Benelux Challenge (Official, February 2021)

[Traveller]

33. Totò the Hero (1991) - 6/10 BE

[maksler]

Spoiler

1. On Top of the Whale (NL 1982, Raoul Ruiz) 5
2. A Tale of the Wind (NL, 1988, Joris Ivens) 6.5
3a. De Brug (NL, 1928, Joris Ivens) 15 min
3b. Regen (NL, 1929, Joris Ivens) 14 min
3c. Philips-Radio (NL, 1931, Joris Ivens) 36 min
3d. Father and Daughter (NL, 2000, Michael Dudok de Wit) 8 min
3e. Harpya (BE, 1979, Raoul Servais) 9 min
4. Man Bites Dog (BE, 1992, Rémy Belvaux) 8+
5. The Promise (BE, 1996, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 8
6. Rosetta (BE, 1999, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 7.5
7. The Son (BE, 2002, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 8+
8. The Child (BE, 2005, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 8+
9. Lorna's Silence (BE, 2008, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 7
10. The Kid with a Bike (BE, 2011, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 7.5
11. Two Days, One Night (BE, 2014, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) 8
12. The Vanishing (NL, 1988, George Sluizer) 7.5
13. A Question of Silence (NL, 1982, Marleen Gorris) 6.5

14. Innocence (BE, 2004, Lucile Hadzihalilovic) 7.5

[Knaldskalle]

3. Antonia's Line (Gorris, 1995). I quite liked this. Nice to see a story with strong female characters and it was a lot less misandrous than A Question of Silence. Some fun moments too, even if bits of the story are quite contrived (but then, so is a lot of magical realism, it's part of the charm). NETHERLANDS

Spoiler

1. The Unemployment Club (Bausch, 2003). LUXEMBOURG.
2. From the East (Akerman, 1993). BELGIUM
3. Antonia's Line (Gorris, 1995). NETHERLANDS

[beavis]

Spoiler

1. To Grab the Ring (1968) NL - 6.0
2. Parfait Amour (1985) NL - 6.0
3. Bluebird (2004) NL - 7.0
4. Blue Bird (2011) BE - 7.5
5. Servais (2018) BE - 6.0
6. Requiem (1986) NL - 6.0
7. Alaska (1989) NL - 7.5
8. shorts
9. shorts
10. shorts
11. shorts
12. shorts
13. shorts
14. shorts
15. shorts
16. shorts
17. shorts
18. shorts
19. Perverse et docile (1971) BE - 7.5
20. Blindgangers (1977) NL - 7.0
21. Pervertissima (1972) BE - 5.0
22. Pruimenbloesem (1982) NL - 6.0
23. Intensive Care (1991) NL - 6.5
24. Fighting Fish (2004) NL - 6.5
25. Honeyz (2007) NL - 6.5
26. shorts
27. Magnum Begynasium Bruxellense (1978) BE - 7.5
28. La comtesse noire (1973) BE - 4.5
29. De Aardwolf (1985) BE - 6.0
30. Maniac Nurses (1990) BE - 5.0
31. shorts
32. shorts
33. Lap rouge (1996) NL - 7.5
34. Medea (1982) NL - 7.5
35. Esther - voorgoed op reis (1975) NL - 6.5
36. Video & Julia (1979) NL - 8.0
37. De stille Oceaan (1984) NL+BE - 7.5
38. Bloedverwanten (1977) NL - 4.0
39. Lyrisch nitraat (1991) NL - 6.0
40. The Forbidden Quest (1993) NL - 7.5
41. Babel - lettre à mes amis restés en Belgique (1991) BE - 7.0
42. À la recherche du lieu de ma naissance (1990) BE - 7.5
43. Face Value (1991) NL - 7.0
44. Leçon de vie (1995) BE - 7.5
45. Jenny (1958) NL - 7.5
46. Diva Dolorosa (1999) NL - 7.5
47. De avonden (1989) NL - 8.0
48. De kassière (1989) NL - 7.5
49. Îles flottantes (2001) NL - 8
50. Boda secreta (1989) NL - 7,5
51. An Amsterdam Tale (1999) NL - 6,5
52. Langer licht (2006) NL - 8.0
53. Kladboekscènes (1994) NL - 7.5
54. Als twee druppels water (1963) NL - 7.5
55. Dagen zonder lief (2007) BE - 7.5
56. 170 Hz (2011) NL - 7.5
57. 06 (1994) NL - 7.5
58. Cha-Cha (1979) NL - 8.0
59. Felice... Felice... (1998) NL - 7.0
60. Met grote blijdschap (2001) NL - 7.5
61. Schijnsel (1996) NL - 8.5
62. Rent a Friend (2000) NL - 7.5
63. Cloaca (2003) NL - 7.5
64. Dokter Pulder zaait papavers (1975) NL - 8.0
65. Kermis in de regen (1962) NL - 7.5
66. Ciske de Rat (1955) NL - 8.0
67. shorts
68. Jonge harten (1936) NL - 7.5
69. Rubber (1936) NL - 6.5
70. De laatste dagen van het atelier Frans van de Staak (2002) NL - 7.0
71. De Verstekeling (1997) NL - 7.5

