There is nothing lost in translation when it comes to “The Twentieth Century” filmmaker Matthew Rankin‘s surreal triptych comedy “Universal Language.”
The feature, which debuted at Cannes 2024 and was deemed an IndieWire Critic’s Pick before winning the Audience Award in Directors’ Fortnight, is written and directed by Rankin, who also stars as a version of himself. Rankin described the film in press notes as an “autobiographical hallucination” that led him to travel from his native Winnipeg to Tehran to find the cinematic auteurs he grew up watching. “Universal Language” is co-written by Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi.
The official synopsis reads: “In a mysterious and surreal interzone somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg, the lives of multiple characters interweave with each other in surprising and mysterious ways. Grade-schoolers Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to claim it. Meanwhile, Massoud leads a group of increasingly befuddled tourists through the monuments and historic sites of Winnipeg. Matthew quits his meaningless job in a Québecois government office and sets out upon an enigmatic journey to visit his mother. Space, time, and personal identities crossfade, interweave, and echo into a surreal comedy of misdirection.”
Along with Rankin, “Universal Language” also stars Pirouz Nemati, Rojina Esmaeili, Danielle Fichaud, and Sobhan Javadi. The film is produced by Sylvain Corbeil.
IndieWire critic David Ehrlich wrote in his review that the feature is “first and foremost a testament to the shared artifice of all filmic storytelling, and to the singular realities it’s able to bring alive in turn.”
Ehrlich continued, “What Rankin is trying to achieve here is so beguiling and consistent throughout the movie that its various asides gather their own emotional weight. My favorite of them all: The forgotten briefcase that’s been left unopened on a bench since 1978, and since enshrined as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being ‘a monument to absolute inter-human solidarity, even at its most banal,’ as no one has ever looked inside and spoiled its contents. To watch ‘Universal Language’ is to feel as if you’ve been privileged to a brief and memorable peek.”
“Universal Language” premieres in February 2025 in theaters from Oscilloscope Laboratories after playing the Toronto and New York film festivals. Check out the trailer below.
