World Cup, Season 3, Match 1B: Spain vs China vs Finland vs Malaysia

[joachimt]

This is match 1B of the third season of iCM Forum's Film World Cup.

Country	Original Title	English Title	Year	Manager	IMDB	ICM
Spain	Arrebato	Rapture	1979	beavis	link	link
China	Mang jing	Blind Shaft	2003	hurluberlu	link	link
Finland	Käpy selän alla	Skin, Skin	1966	nimimerkillinen	link	link
Malaysia	Hei yan quan	I Don't Want to Sleep Alone	2006	Fergenaprido	link	link

Screenshots

Arrebato


Mang jing


Käpy selän alla


Hei yan quan

Voting Rules:
- You must watch all 4 films before you vote.
- To vote, rank the 4 films from most favorite to least favorite. (note: you're ranking the individual films, not the countries)

Voting deadline = Feb 14th
Countdown till deadline

The countries that end at 1st and 2nd place proceed to the next round. The ranking of the match will be decided using these rules:
- Ranked by lowest average ranking.
- In case of a tie between two movies, head-to-head determines the winner (how many people thought A>B and how many thought B>A).
- In case there's still a tie after the previous rule or there is a tie between three or four movies, most #1-votes determines the winner.
- Still a tie? Fewest #4-votes determines the winner.
- Still a tie? The match will have a 3 day extension (except when the tie is only between #3 and #4).

Here's a quick summary of how the tournament works

We start with 48 films from 48 countries. Each country has a manager who determines which movie will be watched. In the first round the countries are divided into 12 groups of 4. From each group the countries that end up at #1 and #2 proceed to the next round. In the 2nd round the 24 remaining countries will be divided into 8 groups of 3. The managers pick a new movie. The winner of each group proceeds to the next round. The final 8 countries compete one-on-one in the quarter finals (with a new movie of course) and so on till the final.

iCM-list of all movies in this World Cup

List of all topics related to the World Cup including previous seasons

[Mario Gaborović]

1. Mang jing
2. Käpy selän alla
3. Arrebato
4. Hei yan quan

[Pretentious Hipster]

1. 盲井 [Blind Shaft] (2003)
2. 黑眼圈 [I Don't Want to Sleep Alone] (2006)
3. Arrebato [Rapture] (1980)
4. Käpy selän alla [Skin, Skin] (1966)

[edward5]

1. Arrebato 8/10
2. Mang jing 8/10
3. Käpy selän alla 7.5/10
4. Hei yan quan

First three films are strong, any of them can win if it is in group A.
And Hei yan quan is the worst film I saw in about ten Tsai films

[Cocoa]

1. Arrebato 8/10
2. Käpy selän alla 7/10
3. Mang jing 7/10
4. Hei yan quan 5/10

Arrebato is the only one I liked a lot. I haven't watched it in a few years, so I'm not going to go into any major details.

Käpy selän alla seemed to be great at first... but then someone interrupted my viewing over the halfway point ( ) and when I tried to watch the rest I just couldn't reconnect with any of the characters or plot. The cinematography was nice.

Mang jing made me cringe and feel uncomfortable several times. The film was made well enough for me to not dislike it. I easily enjoyed the two films above more than this.

Hei yan quan... was simply lacking. I really wanted to find it interesting but I just could not

[RBG]

1. Hei yan quan
2. Arrebato
3. Mang jing
4. Käpy selän alla

the finnish hippie camping film was interesting. mang jing starts out strong, like the blackest of comedies, but loses some edge along the way. arrebato is really unique. but tsai is tsai. one of the top modern filmmakers for me

[Mario Gaborović]

1. Arrebato: 2.00 (10-5)
2. Mang jing: 2.00 (10-5)
3. Käpy selän alla: 3.00 (5-10)
4. Hei yan quan: 3.00 (5-10)

Upper two and the bottom two are tied, hence the head-to-head record decided.

