Sometimes, it’s the smallest movies that wind up rocking your world. This past May at the Cannes Film Festival, among all the big swings from legendary auteurs, the film that stood out the most to me was an unassuming Canadian comedy by Matthew Rankin set in a world where everyone in Winnipeg spoke Farsi. Now, that film, Universal Language, has a trailer, debuting here, and it’s just as odd and mysterious as the movie itself, which will be theatrically released early next year from Oscilloscope Pictures.
It’s not easy to sell a picture that doesn’t have big set pieces or a clever high-concept premise or a simple, genre-friendly story line. Universal Language is a multicharacter film that starts off gentle and funny but ultimately becomes kind of devastating. Here’s what I wrote about it back at Cannes:
Universal Language is a magnificent film, one that feels warm and familiar even as we realize just how startlingly original it is. Rankin’s mastery of tone throughout prevents any of [its] disparate elements from sticking out. The different stories ultimately connect in surprising ways … Everything feels like it belongs with the otherworldly, twilight atmosphere of the film, one that slips gently from playful, fablelike simplicity to pointed, expressive melancholy.
You’ll have to wait until next year to decide if you agree.
