Written and directed by Matthew Rankin, co-written by Ila Firouzabadi and Pirouz Nemati, all three also star in the film. Winter, somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice and try to find a way to get it out. Massoud leads a group of befuddled tourists upon an increasingly strange walking tour of Winnipeg historic sites. Matthew leaves his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his estranged mother. Also starring: Rojina Esmaeili and Saba Vahedyousefi.
As Universal Language takes hold, it’s hard not to draw a comparison to the work of Aki Kaurismäki, the filmmakers seek to find a similar absurdity in mundanity. While its opening may be bracingly harsh, the rest of the film is committed to that quirky, slow, everyday tone. Matthew Rankin creates an unusual presence, mixing the intensely ordinary with an edge of mystery. There’s something to the unexplained elements of the film that feel like Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, in the sense of being quietly carried away by something you might not fully understand.
While it does hold all of those quietly peculiar qualities, there is a larger depth instilled, you can feel that its journey has something more to say. There are bigger, complicated emotional issues lingering beneath the surface, whether that be loss, poverty, disillusionment or stress. All of which is reflected in Rankin’s directorial style, with such a range of intimate shots to very wide shots with small points of focus. The latter perfectly embraces that feeling of being in a rut of how small and insignificant life can seem when every day is the same.
However, Rojina Esmaeili and Saba Vahedyousefi add some variety and comedy to Universal Language. They’re a really fun duo and their portion of the story is like an old-fashioned adventure, seeking out a simple solution but going through multiple layers of eccentric strangers to find it. Whereas Rankin’s Matthewis intensely quiet, his journey feels more impacted by others than his own choices, and that passiveness is surprisingly captivating. Then you’ve got Pirouz Nemati’s Massoud who is a little bit of an enigma. He’s the type of character where you can’t tell if they’re truly harmless or deceptively so, it leans into the film’s mysterious edge.
Universal Language feels as though it’s creating a parallel world to the works of Kaurismäki. Matthew Rankin heavily leans into the everyday, quietly creating something peculiar and mysterious. Some of its mysteries may go unsolved but there’s a captivating quality to how it moves and the unusual characters that the writers create. There’s a wonderful ensemble at work who all have unique personalities to add into the mix. To top things off, there’s the perfect song choice of ‘These Eyes’ by The Guess Who to play us out over the credits.
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