My final additions:

72. De Schaduwlopers (1995) NL - 8.5
73. Oogverblindend (2009) NL - 7.5
74. Blind Date (1996) NL - 8.0
75. How to Describe a Cloud (2013) NL - 7.5
76. Fietsen naar de maan (1963) NL - 7.0

Another full day of marathon watching, including a new favorite and my first David Verbeek film (curious about his new Vampire movie that is released this year)

De Schaduwlopers is a great mix of absurdist humor and noirish melancholy, inspired by the writings of Dylan Thomas and Gianni Celati. The later not a very well known entity (I saw one online review claiming it was possibly a made up name) but apparently he is somewhat linked to the more famous Italo Calvino. The film made me think of stuff like Beckett and Flann O'Brien and I liked another online review comparing it to van Warmerdam films. Also another prominent role for Ariane Schluter, making her the Dutch actor I saw the most of this month, with Kees Brusse a close second.

I think I did what I set out to do for myself: watch many titles that have been highly anticipated by me for a long time, but always delayed because other stuff seemed to be more important or have less chance of being bad. And I am convinced again that the Dutch especially often underrate their homegrown cinema. On the other hand it was also noticeable that the acting is a bit too mannered in a lot of the movies, which can be a large stumbling block for a lot of people. I am now so fully motivated to seek out all the avenues I only started to explore, that I could do another full month of Benelux before I would be out of interesting stuff to watch! I hardly touched upon Belgium I feel, but from everything available to me I think I had seen a lot already. And I kept Akerman, Hansel and Troch for the coming month's challenge... I do regret not being able to squeeze in "Small Gods" and "Sailors Don't Cry" before the deadline though. Luxembourg... what can I say I had one potentially interesting movie lined up, and another two in reserve, but the motivation just wasn't there at the moment I guess.

I did watch a few Gouden Kalf winners, but did not gain a new award on this or the other Dutch list... which is to say that there is much interesting Dutch stuff not on any list yet!

[tazz_85]

Benelux Challenge 2021

01. The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) - Netherlands
02. Yummy (2019) - Belgium
03. 22 Mei (2010) - Belgium
04. The Human Centipede II (Full sequence) (2011) - Netherlands
05. The Human Centipede III (Final sequence) (2015) - Netherlands
06. Ben X (2007) - Belgium
07. Wij (2018) - Belgium
08. Ex-Drummer (2007) - Belgium
09. Dagen Zonder Lief (2007) - Belgium
10. Torpedo: U-235 (2019) - Belgium
11. Vinyan (2008) - Belgium
12. Le Huitieme Jour (1996) - Belgium
13. Pauline & Paulette (2001) - Belgium
14. De Premier (2016) - Belgium
15. Man Bites Dog (1992) - Belgium
16. Iedereen Beroemd (2000) - Belgium
17. Calvaire (2004) - Belgium
18. Le Fidèle (2017) - Belgium
19. JCVD (2008) - Belgium
20. Hotel Monterey (1973) - Belgium
21. A La Recherche Du Lieu De Ma Naissance (1990) - Belgium
22. Marquis (1989) - Belgium
23. News From Home (1976) - Belgium
24. Young Ahmed (2019) - Belgium
25. Le Gamin au velo (2011) - Belgium
26. The Forbidden Quest (1993) - Netherlands
27. Gutland (2017) - Luxembourg

25. Le Gamin au velo (2011) - Belgium 6/10
26. The Forbidden Quest (1993) - Netherlands 6/10
27. Gutland (2017) - Luxembourg 8/10

[Lu-Chin]

