UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE/ Une Langue Universelle, Canada, 2024. Starring Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati. Directed by Matthew Rankin. 89 minutes. Rated G.
Something of an enigmatic title. And, throughout the film, there are any number of enigmas to tantalise the audience (or put off any of the audience who might declare themselves bewildered). However, it is worth simply entering the film, accepting its enigma and style, going with the flow and accepting that we had no idea where it is a leading. Rather we should relish the strange mix of characters, situations, serious and humorous moments, as well as the many visual and verbal jokes.
This is a Canadian film, but, writer-director Matthew Rankin, has been a strong admirer of Iranian films, especially in the 1990s-2000s, with the focus on children, families, strange characters and visual storytelling. Farsi is the main language of this film, no English, some moments of French.
The story is set in Winnipeg (everybody thinking it is in Alberta and the characters insisting it is the capital of Manitoba). With the dialogue all in Farsi and Farsi signs all over the city, critics have said that the film is situated somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg.
The film has a distinctive visual style. Often the camera is placed at a distance, static shots of buildings, arches, with interactions in the background of the scene. Are the times vivid close-ups. The opening is disconcerting, a long shot of classroom building, viewing through the window the children mucking around, the severe teacher arriving, taking control and systematically bullying and humiliating the students, then walking out after sending them all into the cupboards. Where is this going? And the answer to that question is that audiences will have to go and see for themselves.
Rankin appears as a character called Matthew Rankin (audiences perhaps finding it hard to reconcile this somewhat reclusive character with the writer of all this imaginative plotting). He is returning from Montréal to visit his mother. He encounters a range of characters, especially Massoud, to guide him around the sites of Winnipeg. And, there are some children, little boy who has lost his glasses, two little girls who go to help him retrieve them from the turkey which attacked him (and, by the way, turkeys are prominent throughout the film, in TV commercials, in restaurants . . . )
It does come together in the end, quite surprisingly, with the suggestion that being humane is the universal language.
[This reviewer, bewildered and entertained, decided to look at some of the reviews of Universal Language and was delighted with critics listing so many moments that were arresting, funny, enjoyable, that all is well worthwhile looking at the lists, making one’s own list, to appreciate how much meaningful detail there was throughout the film. Try ‘Universal Language speaks from a deep well of humanity‘ or ‘Universal Language by Monica Castillo‘.]
Wonderfilm
Released 22 May