UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE -- Matthew Rankin's Sophomore Feature Shows Strong Visual Grammar

Review by Sean Boelman

Matthew Rankin burst onto the indie film scene when his directorial debut, the absurdist epic The Twentieth Century, amassed quite a cult following among the cinephile community. His second feature, Universal Language, seems less likely to achieve cult status with its more “refined” ambitions, although that formal prowess doesn’t create a satisfying watch.

The movie contains three storylines that become intertwined throughout the hour-and-a-half runtime: two kids discover and attempt to exhume a frozen banknote, a tour guide leads tourists through Winnipeg, and a low-level worker in the Quebecois government quits his job and sets out on a journey. Although what happens in this kaleidoscopic ensemble piece is pretty straightforward, the way they are sewn together is somewhat convoluted. Although convolution is not necessarily bad, the final product amounts to frustratingly little.

With these stories, Rankin and co-writers Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi explore some intriguing themes, particularly with regard to the immigrant and multicultural experience. Clearly, Universal Language was an incredibly personal film to the filmmaker, but he fails to effectively connect these lived experiences with more widely poignant emotions and broad humor. It’s hard to tell how many of the symbols and jokes are culturally specific references lost in translation versus how many are just quirkiness.

Those fans of The Twentieth Century hoping that Rankin’s sophomore feature will share the same level of camp will be sorely disappointed. Universal Language is a more “serious” movie, using its absurdist tendencies to accentuate a dramatic storyline. It feels incredibly deliberate yet also so random, resulting in an experience that’s often frustrating and mostly unfulfilling.

One of the harder things to get through in the script is its character development’s lack of focus. This, unfortunately, is a natural consequence of the mosaic-esque structure of the narrative. The kids are by far the most compelling, both in terms of character and their story, but their quest is interrupted by the tour guide and bureaucrat’s journeys.

The ensemble is mostly strong. Young actresses Roma Esmaeili and Saba are the highlights, giving performances that capture the idyllic nature of their childhood obliviousness without ever getting annoying. Pirouz Nemati is also strong, with a few moments of quiet passion that really drive the film forward. Perhaps ironically, the weakest link is Rankin himself, as his performance feels just a bit too docile to resonate as it needs to.

However, what Rankin lacks in front of the camera, he makes up for with creativity behind the camera. The cinematography is excellent, as is the production design. Rankin straddles the line between surrealism and groundedness well in a visual sense, conveying the balance in a way the script struggles to match. The look merges minimalism and Iranian realism with a quirky aesthetic, creating an alluring and often enchanting world.

Still, for a movie called Universal Language to be so assertively esoteric, it must either be ironic or ineffective. Unfortunately for Matthew Rankin, his sophomore feature is not funny enough to be the former. The result is a technically adroit but often disengaging film that’s off-puttingly weird and quirky without the substance to back it up.

Universal Language is screening at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Rating: 3/5