Iberian Peninsula Challenge - Official; May 2020

[sol]

Iberian Peninsula Challenge


Pictured: The Territory (1981)



Goal
Watch as many Iberian movies as you can from May 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020.

Eligible Countries (source)
- Spain *
- Portugal
- Andorra
- Gibraltar

* Spain has a very large number of co-productions. I would ask you to think carefully about whether you think that any co-productions really represent Spanish cinema. As a general rule of thumb, anything nominated for a national award (Goya; Cinema Writers of Spain Awards, etc) is eligible.

Rules
- Each feature film (over 40 minutes) counts as one entry.
- 60 minutes of short films counts as one entry.
- 1 episode of any miniseries counts as one entry.
- 1 entire season of a television show counts as one entry.
- Individual television episodes are not eligible.
- Rewatches are allowed and are good for the soul.
- Please include year of release when listing your viewings.
- Please indicate each film's country when listing your viewings otherwise your score will not be included in the leaderboard.

Fair play (adapted from albajos)
- Remember this is a community event, so participating is not only about listing titles. If you post early, this gives the other participants suggestions for their own viewings and it brings the community closer together.
- If you're in the top 5 please post at least once every three days.
- I will not allow anyone to enter the top 5 during the final three days with their first post.

I reserve the right to exclude participants who intentionally number their viewings incorrectly. If you play the game, you're expected to play properly.

DEADLINE
Final results will be posted between 2:30pm and 3:00pm GMT on June 2 - at which point it will have been June everywhere in the world for more than a whole day. While you are welcome to post updates beyond this point, any such updates will not be included in the final results. Your choice whether you miss the deadline or not; besides, if it's June on your side of the world, shouldn't you be starting on one of next month's challenges?

Stuck for ideas of what to watch? Look no further: (big shout-out to maxwell and sortile, whose links I have shamelessly copy-and-pasted)

Official Lists
- Caimán's Top Spanish Films
- Nickel Odeón Top Spanish films until 1995
- Público's Best Portuguese Films
- Goya Award for Best Spanish Film
- UNESCO's Memory of the World: Spain: 671-685; Portugal: 583-597

Non-Official Lists
- iCM Forum's Favourite Iberian Movies
- 50 best Spanish Movies by Rockdelux
- A Critical Anthology of Spanish Cinema (1906-1995)
- Cinema ad hoc: las 50 mejores películas españolas de la historia
- Cintas de oro: The 50 Best Spanish films
- Goya Award Best Film Nominees
- Guide to the Cinema of Spain
- Nickel Odeon - Best Comedies in Spanish Cinema
- Nickel Odeon - Best Screenplays in Spanish Cinema
- Popular Spanish cinema in the late Franco years
- Spanish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Portuguese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

This Challenge has been held once before in an Official capacity:

2018 Challenge - hosted by maxwelldeux and won by 72a with 66 points

Similar (Spain-only) challenges have been run twice before:

2014 Challenge - hosted by sortile9io and won by sortile9io with 21 points
2012 Challenge - hosted by frbrown and won by WalterNeff with 15 points

Fun Stats

Maybe. Certainly not if this Challenges gets very busy, but I would at least like to be able to present a Spain vs Portugal vs Other pie chart.

This thread will be updated at least once every 48 hours (more often if I am around and feel like it). Please list new films seen in a new post.

Bonus Challenge #1: Watch The Territory by Raúl Ruiz (iCM)

Bonus Challenge #2: Get something in every column below... except the last column. The only way to do this is by watching the Ruiz film as well as something from each of Iberian countries and remembering to include the country with every viewing. Is this even possible? I don't know. We'll see who gets the closest. There are at least two eligible features from Andorra and one eligible feature and two eligible documentaries from Gibraltar.
Who can finish the bonus challenges first? Well done to peeptoad - you rock! Will anybody else complete both challenges?

Any points in the "undeclared" column will not count towards your final score. You must declare the country when listing your viewings.

