category of the 97th Academy Awards in 2025
Tale
An absurdist triptych of seemingly unrelated stories finds a mysterious point of intersection in this story, set somewhere between Winnipeg and Tehran. These Eyes was written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings Starring The Guess Who. From the cinematography and the usual search for symmetry, static or in travel shots and a pleasant aesthetic with a dreamlike atmosphere that enhances the universality of the setting, to the story revolving around the various characters as their lives intertwine and bring to life the dialogue sometimes polite, sometimes not.
A freelance tour guide with strange choices for his tour, etc
The influence of Wes Anderson cuts through Matthew Rankin’s feature film from beginning to end. As in Anderson’s films, Rankin’s 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 class yells at students, 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 skill manages to evoke a surreal dream fable, but also a pronounced introspective melancholy
With a comedy consisting of biting, callous and black humor, Une langue universelle manages to be hilarious whenever it wants to be. There are many times when its plot borders on absurdism or surrealism, supporting the comedy that floods it, but never undermining its intention of thought-provoking profundity. Elements and feelings that combine and give life to a strange experience between places and times, realities and dreams.
The camera is sometimes static from a distance, observing their movement and how it affects their surroundings, rather than focusing on their faces and expressions up close
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 is Persian. Everyone speaks it and there are signs and billboards written in it that depict its outcome as something close but distant, familiar and unfamiliar, interwoven in a culturally and demographically blind new reality. In terms of cinematography, often reminiscent of Anderson’s framing and movement as in a color palette, there is a constant will to inhabit the spaces the characters are in.
It is as if the location is as important to the storytelling as the characters, and Rankin wants to make sure we immerse ourselves in it like tourists from a foreign land
And while we may be familiar with these cities in terms of names, within the film and its demographic profile that is unmatched by our knowledge, there may be reasons to delve into these spaces.