48/29
These Eyes Written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings Starring The Guess Who
Scenario
An absurd triptych of apparently unconnected stories finds a mysterious point of intersection in this tale set somewhere between Winnipeg and Tehran.. Canada’s official submission for the “Best International Feature Film” category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025.. From its cinematography and its usual search for symmetry, whether static or in moving shots, and its pleasant aesthetic with a dreamlike atmosphere that enhances the universality of the settings, to its story that revolves around different characters, to the way their lives intersect and enliven a dialogue that is sometimes polite, sometimes not so much, an influence of Wes Anderson runs through Matthew Rankin’s feature from start to finish.
A freelance tour guide with strange choices for his tour, etc
As in Anderson’s films, Rankin is interested in exploring the reality of his film, a reality full of idiosyncrasies that serve as fertile ground for comedy. An angry teacher in a classroom yelling at students, one of whom claims a turkey stole his glasses; another is dressed like Groucho Marx because he wants to be a comedian; and another like a fashionista. With a comedy made of ironic, deadpan and black humor, Une langue universelle manages to be hilarious whenever it wants to be.
Rankin’s dexterity manages to evoke a dreamlike surrealist fable but also an expressive introspective melancholy
There are many times when its events border on the absurd or surreal, furthering the comedy that bathes it without ever undermining its goal of thought-provoking depth. Elements and feelings that blend together and give rise to a special experience between places and times, reality and dreams. For example, in the reality of the film, even though we are in Canada, French, not to mention English, seems to be a second language, and in its place there is Persian.
The camera is sometimes static from afar, observing their movement and how it affects their surroundings instead of focusing on their faces and expressions with close-ups
Everyone speaks it, and signs and billboards are written in it, making its result feel like something close but distant, known and unknown, blending into a new reality that is culturally and demographically blind. In terms of the cinematography, which often resembles Anderson’s, more in framing and movement than in color palette, there is a constant desire to inhabit the spaces where the characters find themselves. It’s as if the place is as important as the characters to the telling of the story, and Rankin wants to make sure we enter it like tourists from a foreign land.