Participants

Rank	Participant	Count	Territory?	xSpainx	Portugal	Andorra	Gibraltar	Undeclared
1	blueboybob	123	-	90	33	-	-	-
2	jdidaco	50	-	25	25	-	-	-
3	peeptoad	39		26	11	1	1	-
3	sol	39	-	37	2	-	-	-
5	Mario Gaborović	26	-	15.2	4.3	2	2.5	-
6	flavo5000	23	-	20	2	0.5	0.5	-
7	jeroeno	19	-	15	4	-	-	-
8	funkybusiness	16	-	-	16	-	-	-
9	Straka	15	-	15	-	-	-	-
10	morrison-dylan-fan	14	-	14	-	-	-	-
11	jal90	12	-	9	3	-	-	-
12	cinephage	11	-	9	2	-	-	-
13	OldAle1	10	-	5.2	2.8	1	1	-
14	ororama	7	-	6	1	-	-	-
15	AB537	6	-	6	-	-	-	-
15	allisoncm	6	-	2	4	-	-	-
17	hurluberlu	5	-	3	2	-	-	-
18	blocho	4	-	3	-	1	-	-
18	Lilacor	4	-	3	-	1	-	-
20	frbrown	3	-	3	-	-	-	-
20	shugs	3	-	3	-	-	-	-
22	max-scl	2	-	2	-	-	-	-
22	maxwelldeux	2	-	2	-	-	-	-
22	mightysparks	2	-	2	-	-	-	-
22	Obgeoff	2	-	-	2	-	-	-
22	vortexsurfer	2	-	2	-	-	-	-

[morrison-dylan-fan]

Thanks for hosting Sol! I'll kick off with a Shudder exclusive.

FTV:1:The Corpse of Anna Fritz (2015) (Spain.) 7.



Laying dead naked on a cold steel morgue table, Alba Ribas gives a incredibly raw performance as Fritz, whose frozen, anguished face is held by Ribas with the abuse inflicted upon Fritz. Entering as three frat boys who butt heads from their first sighting of Fritz corpse, Cristian Valencia, Albert Carbo and Bernat Saumell give great turns as Ivan, Pau and Javi abrasively stand at utter odds with each other, from Valencia keeping Ivan on a short fuse, Caro pushing Pau round as the flunky, and Saumell running Javi as the guy trying to be the voice of reason to calm things down.

Bringing Fritz into the morgue as a background radio plays out her obituary, co-writer/(with Isaac P. Creus) director Hector Hernandez Vicens & cinematographer Ricard Canyellas place on the table a lean and mean Horror atmosphere, with Vicens and Canyellas stylishly using the one location for pristine wide-shots clean of any morals from the trio. Abusing Fritz’s corpse, Vicens carefully stays away from indulging in sleaze, by closing the camera in on tight close-ups to Fritz’s innocent face as horrific abuse is inflicted on her.

Wisely matching the limited location with just a handful of character, the screenplay by Vicens and Creus take the repulsive act the guys inflict, and tightly twist the repercussions that unfold from their actions, bringing them at deadly loggerheads with each other. Objectifying Fritz in life from her films and continuing to the most extreme level in her death, the writers unzip a killer twist which starkly confronts the trio of scum over what they did to the corpse of Anna Fritz.

[peeptoad]

...hopefully this is one of the docs that counts. Thanks for hosting, sol.

1. Operation Felix (Gibraltar, 2008) 6

[sol]

A great start!

1. The Invisible Guest (2016) Spain



Accused of murdering his lover inside a locked hotel room that nobody else had access to, a Spanish man discusses different ways with his lawyer that he could spin a case to prove his innocence in this riveting thriller. Indeed, for a film that is essentially just one long conversation, the movie drums up a truckload of suspense with plenty of twists and turns along the way that lead to intriguing shifts in audience sympathy. Amazing final stare too.

[sol]

Current Pie Chart for the Challenge:



Gibraltar is currently beating Portugal. Can the tiny nation keep it up?

[Mario Gaborović]

1. Andorra la República más pequeña del mundo (1935) + The Albius Incident (1992) + Persefone: Mind as Universe (China Tour Documentary) (2013) + Persefone: Spiritual Migration (2013) + Nami: Bless of Faintness (2015) - Andorra
2. Operation Felix (2008) - Gibraltar

[sol]

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the... drain?

1. The Invisible Guest (2016) Spain

2. The Fury of a Patient Man (2016) Spain



The set-up is intriguing here and Antonio de la Torre is well cast, but the plot often feels too complicated for its own good with some baffling character motivations. It all ends very abruptly too and some of the violence is borderline comical (boiling kettle sound effects as de la Torre eyes a screwdriver before deciding to use it as a weapon). There are some tense moments though with a lot of uncertainty as to just when/how he will exact his revenge.

[sol]

Gibraltar is currently beating Portugal. Can the tiny nation keep it up?

Apparently so.



Okay - now, there's no chance that I will keep posting pie chart updates as regularly as this, but I just couldn't help posting a second update so soon...

