The Best Movie at Cannes Last Year Is Finally in Theaters

by

This review, initially shared on May 23rd, 2024 during the Cannes Film Festival, is being re-shared as Universal Language is now playing in cinemas.

One challenge when attending grand festivals like Cannes is the apprehension of overlooking hidden treasures – the films by less established directors that are shown outside of the competition, in various programs. This concern intensifies at Cannes because while the main festival with its red carpets and lengthy standing ovations continues, numerous side festivals also take place, each featuring a diverse selection of international movies. Among these, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week are the most well-known. Although they are collectively referred to as Cannes, people on the ground often grapple daily between watching big films starring renowned actors (many of which are indeed impressive) and smaller ones screened in different locations along the Croisette. Some of these lesser-known films are truly exceptional – for instance, Directors’ Fortnight has been the platform for films like Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider” (2017), Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” (2017), and Céline Sciamma’s “Girlhood” (2014). Remarkably, it also premiered classics such as “Mean Streets” (1973) and “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1972). This year, it showcased what could be the best film I’ve seen at Cannes – Matthew Rankin’s “Universal Language.

At first glance, Rankin’s movie might appear to be a niche interest for film enthusiasts, but I think it will connect with a broader audience. The opening credits, written in Farsi, hint at the Winnipeg Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young People, an organization that seems fictional from my perspective. However, it appears to be a tribute to the actual Iranian institution of the same name (also known as Kanoon) from the 1970s and ’80s, which produced significant films, including early works by Abbas Kiarostami. The opening scene mirrors those classic works: A teacher (Mani Soleymanlou), having trekked through snow for what seems like miles, enters a classroom in Winnipeg and demands silence from his Canadian students – all in Farsi. In the universe of Universal Language, Winnipeg and Iran have merged. Everyone speaks Farsi. They sing Persian songs. They sweeten their tea by putting a sugar cube in their mouth first.

In Rankin’s movie, there are several quirky elements that make it stand out. The film unfolds in a unique blend of poetic realism reminiscent of the Iranian New Wave, intertwining surreal humor, dry wit, and somber gloom. One student in the mentioned class is dressed as Groucho Marx; another (Sobhan Javadi) claims that a turkey took his glasses (which surprisingly turns out to be true). Outside, a tour guide (Pirouz Nemati) takes tourists on an apparently never-ending stroll, showing them significant landmarks like the Universal Pavilion Parking Lot from the Great Parallel Parking Incident of 1958 and a suitcase left on a park bench in 1978. Two girls (Rojina Esmaeili and Saba Vahedyousefi) search for an ax to free a 500-rial bill frozen in the ice. Meanwhile, a woman works as a lacrimologist at a local cemetery, providing tissues to mourners. Simultaneously, in Montreal, a man named Matthew Rankin (portrayed by Matthew Rankin himself) argues with his boss about whether Winnipeg is located in Manitoba or Alberta before returning home from his government ministry job.

a contemplation on self-erasure, on the fear of leaving home and being unable to find one’s way back.

Rankin is recognized mainly as an avant-garde filmmaker, but he’s recently gained a foothold in more mainstream audiences. His initial films featured brief, eccentric interpretations of silent cinema and past genres such as war movies, melodramas, propaganda, etc., earning comparisons to fellow Winnipegger Guy Maddin whose work shares a similar multimedia symbolism. In 2019, Rankin’s first full-length directorial effort, “The Twentieth Century“, a stylish and peculiar portrayal of the early life of Canada’s longest-serving prime minister, was nominated for Best Picture and Director at the Canadian Screen Awards and distributed in the U.S. by Oscilloscope (they will also release this upcoming one). Contrastingly, “Universal Language“, with its soothing pacing and poetic eloquence, appears to be a stark contrast to those early films.

In 2008, Rankin produced a captivating short video titled “Universal Language.” This film portrayed Winnipeg as a city where everyone spoke Farsi and was inspired by Kiarostami’s 1990 masterpiece, Close-Up. In this movie, the protagonist poses as a famous Iranian director to infiltrate a well-off Tehran family. If you haven’t watched Close-Up, it is highly recommended – a groundbreaking film from the past few decades that can be found on the Criterion Channel along with several other Kiarostami films. In Rankin’s short, he himself assumes the role of an imposter pretending to be a lesser-known Winnipeg director named Matthew Rankin. This two-minute piece is a humorous and lighthearted endeavor, but when viewed through the lens of Universal Language, its themes of artistic influence, imitation, and existential contemplation become more profound. Universal Language also delves into various genres, albeit in subtle ways. At its core, it represents an artist grappling with a universal struggle: our inability, as we age, to emulate the people we aspire to be.

Read More

2025-02-15 03:54