Universal Language: The Surreal Canadian Comedy You Can’t Miss!

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scarcely has a movie integrated a director’s career motivations and personal background more creatively and amusingly than filmmaker Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language. Born in Canada, Rankin draws inspiration from Iranian cinema as well as American comedian Groucho Marx, which are evidently reflected in this quirky masterpiece. The film also incorporates numerous surreal concepts and visual cues, stemming from Rankin’s imagination. Universal Language, his second production (following the sillier and exceptionally surreal 2020 retelling of Canadian history in The Twentieth Century), is a gradually unveiling curiosity that seamlessly blends time periods and locations, providing equal measures of amusement and intellectual stimulation.

The Universal Language movie showcases visual quotes from renowned directors like Wes Anderson, Jacques Tati, home-town hero Guy Maddin, and Iranian maestro Abbas Kiarostami. One of Kiarostami’s works, the 1987 drama “Where Is the Friend’s House?”, serves as an inspiration here. However, Rankin isn’t confined by his cinematic influences; he creatively stamps his unique signature onto a narrative partially inspired by an event involving his grandmother. One may wonder if this dry, wintry burlesque has a broader message. Disregarding the amusing references to the Winnipeg Earmuff Authority and the man in the pink cowboy hat who serenades his turkey, the answer is affirmative: Universal Language powerfully argues for the importance of connection in a society that seeks to restrict it.

The City of Winnipeg Is an Unrecognizable Character in ‘Universal Language’

In simpler terms, the film is set within towering, generic brick and concrete buildings, captured by Canadian cinematographer Isabelle Stachtchenko in a way that restricts character movement and thus their interactions with each other. It’s important to note that Rankin’s portrayal of an alternate Winnipeg is more intriguing when observed from a cinematic perspective rather than in real life.

Initially, we’re plunged into a middle school in Winnipeg, where everything from signs to classroom chatter is predominantly in Farsi. Amidst a chaotic student body, one of whom dresses as Groucho Marx, French and Farsi are interwoven in their conversations. In the midst of this pandemonium, their exasperated teacher (Mani Soleymanlou) expresses his despair about human existence and makes them all stand in a closet until the myopic student Omid (Sobhan Javadi), who claims a turkey swiped his glasses, can read the board.

If you’ve been cautious for nearly 90 minutes amidst self-deprecating wit, it’s remarkable that Rankin’s humor doesn’t solely serve as amusement. There’s a genuine emotion lurking beneath, like ice in this instance. To aid their brother Omid in buying new spectacles, resourceful siblings Negin (played by Rojina Esmaeili) and Nazgûl (Saba Vahedyousefi) seek a 500 rial note frozen in a pond, inspired by a true event related to Rankin’s grandmother. This storyline weaves a tale that appears as a bizarre fairytale, where the children hunt for an ax to retrieve the money, eventually discovering a vendor of premium turkey goods who can only extend them a circular saw on loan.

In This Version of Canada, There are Lots of Turkeys and Lots of Laughs

Absolutely, Universal Language abounds with turkeys, but it’s far from being the strangest quirk in this film. Rankin and fellow writers Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi reserve their sharpest jabs for Canada itself. Winnipeg is divided into the equally unappealing Brown, Gray, and Beige Districts. A guide (Pirouz Nemati) leads tourists through a monotonous parade of sights, such as a shrine to Manitoba founder Louis Riel situated right on a freeway, where silence for 30 minutes is demanded in his honor. The tour also covers the site of the Great Parallel Parking Incident of 1958 and the nearly deserted Portage Place shopping center, where the dried-up mall fountain signals that all wishes have been canceled.

The various elements of the movie emphasize its central idea about relationships, with Matthew (portrayed by Rankin), gradually becoming the main character. In a comically awkward situation, Matthew encounters his overweight Quebecois supervisor, played by Danielle Fichaud in drag as a male executive, to resign from his government position. However, he spends much of this initial scene futilely trying to persuade his superior that Alberta is not the capital city of Winnipeg.

Matthew is headed to Winnipeg to be with his mom, but upon arrival, he discovers another family residing in her house. This discovery leads to a series of poignant scenes: a shared meal filled with joy, a heartwarming embrace that could make one tear up. At this point, the movie departs from its usual humor and dynamic camera angles, venturing into more profound and introspective territory, as portrayed by Rankin.

A Connected World is Worth Striving For

In the film nominee Universal Language, set in Canada, a peculiar and intricate universe conceals genuine feelings, trapped beneath the ice and yearning to be released. At some point, the tour guide exhibits a briefcase that’s been sitting on a bus bench since 1978 and designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, symbolizing “interhuman solidarity, even in its most fundamental and ordinary form.” Despite this basic and common interaction with the world, Rankin emphasizes that it remains an interaction worth pursuing.

As a movie buff, I’m thrilled to share that the much-anticipated film, Universal Language, brought to you by Metafilms, is set to hit the big screen on Valentine’s Day, thanks to Oscilloscope Laboratories.

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2025-02-11 00:02