Spoiler

1. Hôtel Monterey (1973) 5/10 Belgium
2. News from Home (1977) 6/10 Belgium
3. D'Est (1993) (1993) 6/10 Belgium
4. De vierde man (1983) 6/10 Netherlands
5. Turks fruit (1973) 8/10 Netherlands
6. Zwartboek (2006) 8/10 Netherlands
7. The Promise (1996) 8/10 Belgium
8. The Kid with a Bike (2011) 8/10 Belgium
9. Young Ahmed (2019) 8/10 Belgium
10. Je tu il elle (1974) 6/10 Belgium
11. Toute une nuit (1982) 6/10 Belgium
12. Le fils (2002) 7/10 Belgium
13. Rosetta (1999) 7/10 Belgium
14. La fille inconnue (2016) 6/10 Belgium
15. Soldier of Orange (1977) 8/10 Netherlands
16. Flesh+Blood (1985) 6/10 Netherlands
17. Tricked (2012) 6/10 Netherlands
18. The Forbidden Quest (1993) 7/10 Netherlands
19. Lyrisch nitraat (1991) 5/10 Netherlands
20. Diva Dolorosa (1999) 4/10 Netherlands

21. Abel (1986) 7/10 Netherlands
22. Kleine Teun (1998) 7/10 Netherlands
23. Ober (2006) 6/10 Netherlands
24. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) 8/10 Belgium

[jdidaco]

(Screenshot from 'Les tourmentes'),

23-24. Moving Stills (Frans Zwartjes & Paul de Nooijer, 1972) 7/10 (6 min), Postcards (Henri Plaat, 1974) 7.5/10 (13 min), Say Goodbye (Paul de Nooijer, 1975) 8/10 (8 min), Review (Paul de Nooijer, 1976) 7/10 (10 min), Transformation by Holding Time (Paul de Nooijer, 1976) 7/10 (3 min), Tarting Over (Paul de Nooijer & Jerry King Musser, 1981) 7/10 (3 min), Tilburg Teacher Trilogy (Paul de Nooijer & Jerry King Musser, 1981) 6.5/10 (7 min), Horizontalen (Horizontals, Bart Vegter, 1981) 9/10 (6 min), In Need of Space (Bart Vegter, 1982) 8.5/10 (6 min), De hemel is vierkant (Square Shape of Heaven, Bart Vegter, 1985) 7.5/10 (12 min), Four Moves (Bart Vegter, 1987) 7.5/10 (7 min), Nobody Had Informed Me (Paul de Nooijer & Menno de Nooijer, 1989) 7/10 (3 min), At One View (Paul de Nooijer & Menno de Nooijer, 1991) 7.5/10 (6 min), Stop the Greenhouse Effect (Paul de Nooijer & Menno de Nooijer, 1992) 6/10 (4 min), Nacht-Licht (Night-Light, Bart Vegter, 1993) 9/10 (13 min), Space-Modulation (Bart Vegter, 1994) 8/10 (1 min), Forest-Views (Bart Vegter, 1999) 7.5/10 (17 min), Zwerk (Firmament, Bart Vegter, 2004) 7/10 (8 min), Lost in America (Paul de Nooijer & Menno de Nooijer, 2005) 8/10 (6 min), De tijd (Time, Bart Vegter, 2008) 7/10 (9 min), Wilderness Series (Karel Doing, 2016) 7.5/10 (14 min) (Total: 162 min) (21xNetherlands)
25. Les tourmentes (For the Lost, Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, 2014) 8.5/10 (Belgium)
26. Meteorlar (Meteors, Gürcan Keltek, 2017) 8/10 (Netherlands)
27. Journal de septembre (September Diary, Eric Pauwels, 2019) 9/10 (Belgium)
28. Atarrabi & Mikelats (Eugène Green, 2020) 7.5/10 (Belgium)



That's it for me; thanks again for hosting, sol.