[Nathan Treadway]

1. Mang jing
2. Käpy selän alla
3. Arrebato
4. Hei yan quan

[toro913]

1 I don’t want to sleep alone
2 Blind shaft
3 rapture
4 skin, skin

[beavis]

1. Arrebato - 8,5
2. Mang jing - 7,8
3. Hei yan quan - 7,5
4. Käpy selän alla - 6,5

I saw Hei yan quan in cinema in 2007, and haven't seen it since. I remember it both as a weaker Ming-liang Tsai movie but also for having a cool nighttime setting on a building site (and I love Tsai's work)... I'm giving a slight edge at this point for Mang Jing, freshly seen, but it did have a clear impact on me. Simple from a storytelling standpoint, but mood and visuals did elevate it to an almost 8 for me.
My number 1 is a clear winner though, and not only because it is my own pick (previous worldcup I had to vote against my own movie, twice!) and my number 4 did very little for me... there is nothing to really hate (except maybe the few atrocious songs, but that is also endearing) but all the story-beats are utterly predictable, could have done much with a more new wave approach, like Du Côté d'Orouët for instance... I bet this worked just fine for the audiences at the time, but for me now it certainly lacked something.

[joachimt]

Mang jing: 1.875 (17-7)
Arrebato: 2.125 (15-9)
Hei yan quan: 2.875 (9-15)
Käpy selän alla: 3.125 (7-17)

[joachimt]

1. Arrebato 8/10
2. Mang jing 7/10
3. Käpy selän alla 6/10
4. Hei yan quan 5/10

Tsai and me are just not made for each other.

[Armoreska]

Does anyone have any feedback about the sub version they watched Mang Jing with?

[weirdboy]

1. Arrebato
2. Mang jing
3. Käpy selän alla
4. Hei yan quan

[Armoreska]

Mang jing 8/10
Käpy selän alla 7/10
Hei yan quan 4/10
Arrebato 3/10

[Lilarcor]

1. Arrebato 9/10

Most favorite film I've seen so far this year. What a unique film and a unique experience. Close to a 10/10.

2. Mang jing 8/10

I need to watch more Chinese cinema, what a gem.

3. Käpy selän alla 8/10
4. Hei yan quan 7/10

[Mate_cosido]

1. Mang jing
2. Arrebato
3. Hei yan quan
4. Käpy selän alla

I really liked the first three, Mang Jing i watched it about a year ago, but it was my clear nº1 i still remember it completley, great movie; Arrebato and Hei yan quan, were really close and i had trouble deciding which was nº2 i really liked both of them, and the last one didn't do much for me, i didn't hate it, but it was meh

[joachimt]

Out of 13 voters so far, 11 peope put Mang jing at either #1 or #2. No #4-votes yet. Arrebato has received only one #4-vote. So the top 2 is very clear so far.

Mang jing: 1.769 (29-10)
Arrebato: 2 (26-13)
Käpy selän alla: 3.077 (12-27)
Hei yan quan: 3.154 (11-28)

[Mario Gaborović]

I thought the actor with glasses in Käpy selän alla displayed one of the most embarrassing acting sequences of this whole cup; IMO the film is very similar to Kuuma kissa which is my personal favourite even though it didn't win Jussi Award the same year - it lost to the abovementioned one. But it also features Eero Melasniemi (who today looks like a caveman version of Benny Hill - he only misses bones to bang on and a pair of tiger pants) and unusually pretty Maarita Mäkelä.

[tarr]

1. Hei yan quan
2. Mang jing
3. Arrebato
4. Kapy selan alla

I don't think Tsai has a chance on qualifying for the next round, and the movies chosen by Fergenaprido, it's probably not the best choice for a world cup, I still really enjoyed it.

[sebby]

1. Mang jing - 5/10
2. Arrebato - 4/10
3. Hei yan quan - 4/10
4. Kapy selan alla - 3.5/10

[Armoreska]

Sebby, the new Lauren

[sebby]

Sebby, the new Lauren

What can I say, nothing from these first two rounds has done much for me.

[zhangalan]

1. Mang jing
2. Arrebato
3. Hei yan quan/Käpy selän alla
4. Käpy selän alla/Hei yan quan

A group not fitting my taste. I only enjoy Mang Jing.
I can see why Arrebato is acclaimed, but it is not my cup of tea. Still, the film has nice visual and style.
I must say that the only Tsai's work that I love is The Hole. And Skin, Skin is mediocre and boring. I have difficulty deciding which one is better, but I don't think this matters.