[Mario Gaborović]

3. Socotra, la isla de los genios (2016) - Spain

Spoiler

1. Andorra la República más pequeña del mundo (1935) + The Albius Incident (1992) + Persefone: Mind as Universe (China Tour Documentary) (2013) + Persefone: Spiritual Migration (2013) + Nami: Bless of Faintness (2015) - Andorra
2. Operation Felix (2008) - Gibraltar

[mathiasa]

Are there official movies from Andorra or Gibraltar?

A small part of France is also on Iberia, but I guess, they don‘t make movies there.

[Mario Gaborović]

Are there official movies from Andorra or Gibraltar?

A small part of France is also on Iberia, but I guess, they don‘t make movies there.

No, the both only made 1 dramatic feature each (as of 2020). I don't count minor co-productions such in the case of Amor idiota, which is Spanish.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093266/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3156000/

[max-scl]

1. All About My Mother (1999, Pedro Almodóvar) - Spain

[Mario Gaborović]

4. El día de la bestia (1995) - Spain

Spoiler

1. Andorra la República más pequeña del mundo (1935) + The Albius Incident (1992) + Persefone: Mind as Universe (China Tour Documentary) (2013) + Persefone: Spiritual Migration (2013) + Nami: Bless of Faintness (2015) - Andorra
2. Operation Felix (2008) - Gibraltar
3. Socotra, la isla de los genios (2016) - Spain

[mathiasa]

Are there official movies from Andorra or Gibraltar?

A small part of France is also on Iberia, but I guess, they don‘t make movies there.

No, the both only made 1 dramatic feature each (as of 2020). I don't count minor co-productions such in the case of Amor idiota, which is Spanish.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093266/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3156000/

They both have only one feature film each? That‘s tempting. If I can get my hands on them I‘ll watch them.

[Mario Gaborović]

Are there official movies from Andorra or Gibraltar?

A small part of France is also on Iberia, but I guess, they don‘t make movies there.

No, the both only made 1 dramatic feature each (as of 2020). I don't count minor co-productions such in the case of Amor idiota, which is Spanish.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093266/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3156000/

They both have only one feature film each? That‘s tempting. If I can get my hands on them I‘ll watch them.

Btw only the Gibraltarian one is available.

They have some docs or shorts, too.

[mathiasa]

No, the both only made 1 dramatic feature each (as of 2020). I don't count minor co-productions such in the case of Amor idiota, which is Spanish.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093266/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3156000/

They both have only one feature film each? That‘s tempting. If I can get my hands on them I‘ll watch them.

Btw only the Gibraltarian one is available.

They have some docs or shorts, too.

Ok, I‘m mostly focussing on spanish and portuguese movies. I just thought to myself yesterday, when I saw the spanish Film of the week, that I would like to concentrate on Iberia movies for a time. Next day you came with this challenge. Incredible.

[maxwelldeux]

1. Al este del oeste (1984, Spain)

Comments in Comedy, but a nice triple and good way to start the challenge. Recommended!

[allisoncm]

I wonder, but maybe I'll only watch Portuguese films for this challenge. A good time to get 50% on the Portuguese list.

[jal90]

1. La educación sentimental (Jorge Juárez, 2020) - Spain
2. Actos de primavera (Adrián García Prado, 2019) - Spain

Both films that can be watched in an online film festival on a Spanish streaming platform. They are docufictional diaries that explore the directors' lives through their relationship with cinema but couldn't be more different. La educación sentimental tells a personal drama with a clear attempt to provoke empathy and ultimately holds a pessimistic view of film, as a mean to represent and express ideas in a more of less eloquent way, but something that will never replace reality, heal or fulfill him emotionally. Actos de primavera is more abstruse, hard to follow and clearly doesn't care about building empathy, but it ends up transmitting a viewpoint about cinema in itself as an object of passion, about the beauty inherent to its structure and its mechanisms. Both valid takes in my opinion. The films are not perfectly solid, but they are fine and it was quite interesting to watch them back to back as sort of polar opposites, and as an extension of the duality of my cinephilia.

[morrison-dylan-fan]

FTV:2:Shrew's Nest (2014) (Spain.) 10.



Whilst Montse is an agoraphobic, co-writer/(with Sofia Cuenca/Angel Amoros and Emma Tusell) co-director Juanfer Andres,and fellow co-director Esteban Roel are joined by cinematographer/co-writer Amoros in taking the horror out of the darkness and into magnificently tailored lighting. Set in the 1950’s, the directors elegantly shine the household in angelic lighting flickering up the meek wallpaper and brightening the dour Gothic dresses Montse wears.