!seen 28

Spoiler

1. Dagboek (Diary, Johan van der Keuken, 1972) 9/10 (Netherlands)
2. De nieuwe ijstijd (The New Ice Age, Johan van der Keuken, 1974-79) 9/10 (Netherlands)
3. Magnum Begynasium Bruxellense (Boris Lehman, 1978) 8.5/10 (Belgium)
4. Couple, regards, positions (Boris Lehman & Nadine Wandel, 1983) 8/10 (Belgium)
5. De tijd (Time, Johan van der Keuken, 1983) 8/10 (Netherlands)
6. À la recherche du lieu de ma naissance (Looking for My Birthplace, Boris Lehman, 1990) 8/10 (Belgium)
7. Medea (Frans Zwartjes, 1982) 9/10 (Netherlands)
8. Steekspel (Tricked, Paul Verhoeven, 2012) 6.5/10 (Netherlands)
9. Pour vos beaux yeux (For Your Beautiful Eyes, Henri Storck, 1929) 7.5/10 (RV) (7 min), Idylle à la plage (Romance on the Beach, Henri Storck, 1931) 9/10 (23 min), L'île de Pâques (Easter Island, Henri Storck & John Fernhout, 1934) 7.5/10 (23 min), La fenêtre ouverte (The Open Window, Henri Storck, 1952) 7.5/10 (18 min), Les Dieux du feu (Henri Storck, 1961) 8/10 (10 min) (Total: 81 min) (5xBelgium)
10. Rubens (Henri Storck & Paul Haesaerts, 1948) 8/10 (Belgium)
11. Herman Teirlinck (Henri Storck, 1953) 7.5/10 (Belgium)
12. Un joli petit coin (Not a Bad Little Place, Patrick Van Antwerpen, 1980) 8/10 (Belgium)
13. Twee (Two, Gert de Graaff, 1986) 9/10 (Netherlands)
14. De zee die denkt (The Sea That Thinks, Gert de Graaff, 2000) 8/10 (Netherlands)
15. Sur les routes de l’été (On the Roads this Summer, Henri Storck, 1936) 7/10 (13 min), Havenlichten (Harbor Lights, Raoul Servais, 1959) 7/10 (10 min), Ô Sidarta (Michel Jakar & Philippe Druillet, 1974) 7/10 (11 min), La poupée - Les mystères de l'agence K (Gérald Frydman, 1987) 6/10 (26 min), Irkutz 88 (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 2005) 8/10 (22 min) (Total: 82 min) (5xBelgium)
16. En waar de sterre bleef stille staan (Little Baby Jesus of Flandr, Gust Van den Berghe, 2010) 8.5/10 (Belgium)
17. Blue Bird (Gust Van den Berghe, 2011) 7.5/10 (Belgium)
18. Lucifer (Gust Van den Berghe, 2014) 8/10 (Belgium)
19. Crepuscule (Victor Nieuwenhuijs & Maartje Seyferth, 2009) 7/10 (Netherlands)
20. Dead Body Welcome (Kees Brienen, 2013) 8/10 (Netherlands)
21. Het korps Mariniers (The Royal Dutch Marine Corps, Paul Verhoeven, 1965) 6/10 (22 min), De worstelaar (The Wrestler, Paul Verhoeven, 1971) 7/10 (19 min), La séquence des barres parallèles (‎The Sequence of Parallel Bars, Aryan Kaganof, 1992) 6/10 (8 min), Western 4.33 (Aryan Kaganof, 2002) 8.5/10 (32 min) (Total: 81 min) (4xNetherlands)
22. Beyond Ultra Violence: Uneasy Listening by Merzbow (Aryan Kaganof, 1998) 7.5/10 (Netherlands)

[AssonFire]

1. White King, Red Rubber, Black Death (2003 / Peter Bate / Belgium; Netherlands) 6/10
2. The Forbidden Quest (1993 / Peter Delpeut / Netherlands) 4/10 Bonus Challenge 1
3. The Sixth of May (2004 / Theo van Gogh / Netherlands) 4/10 Bonus Challenge 1
4. Taxandria (1994 / Raoul Servais / Belgium; Netherlands) 4/10

[sol]

4. Taxandria (1994 / Raoul Servais) 4/10

You have a bit less than 36 hours to add Country of Production to your viewings, otherwise you'll end up on zero points for the challenge.

[sol]

Just gave the OP a quick update since I forgot to do so yesterday. Good time to check for any errors.

No Pie Chart update because we are too close to the end. Stay tuned though to find out if NL or BE won.

Obviously it's still February in some parts of the world, so no final results yet. As indicated in the OP though, I'm hoping to do a final results post in around 33 hours from now - at which point it will have been March everywhere in the world for more than a whole day. Don't miss the deadline!

[Traveller]

34. A Town Called Panic (2009) - 5/10 BE

That’s it for me. Thanks for hosting and the daily reminder that pie is good, sol.

[sol]

R E S U L T S

Okay, the deadline has now passed and it has now been March everywhere in the world for more than 24 hours.