Looks like an easy win for China and Spain.

[Fergenaprido]

1. Hei yan quan
2. Mang jing
3. Arrebato
4. Kapy selan alla

I don't think Tsai has a chance on qualifying for the next round, and the movies chosen by Fergenaprido, it's probably not the best choice for a world cup, I still really enjoyed it.

I struggled with picking the lesser-known Tsai over an even more obscure drama, but ultimately put my money on the fact that he generally does well with the forum.
Worst case scenario, I have more time to discover additional (non-comedy) local films before the next season if I decide to manage Malaysia again.

I'm pleased that at least a few people are really enjoying my pick, though.

[joachimt]

Sebby, the new Lauren

What can I say, nothing from these first two rounds has done much for me.

I hope that doesn't keep you from watching the next matches.

[sebby]

Sebby, the new Lauren

What can I say, nothing from these first two rounds has done much for me.

I hope that doesn't keep you from watching the next matches.

I'm still going to try to watch everything.

[clemmetarey]

1. Arrebato (1979) 8/10
2. Mang jing (2003) 6/10
3. Hei yan quan (2006) 6/10
4. Käpy selän alla (1966) 5/10

[Mochard]

1. Mang jing - 6/10
2. Käpy selän alla - 5.5/10
3. Hei yan quan - 4/10
4. Arrebato - 4/10

Not my favorite round. China took the win from Finland for me!

[Armoreska]

And I thought my ordering would be unique
I wonder what will be those that no one takes, probably Hei yan quan, Käpy selän alla, Arrebato, Mang jing would be unlikely

[joachimt]

And I thought my ordering would be unique
I wonder what will be those that no one takes, probably Hei yan quan, Käpy selän alla, Arrebato, Mang jing would be unlikely

Nobody voted Finland in first place yet, so any ranking with Finland on top will probably remain unique till the end of the match.

[Armoreska]

How bout a pic upgrade for Mang jing?
I know shEEp herding is really popular so I took one when I found it.
Another one with a shaft and some nice blinding light.
https://img3.picload.org/image/ddprgrli ... m30s07.png
https://img3.picload.org/image/ddprgrlw ... m26s65.png

[monty]

I know ship herding is really popular so I took one when I found it.

Sheep herding is good but sheep smuggling is better.

[Nathan Treadway]

I know ship herding is really popular so I took one when I found it.

Sheep herding is good but sheep smuggling is better.

Who was talking about sheep? I only saw something posted about ships.

[Gershwin]

And I thought my ordering would be unique
I wonder what will be those that no one takes, probably Hei yan quan, Käpy selän alla, Arrebato, Mang jing would be unlikely

Nobody voted Finland in first place yet, so any ranking with Finland on top will probably remain unique till the end of the match.

I still have Arrebato to watch, but I can already tell that Finland will be above China and Malaysia in my final ranking. I didn't expect to, but ended up marking the Finnish entry as a favourite.

[Angel Glez]

1.Blind Shaft
2.Rapture
3.Skin, Skin
4.I Don't Want to Sleep Alone

I'm afraid I'm allergic to Tsai, even in his Malaysian version.

[Smoover]

1. Mang jing 7.5
2. Arrebato 7.0
3. Hei yan quan 7.0
4. Käpy selän alla 6.0

[burneyfan]

1. Mang jing (China)
2. Hei yan quan (Malaysia)
3. Arrebato (Spain)
4. Käpy selän alla (Finland)

Very hard to rank some of these (in fact, I changed my ranking twice as I wrote this message). Thanks to beavis, hurluberlu, nimmerkillinen, and Fergenaprido for four great candidates.

[Nathan Treadway]

What's the score right now? China looks like it's running away at the moment.

[joachimt]

What's the score right now? China looks like it's running away at the moment.

Mang jing: 1.571 (51-12)
Arrebato: 2.143 (39-24)
Hei yan quan: 3 (21-42)
Käpy selän alla: 3.286 (15-48)