Knowing every corner of the house, the directors follow Montse with a incredible tracking shot going through the maze of the home, and reaching the exit of a in-camera trick shot going back to Montse’s childhood. Bedding a atmosphere of impending despair, from the shivering under blue light fear of sister Nina in the corner of each room, to the stomping on bloody rage wide-shots pinning Carlos on the bed with the eyes of Montse always watching over him. Bringing Carlos into the middle of the sisters with a broken leg, the writers superbly dress intimate Gothic Melodrama with the brittle outbreak of abrasive Horror. Painting her out of the corner, the writers create a detailed character portrait of Montse, whose layers since childhood the writers peel away to display the events which still haunt her, and the terror which grips Carlos and Nina, from the realisation that Montse wants them to join,and stay in her own maze.

Left in bed for the entire film, Hugo Silva gives a terrific turn as Carlos, whose face and voice Silva marks with initial relaxation turning into frustration and utter horror,as Silva has Carlos become away that there is nowhere to run. Weighed down with less of the historical darkness that haunts her sister,Nadia de Santiago gives a shimmering performance as Nina,whose love and compassion for Montse and her challenging condition,Santiago burns at the edges as her sister takes it to a extreme level. Terrified of her sister and Carlos leaving her, Macarena Gomez is utterly mesmerising as Montse, whose every moment in life Gomez has weighed down by the horrors of the past, causing Montse to break out in a rage over Carlos and Nina wanting to leave the nest.

[Mario Gaborović]

5. La ley del deseo (1987) - Spain
6. Operation Tracer (2013) - Gibraltar

Spoiler

1. Andorra la República más pequeña del mundo (1935) + The Albius Incident (1992) + Persefone: Mind as Universe (China Tour Documentary) (2013) + Persefone: Spiritual Migration (2013) + Nami: Bless of Faintness (2015) - Andorra
2. Operation Felix (2008) - Gibraltar
3. Socotra, la isla de los genios (2016) - Spain
4. El día de la bestia (1995) - Spain

[jeroeno]

1. Los Golfos (Spain, 1960)
2. ...ere erera baleibu izik subua aruaren... (Spain, 1970)
3. Acto da Primavera (Portugal, 1963)

[sol]

Updated Pie Chart - a.k.a. Portugal Strikes Back!

[peeptoad]

2. El bosque del lobo (Spain, 1970) The Ancines Woods 7
3. O Sangue (Portugal, 1989) Blood 9

já visto

1. Operation Felix (Gibraltar, 2008) 6

[max-scl]

2. Que Dios nos perdone (2016, Rodrigo Sorogoyen) - Spain

[blueboybob]

Do people think the Spaghetti Westerns that list "Italy|Spain" on IMDB would count? Would like a second opinion.

[Mario Gaborović]

Do people think the Spaghetti Westerns that list "Italy|Spain" on IMDB would count? Would like a second opinion.

That's credible but if I'd go exploring Iberian cinema, I wouldn't count it myself even if that would gain me some points.

[Mario Gaborović]

07. Entre tinieblas (1983) - Spain
08. Carne trémula (1997) - Spain

Spoiler

01. Andorra la República más pequeña del mundo (1935) + The Albius Incident (1992) + Persefone: Mind as Universe (China Tour Documentary) (2013) + Persefone: Spiritual Migration (2013) + Nami: Bless of Faintness (2015) - Andorra
02. Operation Felix (2008) - Gibraltar
03. Socotra, la isla de los genios (2016) - Spain
04. El día de la bestia (1995) - Spain
05. La ley del deseo (1987) - Spain
06. Operation Tracer (2013) - Gibraltar

[Straka]

Do people think the Spaghetti Westerns that list "Italy|Spain" on IMDB would count? Would like a second opinion.

There is a handful made by Spanish directors that have Spanish original titles, those should count as Spanish as much as the ones made by Italians are Italian movies.

But if you havent seen it yet, go watch 800 balas instead. You might be able to pass it as a triple in this months round of challenges.

[blueboybob]

1. [Spain] Los santos inocentes (1984)
2. [Spain] La tía Tula (1964)
3. [Spain] El día de la bestia (1995)
4. [Spain] El mundo sigue (1965)
5. [Spain] Història de la meva mort (2013)
6. [Spain] Honor de cavalleria (2006)
7. [Spain] Tras el cristal (1986)

[sol]

Do people think the Spaghetti Westerns that list "Italy|Spain" on IMDB would count? Would like a second opinion.

There is a handful made by Spanish directors that have Spanish original titles, those should count as Spanish as much as the ones made by Italians are Italian movies.

I would agree with this.

