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These Eyes Written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings Directed by The Guess Who
An absurd triptych of seemingly unconnected stories finds a mysterious intersection in this tale set somewhere between Winnipeg and Tehran. Canada’s official submission for the “Best International Feature Film” category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. From its cinematography and its usual search for symmetry, whether static or in moving shots, and its pleasing aesthetics with a dreamlike atmosphere highlighting the universality of the settings, to its story revolving around different characters, how their lives intersect and enliven a dialogue that is sometimes polite, sometimes not so much, an influence of Wes Anderson runs through Matthew Rankin’s film from beginning to end.
A freelance tour guide with strange choices for his tour, etc
As in Anderson’s films, Rankin 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 a classroom yelling at students, one of whom claims a turkey stole his glasses; another dressed like Groucho Marx because he wants to be a comedian; and another as a fashionista. With a comedy that consists of ironic, deadpan and dark humor, Une langue universelle manages to be hilarious whenever it wants.
Rankin’s dexterity manages to evoke a dreamlike surrealist fable, but also an expressive introspective melancholy
There are many times when its events border on the absurd or surrealist, promoting the comedy that bathes it, but never undermining its goal of thought-provoking depth. Elements and feelings that come together and give life to a special experience between places and times, realities and dreams. For example, in the reality of the film, even if we are in Canada, French, much less English, seems to be a second language, and in its place is Persian.
The camera sometimes remains static at a distance, observing their movements and how it affects the surroundings rather than focusing on their faces and expressions with close-ups
Everyone talks about it, and signs and billboards are written in it, making its result as something close but distant, known and unknown, blend into a new culturally and demographically blind reality. In terms of cinematography, often resembling Anderson’s, more in framing and movement than in color palette, there is a constant desire to inhabit the spaces where the characters are. It is as if the place is as important as the characters to telling the story, and Rankin wants to make sure that we immerse ourselves in it like tourists in a foreign land.
