Guy Maddin's “Rumours” screened last night and it's his goofiest, most mainstream film to date. Working as a sort of comedy-satire that delves into the lunacy of governing.
The bare bones of the story have to do with a G7 meeting, where the leaders of Canada, the United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, UK and France are trying to draft a bill. These leaders of the free world suddenly get lost in the woods, their aides and security have also disappeared, and all cell phone signals are dead. It turns out that the world is in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
It doesn't help that Maxime, the Prime Minister of Canada (Roy Dupuis, sporting a man bun), still isn't over the recent fling he had with the British PM Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird). The German Chancellor (Cate Blanchet, as always, the standout) tries to take advantage of the split by shagging with him in the woods. Meanwhile, the US President (Charles Dance), in his 80s, keeps snoozing at the most inopportune of times.
Evan Johnson and Maddin’s script is sharp, as it keeps poking fun at the stereotypical traits of recent leaders. It’s hard not to see Angela Merkl in Blanchett’s stern Chancellor. There’s also a little bit of Trudeau in Dupuis’ Canadian PM — at some point he attacks one of the leaders who claims he isn’t a real feminist (“I LOVE strong women!”). However, much will be discussed about Dance’s performance — he plays it sleepy when depicting the elderly U.S. president (no doubt a riff on Joe Biden).
Even as the world around them burns, and they get a glimpse at masturbating zombies, a giant-sized brain and scares happening all around them, these leaders are still dead set in drafting their airy joint statement. Denis Ménochet’s French President, Sylvain Broulez, is a blowhard who pulls his leg and has to be carried on a wheel wagon as he writes the draft on a laptop.
Maddin mocks the way all of these leaders use airy, non-committal language to confide their points across to the general public; promises that mean nothing, and the notion that they’re as lost as any of us in solving the world’s problems. All seven leaders turn out to be inspired comic creations, and I haven’t even mentioned Italy’s bumbling and always-confused PM, Antonio Lamorte (Rolando Ravello).
That’s what makes this goofball film such an easy and breezy watch. Kudos to Kristian Eidnes Andersen’s soap opera-ish score which only heightens the deadpan absurdity of the whole thing with over-the top organ.
Alicia Vikander shows up much later in the film as the president of the European Commission, Celestine Sproul. When Maxime finds her in the woods with the aforementioned brain — which keeps the surreal going — he realizes that Celestine can’t speak English anymore, only Swedish. Must be something in the air.
It’s obvious Maddin, one of the most original and eccentric filmmaking voices out there, just wanted to make a fun movie. That doesn’t mean that “Rumours” isn’t cinematically gorgeous to look at. DP Stefan Ciupek uses lush and foggy atmosphere, with lots of greens and purples, to convey a surreal mood to what is essentially a midnight movie.
The film can feel airy at times, there’s not much at stake here, even with zombies lurking around every corner, but it’s hard not to like a film that has the Italian PM constantly passing around slices salami he stole from the lunch buffet. [B]