To work out eligibility, I would look at the nationality of the cast and crew (especially producers), the language spoken, where the film was shot and the production companies attached. If a film meets three or more of these criteria, I would feel safe to regard it as Spanish myself.

Just to be clear though, I'm not going to go through and double check eligibility of every title. If somebody posts something obviously incorrect, like The Bourne Ultimatum, I will interject, but I trust that most participants will use this Challenge to genuinely explore Iberian cinema rather than to indulge in borderline stuff that may or may not really fit in.

[morrison-dylan-fan]

FTV:3:Witching and Bitching (2013) (Spain.)9.



Bewitching the viewer with a jewel shop robbery involving a man dressed as a toy solider and another man being joined by his young son,as he takes part in the robbery dressed as a silver Jesus, co-writer/(with regular comparator Jorge Guerricaechevarría) directing auteur Alex de la Iglesia reunites with cinematographer Kiko de la Rica, and performs a breathtaking multiple change of genre,running with the robbers out of the shop in rapid-fire whip-pans that becomes seated in a road movie of smooth criss-crossing pans and zoom-ins on the increased bickering of the robbers.

Shooting a SpongeBob SquarePants blocking their way to the getaway car, Iglesia conjurers up a gloriously wacky Comedy atmosphere of ultra-stylised tracking shots into the heart of the witches coven,twirling to zip-line close-ups on the cackling witches,and the hilarious quivering in their boots reaction from the jaw-slacked guys. Whilst dipping Slap-Stick Black Comedy over everyone, Iglesia impressively keeps the comedic balanced, whilst treating the horror Jose, Antonio, Sergio and Manuel come under the spell of seriously, via a decadent lair for the cannibalistic witches, spun in shiny blacks and splinters of yellows being swept along by the brooms, which Iglesia sends flying with a spectacularly over the top Monster Movie final battle.

Crisply establishing the friction between Antonio, Jose and his son Sergio in the snapping back and fourth during the robbery, the screenplay by Iglesia & Guerricaechevarría dip these relationships into a witches cauldron of Jose (a great, quick-witted Hugo Silva) Antonio, (a wonderfully chatty Mario Casas) and Manuel (a funny, nervous Jaime Ordonez) becoming increasingly aware that their detour from a quick getaway does risk them dying, but increasingly finding themselves unable to break a bewitching spell.

[jeroeno]

4. Contactos (Spain, 1970)
5. El mundo sigue (Spain, 1965)

[hurluberlu]

1. Uncle Hyacynth / Mi tío Jacinto (Ladislao Vajda, 1956) [Spain] 7

[peeptoad]

4. Los ojos de Julia (Spain, 2010) Julia's Eyes 6

já visto

1. Operation Felix (Gibraltar, 2008) 6
2. El bosque del lobo (Spain, 1970) The Ancines Woods 7
3. O Sangue (Portugal, 1989) Blood 9

[sol]

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the... drain?

1. The Invisible Guest (2016) Spain
2. The Fury of a Patient Man (2016) Spain

3. The House That Screamed (1969) Spain



This certainly benefits from a spooky setting, with the action confined to a gothic-looking boarding school full of dark corridors illuminated by candle light. Lilli Palmer is also decent as the headmistress who rules with an iron fist. Very little in the film happens plot-wise though. There is the suggestion that an unusually large number of students are fleeing the school, never to be heard from again, but it is over halfway in before any real horror occurs.

[sol]

Updated pie chart:

[Lilarcor]

1. Nick (Jose Pozo, 2016) 3/10 Andorra

I had two things on my mind while watching this: 1) This is a bit of a strange film for the Andorra Tourism Board to sponsor, given that it is a murder-story set to Andorra 2) The film could have been a lot worse.

The film is by no means great, but I saw plenty of way worse films last year when I watched all feature films produced in Sweden that year. This is fairly competently made, and as rude as it possibly sounds, I didn't even expect it to be passable given the probably extremely limited production circumstances. But it is! It is never a film that challenges the audience but it went by fairly quickly (albeit uneventfully). Decent technically speaking and mostly okay to decent performances, what drags it down the most is the writing, as usual for films like this. There are some decent and distinct establishing shots that show a bit of the Andorran landscape, it would have been great with more of that though.

e: I am very amused by the tiny territories putting up a fight against Portugal in this challenge.

[Mario Gaborović]

1. Nick (Jose Pozo, 2016) Andorra

HOW? WHERE?

[Lilarcor]

1. Nick (Jose Pozo, 2016) Andorra

HOW? WHERE?

It's on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nick-Cooper-Cr ... B06XKZYPVW