Avaz-e bughalamum / Une langue universelle / Universal Language

Matthew Rankin: /آواز بوقلمون/ Avaz-e bughalamum / Une langue universelle / Universal Language (CA 2024).

/آواز بوقلمون/ [Literal translation: "The Song of a Turkey"]

Canada 2024

Director: Matthew Rankin

Starring: Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, Amir Amiri

Soundtrack: "These Eyes" perf. The Guess Who.

    89 min

    Loc: Québec, Manitoba.

    Languages: mainly Persian, also in French

    American distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories.

    Distributor: Njuta Films, subtitles: Finnish by Antti Böök

    Please note the film does not have English dialogue or subtitles!

    Love & Anarchy 38th Helsinki International Film Festival (HIFF)

    Viewed at Bio Rex Lasipalatsi, Helsinki, Mon 22.9.2025 at 16.00–17.29 

Tommi Kumén (HIFF 2025) "This absurd dramedy from an alternate-reality Farsi-speaking Canada nods to the masters of Iranian cinema and great surrealists, while cooking up its own thick and flavorful stew."

"When you say Winnipeg, Canada, most people think of ice hockey or nothing much. But visionary director Matthew Rankin’s Winnipeg is a parallel universe of brutalist architecture and a city soundscape in French and Farsi – where a turkey steals a child’s glasses in a city so melancholic it needs a shop specialised in paper tissues."

"The mesmerisingly absurd Universal Language consists of three interwoven stories. Children try to pry out a frozen banknote to help a schoolmate in need. A city tour guide presents a block of flats where ordinary people, but no celebrities, have lived. A civil servant quits his job in a Québécois government office and moves back to Winnipeg to care for his mother suffering from dementia."

"Rankin’s film is a nod to both masters of Iranian film as well as the great Surrealists, but his mix is his own, just like his debut feature film The Twentieth Century (R&A 2020). This spectacular film, shot on 16 mm film, takes no second place to its role models when it comes to visual storytelling and portrayal of the significance of human life."

"But how was it again? Is Winnipeg in Alberta or Manitoba?" Tommi Kumén (translated by Charlotte Elo)

"Absurdi draamakomedia farsinkielisen Kanadan vaihtoehtotodellisuudesta nyökkäilee iranilaisen elokuvan mestareille ja suurille surrealisteille, mutta keittelee ihan omanlaistaan sakeaa soppaa."

"Monille tulee kanadalaisesta Winnipegin kaupungista mieleen joko jääkiekko tai ei paljon mitään. Visionäärisen ohjaajan Matthew Rankinin Winnipeg on brutalistisen arkkitehtuurin komistama (ranskan- ja) farsinkielinen rinnakkaistodellisuus, jossa kalkkuna varastaa lapsen silmälasit ja jossa on niin melankolista, että tarvitaan paperinenäliinoihin erikoistunut liike."

"Lumoavan absurdissa Universal Languagessa on kolme risteävää tarinaa. Lapset yrittävät irrottaa maahan jäätyneen setelin auttaakseen pinteessä olevaa luokkatoveriaan. Opas esittelee turisteille muun muassa kerrostaloa, jossa ei ole asunut tunnettuja ihmisiä, mutta kylläkin ihan kunnollisia ei-tunnettuja tyyppejä. Virkamies eroaa työstään Quebecin hallinnossa muuttaakseen takaisin Winnipegiin muistisairaan äitinsä luo."

"Rankin nyökkäilee niin iranilaisen elokuvan mestareille kuin suurille surrealisteillekin, mutta keittelee silti ihan omanlaistaan sakeaa soppaa, kuten jo The Twentieth Century -esikoispitkässään (R&A 2020). Silmiähivelevästi 16-milliselle filmille kuvattu elokuva ei häviä esikuvilleen visuaalisessa kerronnassa eikä myöskään ihmiselon humaanin merkityksellisyyden kuvauksessa."

"Mutta onko Winnipeg siis Albertassa vai Manitobassa?" Tommi Kumén

Storyline from IMDb: "Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to get it out. Massoud leads a group of increasingly-confused tourists through the monuments and historic sites of Winnipeg. Matthew quits his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his mother. Time, geography and personal identities crossfade, interweave and collide into a surreal comedy of disorientation."

AA: It is very rare to be able to compare a movie with Jacques Tati, but Matthew Rankin's Universal Language is such an achievement. Rankin sees the most familiar and ordinary from a different and unique viewpoint - finely crafted both in big issues and the tiniest detail.

In each shot Rankin displays the talent of a visual artist. Not by being flamboyant but by a precise and intriguing way of seeing. He is great with people of all ages, especially children. This is his connection with Wes Anderson. Although they are very different, they share an affection to children's way to see. There is in Finland's main newspaper Helsingin Sanomat a section called "Children's Science Questions" (such as "what is life"?). Those are the best questions.

Because Rankin is unique, I strive to find parallels. I am also thinking about Otar Iosseliani and Boris Barnet because of the sense of humour and the tenderness in the anti-authoritarian worldview. 

Last year we celebrated the centenary of surrealism, and Matthew Rankin is a great contemporary surrealist. His surrealism is totally different from that of David Lynch. His is a cinematic wit that emerges from gentle observation. He has great talent in world-building, and the result is subversive, but not in an obviously shocking manner. In the tradition of the best of comedy, Rankin makes us see comic potential everywhere.