Top 10 players this month:

Rank	Participant	Count	Saw 22M ?	Saw TFQ ?	Be	Ne	Lux	Undeclared
1	beavis	76	-	YES!	17.5	58.5	-	-
2	sol	41	-	-	12	26	3	-
3	Traveller	34	-	-	12	22	-	-
4	Mario Gaborović	32	-	-	11	19	2	-
5	jeroeno	30	-	YES!	4.8	25.2	-	-
6	jdidaco	28	-	-	14	14	-	-
7	tazz_85	27	YES!	YES!	22	4	1	-
8	Lu-Chin	24	-	YES!	12	12	-	-
9	maksler	14	-	-	9.1	4.9	-	-
10	max-scl	12	-	-	6	6	-	-

Full results available and up-to-date in the OP.

But what if this was actually a Belgium-Only Challenge?

Rank	Participant	Count	Saw 22M ?	Saw TFQ ?	Be	Ne	Lux	Undeclared
1	tazz_85	27	YES!	YES!	22	4	1	-
2	beavis	76	-	YES!	17.5	58.5	-	-
3	jdidaco	28	-	-	14	14	-	-
4	sol	41	-	-	12	26	3	-
4	Traveller	34	-	-	12	22	-	-
4	Lu-Chin	24	-	YES!	12	12	-	-
7	Mario Gaborović	32	-	-	11	19	2	-
8	maksler	14	-	-	9.1	4.9	-	-
9	hurluberlu	9	-	-	7	2	-	-
9	Lakigigar	7	YES!	-	7	-	-	-

But what if this was actually a Netherlands-Only Challenge?

Rank	Participant	Count	Saw 22M ?	Saw TFQ ?	Be	Ne	Lux	Undeclared
1	beavis	76	-	YES!	17.5	58.5	-	-
2	sol	41	-	-	12	26	3	-
3	jeroeno	30	-	YES!	4.8	25.2	-	-
4	Traveller	34	-	-	12	22	-	-
5	Mario Gaborović	32	-	-	11	19	2	-
6	jdidaco	28	-	-	14	14	-	-
7	Lu-Chin	24	-	YES!	12	12	-	-
8	max-scl	12	-	-	6	6	-	-
9	frbrown	8	-	-	3	5	-	-
10	maksler	14	-	-	9.1	4.9	-	-

But what if this was actually a Luxembourg-Only Challenge?

Rank	Participant	Count	Saw 22M ?	Saw TFQ ?	Be	Ne	Lux	Undeclared
1	sol	41	-	-	12	26	3	-
2	Mario Gaborović	32	-	-	11	19	2	-
3	tazz_85	27	YES!	YES!	22	4	1	-
3	maxwelldeux	8	YES!	YES!	4	3	1	-
3	Knaldskalle	3	-	-	1	1	1	-

So which country received the most viewings overall?

Last time I ran this Challenge, the BE and NL numbers were really close with BE only just edging out a lead. This time round, the Dutch mafia were back with a vengeance. NL was ahead of BE every step of the way with a 52.2 point difference overall.



How did the Bonus Challenges go?

Well done to maxwelldeux for be one of only two participants to complete both bonus challenges. He did it first, but tazz_85 also got in there. And kudos to AssonFire for trying, even if he ended up watching the wrong May film.

Congrats also to Mario and Sol and Knalds as the only other participants to watch something from every Benelux country.

And many thanks to beavis, jero, Lu-Chin and Laki also for daring to check out at least one of my recommendations.

How about other shout-outs to other users?

Wat? Lezen jullie dit nog steeds? (dankzij Google Translate)

Congrats to jdidaco for doing his unusual even-stevens thing and watching 50% from the two main countries. Lu-Chin achieved this too.

Special mention to Traveller too for seeing the most films without touching the bonus challenges or Luxembourg.

Laki also saw the most BE films without a single NL point (7) while absolutely EVERYONE saw something from Belgium and yet the Belgians still couldn't top the pie chart.

Oh, and a final congrats to Sol for finally learning that Orange is the national colour of Holland... and for learning the hard way at that.



See you all on the March Challenge threads! Thanks for playing. Tot ziens op de threads van de March Challenge! Bedankt voor het spelen.

[beavis]

Excellent hosting, thanks!

[Onderhond]

See you all on the March Challenge threads! Thanks for playing. Tot ziens op de threads van de March Challenge! Bedankt voor het spelen.

No French/German see offs? That's another cultural row sol