28/11
Canada’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025
Story
An absurd triptych of seemingly unrelated stories finds a mysterious intersection in this tale set somewhere between Winnipeg and Tehran. These Eyes Written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, directed by The Guess Who. and a pleasant aesthetic with a dreamlike atmosphere that highlights the universality of the scenarios, even the story that revolves around the various characters, how their lives intersect and sometimes bring the dialogue to life.
Freelance guide with quirky picks for your trip etc
Sometimes politely, other times not so much, Matthew Rankin’s film is permeated with Wes Anderson’s influence from start to finish. 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 yells at students in the classroom, one of whom claims a turkey stole his glasses; another is dressed as Groucho Marx because he wants to be a comedian; and another as a fashionista.
Rankin’s dexterity is capable of conjuring a dreamlike surrealist fable, but also an expressive introspective melancholy
Une langue universelle, a comedy that consists of ironic, overflowing and dark humor, manages to be funny when it wants to be. Many times its events border on the absurd or surreal, promoting the comedy that floats it, but never subverting its aim of creating thought-provoking depth. Elements and sensations that come together and give life to a special experience between places and times, realities and dreams.
The camera is sometimes at a static distance, observing their movements and how it affects their surroundings, rather than focusing on their faces and expressions in close-ups
For example, in the reality of the movie, even though we are in Canada, French, let alone English, seems like a second language, and Farsi is in its place. Everyone is saying it, and signs and hoardings are writing on it, making its result as something close yet distant, the known and the unknown merging into a new culturally and demographically blind reality. In terms of cinematography, often reminiscent of Anderson, more in framing and movement than color palette, there is a constant desire to inhabit the spaces where the characters are.
It’s as if the place is as important as the characters in the telling of the story, and Rankin wants to make sure we enter it like tourists from a foreign land
And while we might know these cities by name, the structure and demographic profile of the film, which is not comparable to our knowledge, can be a reason to delve into these spaces.