Benelux Challenge - Official; July 2019

[sol]

Benelux Challenge




Goal
Watch as many Benelux movies as you can from July 1, 2019 to July 31, 2019.

Eligible Countries
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- Luxembourg

Rules
- Each feature film (over 40 minutes) counts as one entry.
- 60 minutes of short films counts as one entry.
- 120 minutes of TV episodes counts as one entry.
- 1 episode of any miniseries counts as one entry.
- 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. If you don't do this, I won't include you in the tally.

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 on the final day 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 August 2 - at which point it will have been August 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 August on your side of the world, shouldn't you be starting on one of next month's challenges, mm?

Stuck for ideas of what to watch? Look no further:

Official Lists
Belgium Film Awards
Dutch Film Festival Top 50 (2008)
Nederlands Film Festival - Gouden Kalf
Benelux Official List Films

Non-Official Lists
Belgian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Dutch submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Dutch Film Festival Top 50 (1999)
Native Films made in Luxembourg
16 Benelux films that Onderhond didn't hate

This Challenge has been run twice before in an Official capacity - though in conjunction with a Nordic Challenge on both occasions. This is our first solo Benelux Official Challenge.

2016 Challenge - hosted by 3eyes and won by PeacefulAnarchy with 36 points
2014 Challenge - hosted by Buksemannen and won by Buksemannen with 32 points

This thread will be updated at least once a day (more often if I am around and feel like it). Since I am updating manually, I would appreciate it if you list new films seen in a new post. Happy hunting watching!

Participants

Rank	iCMer	Be	Ne	Lux	Total Watches
1	jeroeno	8	33	-	41
2	jdidaco	17.7	11.3	1	30
3	72allinncallme	21.6	4.4	-	26
4	sol	7	12	-	19
5	clemmetarey	5	5	-	10
6	hurluberlu	9	-	-	9
7	Coryn	5	-	-	5
8	cinephage	3	-	-	3
9	albajos	1	1	-	2
9	blocho	1	1	-	2
9	Mario Gaborović	-	1	1	2
9	maxwelldeux	2	-	-	2
9	morrison-dylan-fan	-	2	-	2
14	allisoncm	-	1	-	1
14	3eyes	1	-	-	1
14	Eva_L	1	-	-	1

Country Tally

Belgium - 81.3
Netherlands - 70.7
Luxembourg - 2

[Onderhond]

People looking for inspiration: https://www.onderhond.com/toplist/benelux
It ain't much, but it is something.

[albajos]

The Queen's Corgi all the way!

[shugs]

2. What's wrong with my coding for the table since I have an extra column on the right?

Participants

Rank	iCMer	Be	Ne	Lux	Total Watches
1	a	b	c	d	e
1	a	b	c	d	e

Here, you had an extra [td] element at the end of the rows.

[sol]

Here, you had an extra [td] element at the end of the rows.

Dank je.

[3eyes]

I'll watch a few.

[72allinncallme]

In. Thanks for hosting sol.

[Lakigigar]

I'm from the Benelux. Will watch some if possible

[allisoncm]

I'm in.

[sol]

It starts! First in.

1. Borgman (2013) Netherlands



What initially seems likely a tame tale of an unwanted guest soon morphs into something very strange and unusual here to the point that it becomes nicely unpredictable as to what will happen next. The film concludes with a number of answered questions, but by the end of the movie it becomes obvious what the title character and his mysterious friends represent even without writer-director Alex van Warmerdam explicitly stating it. The whole thing is incredibly creepy too and downright unsettling at times as we see the behaviour of all main characters altered during the course of the film.

[blocho]

1. The Brand New Testament (Belgium)

In which Catherine Deneuve falls in love with a gorilla
And a ghost fish sings "La Mer"

[jeroeno]

1. Alles over Niets (2013) NL
2. De Zusjes Kriegel (2004) BE
3. De dwaze lotgevallen van Sherlock Jones (1975) NL

[Mario Gaborović]

1. Zusje (Netherlands, 1995)
2. Gutland (Luxembourg, 2017)

[blocho]

1. Zusje (Netherlands, 1995)
2. Gutland (Luxembourg, 2017)

What did you think of Gutland, Mario?

[jeroeno]

4. Naakt over de Schutting (1973) NL

[Mario Gaborović]

1. Zusje (Netherlands, 1995)
2. Gutland (Luxembourg, 2017)

What did you think of Gutland, Mario?

Not my cup of tea; feels like a poor man's Refn thriller. Troublemaker is still the best film from Luxembourg I've seen.

[72allinncallme]

1. La promesse / The Promise (1996) BE
2. Rosetta (1999) BE

The Dardennes’ ChallengeShow

1. La promesse / The Promise (1996) BE
2. Rosetta (1999) BE

[jeroeno]

5. Zombibi (2012) NL
6. Dood Eind (2006) NL RW

[clemmetarey]

1. Panique au village (2009) (Belgium) 7/10
A rather offbeat stop-motion animated film.

SpoilerShow

1. Panique au village (2009) (Belgium) 7/10

[Onderhond]

1. Panique au village (2009) (Belgium) 7/10
A rather offbeat stop-motion animated film.

Glad you liked it!

[clemmetarey]

1. Panique au village (2009) (Belgium) 7/10
A rather offbeat stop-motion animated film.

Glad you liked it!

Your list reminded me of its existence, I also have Ex Drummer lined up for this month.

[jeroeno]

7. Vet Hard (2005) NL RW

[hurluberlu]

1. Kill Me Please (Olias Barco, 2010) [Belgium] 5+

[maxwelldeux]

7. Vet Hard (2005) NL RW

Not to sound stupid, but what is RW?

