day to go Fishing (2009, Álvaro Brechner): D Whisky (2004, Juan Pablo Rebella/Pablo Stoll): L 4
Costa Rica Cold Water of the Sea (2010, Paz Fabrega): L Gestacion (2009, Esteban Ramírez): L Caribe (2004, Esteban Ramírez): W 3
England Trishna (2011, Michael Winterbottom): L Two Years at Sea (2011, Ben Rivers): D If...(1968, Lindsay Anderson): L 1

Group E

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
France Holy Motors (2012, Leos Carax): W Bastards (2013, Claire Denis): W L'Argent (1983, Robert Bresson): W 9
Switzerland Das Fraulein (2006, Andrea Staka): W We Are The Faithful (2005, Michael Koch): L Signer's Suitcase (1995, Peter Liechti): W 6
Ecuador Crónicas (2004, Sebastián Cordero): L Qué tan lejos (2006, Tania Hermida): W A Titan in the Ring (2002, Viviana Cordero): L 3
Honduras El Porvier (2008, Oscar Estrada): L Amor y frijoles (2009, Mathew Kodath/Hernan Pereira): L Mi Amigo Angel (1962, Sami Kafati): L 0

The standings are identical to the 2014 Soccer World Cup with the points total pretty similar. These were the points in Soccer: France (7), Swiss (6), Ecuador (4), Honduras (0).

Group F

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
Argentina Gone Fishing (2012, Carlos Sorin): W Extraordinary Stories (2008, Mariano Llinás): W Invasion (1969, Hugo Santiago): W 9
Iran This is Not a Film (2011, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb/Jafar Panahi): W The White Meadows (2011, Mohammad Rasoulof): L Taste of Cherry (1997, Abbas Kiarostami): W 6
Bosnia and Herzegovina Cirkus Colombia (2010, Danis Tanovic): L Belvedere (2010, Ahmed Imamović): W No Man's Land (2001, Danis Tanovic): L 3
Nigeria Without Shame (2005, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen): L Ezra (2007, Newton I. Aduaka): L Last Flight to Abuja (2012, Obi Emelonye): L 0

Group G

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
Portugal The Strange Case of Angelica (2010, Manoel de Oliveira): W Centro Histórico (2012, Pedro Costa/Manoel de Oliveira/Víctor Erice/Aki Kaurismäki): W Ossos (1997, Pedro Costa): W 9
Germany Everyone Else (2009, Maren Ade): L Gerhard Richter - Painting (2011, Corinna Belz): W World on a Wire (1973, Rainer Werner Fassbinder): W 6
USA Blue Ruin (2013, Jeremy Saulnier): W Blue Caprice (2013, Alexandre Moors): L Faces (1968, John Cassavetes): L 3
Ghana The Perfect Picture (2010, Shirley Frimpong-Manso): L Sinking Sands (2011, Leila Djansi): L A Sting in a Tale (2009, Shirley Frimpong-Manso): L 0

Portugal wins 2-1 over Germany in a head-to-head.
Portugal 2 (Film #1, #3) - Germany 1 (Film #2)

Group H

Country Film #1:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #2:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Film #3:
(Win, Loss, Draw)
Points
Belgium The Referees (2009, Yves Hinant/Eric Cardot/Delphine Lehericey): W Eldorado (2008, Bouli Lanners): W La Promesse (1996, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne): W 9
South Korea In Another Country (2012, Hong Sang-soo): D The Day He Arrives (2011, Hong Sang-soo): W The Housemaid (1960, Ki-young Kim): L 4
Russia Alexandra (2007, Aleksandr Sokurov): D The Edge (2010, Aleksey Uchitel): L Stalker (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky): W 4
Algeria Rachida (2002, Yamina Bachir): L Outside the Law (2010, Rachid Bouchareb): L Daughters of Keltoum (2001, Mehdi Charef): L 0

Both Russia and South Korea tied 2-2 after the head-to-head.
Film #1 was tied for both countries, South Korea had a 1-0 win for Film #2 while Russia won 1-0 for Film #3.

A coin toss was used to pick a winner. South Korea won, thereby eliminating The Russian film Stalker, a major candidate for the 2014 Movie World title.

Round of 16

The draw for Round of 16 matches is identical to the Soccer World Cup, meaning Winner of Group A meets the Group B runner-up. The following are the 16 films deemed to be each nation’s best chance to win the title.

Brazil (Neighboring Sounds) vs Australia (Snowtown)
Japan (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs) vs Uruguay (A Useful Life)

France (L’Argent) vs Iran (Taste of Cherry)
Portugal (The Strange Case of Angelica) vs South Korea (The Day He Arrives)

Mexico (El Violin) vs Chile (Tony Manero)
Italy (Il Posto) vs Ivory Coast (Burn it up Djassa)

Argentina (Extraordinary Stories) vs Switzerland (Signer’s Suitcase)
Belgium (La Promesse) vs Germany (World on a Wire)

An excellent line-up of films which will make for some enjoyable comparisons. However, looking ahead, the Quarter-Finals will have some fierce contests with very little to choose between the various films.

Soccer vs Film

The following 9 nations made it to the Second Round for both the Soccer and Movie World Cup:

Brazil, Uruguay, France, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.

Incredibly, there is an identical match-up in both Soccer and Movie World Cup:

Argentina vs Switzerland.

2 comments:

Sam Juliano said...

This is certainly a staggering presentation, but so are all your World Cup at the Movies posts. I haven't seen all the movies, hence I can't offer up any kind of definitive analysis. I'll say I am partial to the line-ups from France, Japan and Italy, but numerous others are most impressive. I am looking forward to the results. Let the next round commence Sachin!

Sachin said...

Thanks Sam. The selections from France, Japan and Italy are among my favorites too. It is going to be tough to pick a winner but it will be a fun selection process. Many films that I love so results will be very close.