Duke Screen/Society Presentation with Director/Co-Writer Guy Maddin in Attendance.
As it turns out, bog mummies are NOT shy when it comes to jackin’ it in public. In fact, they NEED you to look.
A playful political satire which finds visual stylist Maddin tamping down his usually grandiose, frenetic aesthetic for an often funny, bizarre, and unfortunately prescient look at self-important political leaders’ delusional, ineffective strides against global crises. He advised his pitch-perfect cast to deliver lines as if Rumours was a heavy drama and co-director Evan Johnson’s loopy, wordy dialogue perfectly captures the intelligible yet impenetrable poli-speak of those who’ve been highly educated in every aspect of geopolitics but have little in the way of mental or emotional connections to the world outside of governmental institutions. It begins very strong, but despite a knowingly dotty (and meta) finale, the third act drags, especially with the introduction of another character who doesn’t inject much needed energy to keep the pacing up.
Maddin, clad in all-black and whose affable, self-deprecating demeanor and grounded personality would never suggest his experimental modus operandi, said the gestation period for the film wasn’t long as he felt the G7 “kept growing like a tumor” and it was only a matter of time before somebody would launch a full-scale takedown of an international display of glad-handing and back pats. Little in the way of sense is made, e.g. the giant brain or even the unnervingly rotted corpses strewn about the otherwise palatial German countryside, but that’s part of the fun until Alicia Vikander, whose post-Oscar career hasn’t been especially impressive, arrives and serves little to no purpose beyond warning the out-of-touch leaders of an impending doom.
Small, amusing details like the Italian diplomat passing around meat, Blanchett’s hysterical explanation of the Canadian leader’s complex “scandal,” and Charles Dance’s inexplicable English accent as the American president (whose backstory was cut for time and which got Maddin in trouble with the Golden Child baddie) are lovingly sprinkled throughout and a climactic speech at least delivers on the promise of what the film ultimately appears to be aiming for. It’s not that the satire isn’t sharp, it’s just not as dynamic or enthralling as one would hope. Even so, Maddin’s willingness to traditionalize his filmmaking while staying true to his playfully unhinged vision is impressive and bolstered by fine acting and clever dialogue.
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