[Onderhond]

ReWatch?

Your list reminded me of its existence, I also have Ex Drummer lined up for this month.

Hah, loved that one myself, but it's a pretty divisive film.

[72allinncallme]

7. Vet Hard (2005) NL RW

Not to sound stupid, but what is RW?

Probably rewatch. But most likely Rwanda.

[jdidaco]

(Screenshots from 'Mijn Nachten met Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra' & 'Pink Ulysses'),



1. La nuit des traqués (The Night of the Hunted, Bernard-Roland, 1959) 8/10 (Belgium/France)
2. La croix des vivants (Cross of the Living, Ivan Govar, 1962) 8.5/10 (Belgium/France)
3. Un soir... par hasard (Agent of Doom, Ivan Govar, 1963) 7.5/10 (Belgium/France)
4. Que personne ne sorte (Nobody Leave, Ivan Govar, 1964) 8/10 (Belgium/France)
5. Ibiza, zon en zonde (Ibiza, Sun and Sin, Roeland Kerbosch, 1969) 7/10 (Netherlands)
6. Naakt over de schutting (Naked Over the Fence, Frans Weisz, 1973) 7/10 (Netherlands)
7. Mijn Nachten met Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra (My Nights with Susan, Sandra, Olga & Julie, Pim de la Parra, 1975) 8/10 (Netherlands)
8. Pink Ulysses (Eric De Kuyper, 1990) 9/10 (Belgium/Netherlands)

[sol]

Benelux in FluxShow

1. Borgman (2013) Netherlands

2. The Resistance Banker (2018) Netherlands



Some of the initial ins and outs are quite interesting here as the Dutch resistance bankers have to contend with issues like the Nazis outlawing high value bank notes. This is not, however, a well paced film overall with lots of talk; the subject is decent enough but feels better suited to a tight-paced, urgent thriller rather than the slow melodrama that this is. The film lacks compelling characters too. The poster is really better than the movie itself.

[clemmetarey]

2. De illusionist (1983) (Netherlands) 6/10
A strange film with no dialogues about a peculiar family. Some funny moments, but some parts felt too long.

Also, I found this list of Benelux-movies on a official list, which looks up-to-date.

SpoilerShow

1. Panique au village (2009) (Belgium) 7/10
2. De illusionist (1983) (Netherlands) 6/10

[jeroeno]

7. Vet Hard (2005) NL RW

Not to sound stupid, but what is RW?

Rewatch

[jeroeno]

8. Springen (1986) BE
9. Flodder 3 (1995) NL RW
10. De Prooi (1985) NL
11. Vakantie in Eigen Land (2011) NL

[maxwelldeux]

7. Vet Hard (2005) NL RW

Not to sound stupid, but what is RW?

Rewatch

That makes me feel better. I was trying to figure out the Rwandan film collaborations, but didn't see that country listed on IMDB, so then I was trying to figure out what country you were were abbreviating as RW, then I started eyeing Luxembourg suspiciously... but I was a tad off base.

[72allinncallme]

3. Borgman (2013) NL, BE
4. Le fils (2002) BE
5. L'enfant (2005) BE
6. Pauline & Paulette (2001) BE, NL

I also watched a mesmerizing, seven minutes long, dutch short, The Art of Flying (2015).

The Dardennes’ ChallengeShow

1. La promesse / The Promise (1996) BE, LUX
2. Rosetta (1999) BE
3. Borgman (2013) NL, BE
4. Le fils (2002) BE
5. L'enfant (2005) BE
6. Pauline & Paulette (2001) BE, NL

[jeroeno]

12. Slachtvee (1979) BE

[cinephage]

01. Urs al-jalil, by Michel Khleifi (1987) 6/10

So this received the Belgian Film Award... It looked like the Manneken Pis was rather afar from the setting, though... Joke aside, a nice film, but more for its subject than for the way it is filmed and written.

[sol]

Benelux in FluxShow

1. Borgman (2013) Netherlands
2. The Resistance Banker (2018) Netherlands

3. Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1989) Belgium



Discovering "a way around it" via confessional, an adolescent spends a cold winter indulging in sinful thoughts, beating up his brothers and disrespecting his parents in this Belgian drama that is never half as interesting as it sounds. Michael Bacall is fine as the young protagonist but he is rarely in focus with copious time spent with his mother and father. The premise is never taken to the satirical extremes of something like Rosalie Goes Shopping either.

[hurluberlu]

2. This Is Our Land / Chez Nous (Lucas Belvaux, 2017) [Belgium] 5

NB: My first watch for the challenge was also Belgium (typo in your table)

[72allinncallme]

7. Insyriated (2017) BE
8. Crazy Love (1987) BE

The Dardennes’ ChallengeShow

1. La promesse / The Promise (1996) BE, LUX
2. Rosetta (1999) BE
3. Borgman (2013) NL, BE
4. Le fils (2002) BE
5. L'enfant (2005) BE
6. Pauline & Paulette (2001) BE, NL
7. Insyriated (2017) BE
8. Crazy Love (1987) BE

[maxwelldeux]

1. Le Fidele AKA Racer and the Jailbird (2017, Belgium)
A gangster and a racecar driver fall in love. In the first half, there's some nice heist action and racing. The second half turns into a much more tragic love story. I thought it was nice enough, but a little inconsistent and just a tad slow in the second half.

[Coryn]

Going to watch a few as I'm Belgian myself and never gotten into Benelux cinema.
Currently in Vietnam though so will try to find the time to post them as well.