Matthew Rankin
Universal Language
Universal Language
CA
2024, 89', fa, fr
Age 16+

 

It’s no longer clear where we are – Winnipeg or Tehran. Distinct cultures and the English, French, and Persian languages are there to swirl, fates and identities – to intertwine surreally. Students Negin and Nazgol discover a banknote frozen in a block of ice and try to get their hands on it. Meanwhile, Massoud guides bewildered tourists around the city. Matthew, worn out by life, quits his civil service job at a government office in Quebec and plans to go visit his mother in Winnipeg… Matthew grumps – it turns out Massoud is already in his family home and has taken his place. Wait, what’s going on here?

It turns out that the best Iranian cinema is made in Canada. That’s how director and actor Rankin, who plays the role of Matthew, would put it in his deadpan manner. Featured in the Director's Fortnight, this metafiction bares its sharp teeth to charge directly at cultural stereotypes, the comedy genre, and language (what's the new lingua franca – the clue is in this very description). The Winnipeg-born author is a history prankster, a cinematic swashbuckler who looks back at the long century (yes, he is the author of The 20th Century (2019), the film dedicated to urination contest and political theatre, screened at RIGA IFF) and deceives with gleeful experimentation, just like his neighbour Maddin, another Canadian gem. With nods to Iranian classics Kiarostami and Panahi, this piece brims with warm nostalgia and an alternate reality, inspired by film and a touch of good old globalisation. Even the turkeys dashing through the snowy streets of Winnipeg have their cinematic references.