La Sauce du Casino, a partner association of the municipal cinema, recommends this week the film “A Universal Language”, whose brilliant and humanist idea is to transpose a culture and a language into another universe.
Canada has chosen this original comedy to represent the country with the maple leaf at the next Oscars. Before that, “Une Langue Universelle” had obtained 16 victories in international festivals including the audience prize at the Filmmakers’ Fortnight at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
The film follows the adventures of Matthew, a man returning to his hometown of Winnipeg. When he arrives, he discovers a transformed world: everyone now speaks Persian! Throughout his encounters, he meets colorful characters who help him navigate this new linguistic and cultural universe. The film ironically and delicately combines universal themes such as identity, communication and belonging.
Two strong axes mark this work: its offbeat sense of humor and its sincere homage to Iranian cinema. Filmmaker Matthew Ranking is a great admirer of Iranian cinema and Abbas Kiarostami in particular. There are numerous references to this cinema in the film, whether in the visual aesthetics, the universal themes addressed, or the mixture of poetry and humor. To be convinced of the director’s real passion, let’s let him have the last word: “Iranian cinema emerges from 1000 years of poetry while Canadian cinema emerges from 40 years of advertisements…” “A universal language” will be screened in the original version subtitled today at 6:45 p.m., tomorrow at 6:45 p.m., Friday at 6:45 p.m. and Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
