An unusual phenomena has hit Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba. Not a military invasion from Iran, but rather the intrusion of Iranian cinema. Two films that established Iran in the global film scene, Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987) by Abbas Kiarostami and The White Balloon (1995) by Jafar Panahi, have interestingly found a home in this Canadian city.
This peculiar state of affairs serves as the backdrop for Matthew Rankin's quirky experimental comedy, Universal Language. The film, which features both young and old Farsi-speaking locals and stars the director himself, garnered the first audience award at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight.
The film’s setting is a snowy Winnipeg which simultaneously reflects the mundane mid-sized Canadian city and feels like a district somewhere in Tehran during the 80s and 90s. In this mixed landscape, Farsi signs, Persain market and local Tim Horton’s serving donuts with Persian specialties, creates an intriguing milieu.
Director Rankin's inventive and playful references to the film classics of Kiarostami and Panahi throughout Universal Language are evident. The film’s opening mimics educational scenes from Friend’s House. Even plot details are borrowed, such as the reworking of The White Balloon's storyline involving a hidden treasure, now a 500 Rial bill frozen in ice.
Universal Language stands in stark contrast to Rankin’s previous work, The Twentieth Century, which paid homage to Hollywood's Golden Age. The new film adopts a different style with Cinematographer Isabelle Stachtchenko replicating the grainy, static 16mm aesthetic of Kiarostami’s early work.
Despite its complex visuals and intricate references to Iranian cinema, the film presents a straightforward plot. It follows the protagonist named Matthew Rankin as he returns to Winnipeg after living in Montreal for years, only to find that a man named Massoud has replaced him in his familial home, reminiscent of a plot in Kiarostami's 1990 smash-hit, Close-Up.
Rankin effectively uses his seemingly ordinary hometown as a canvas of exotic nostalgia, transforming it into a captivating place that mirrors the magic of cinema. He achieves in creating a universal language of cinema that is unique, memorable and special, showcasing, as great movies should, the extraordinary in the ordinary.
