Final Rating: 3.5/5
Every year the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries that represent the largest western liberal democracies, gather for a political and economic forum. They discuss hot button issues and how they should take the lead on solving the world’s problems. The seven countries take turns who hosts the event, and in doing so, act as leader of the conference. The countries that partake are Canada, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Japan with the president of the European Union acting as an unofficial eighth member.
In Rumours, the latest collaboration between Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, the world leaders get satirized for their inability to do anything of note and show their complete ineptitude for just about everything. The film begins with the G7 being hosted in Dankerode, Germany, a small village in the middle of the country. The host of the event is Chancellor Hilda Orlmann (Cate Blanchett), a not so subtle Angela Merkel stand-in.
Joining the conference is Maxime Laplace (Roy Dupuis) the Prime Minister of Canada, Edison Wolcott (Charles Dance) the President of the United States, Sylvain Broulez (Denis Ménochet) the President of France, Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird) the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Antonio Lamorle (Rolando Ravello) the Prime Minister of Italy and Tatsuro Iwasaki (Takehiro Hira) the Prime Minister of Japan.
After a photo op, the group heads to a gazebo on Castle Dankerode, the property hosting the event, for a private dinner where they are to begin writing a speech addressing the world’s most present crisis. Along the way, Hilda Orlmann wants to show the group a finding: paleontologists have found a buried body from 2000 years earlier on the grounds. The way they have been preserved, their skin remains intact, but their bones have disintegrated making them floppy masses. The unofficial name for them is bog people.
After dinner, the leaders split into smaller groups to begin writing the preliminary speech about the crisis at hand. A crisis that is not only never mentioned, but the leaders seemingly have no idea what it is either. A not so subtle dig at the lack of perspective or understanding that their own citizens face everyday. From there we get what is an extended and horrible interpretation of an improv game as the leaders struggle to write a speech, instead of going “yes and” while adding on, they pass the buck back and forth all refusing to say anything of substance.
You get one group who decides starting with the date is the best they have, while another group creates a checklist of how to write a speech and another trying to shoehorn their own personal therapy in while still saying nothing. It’s a hilarious example of how politicians will have long winded speeches but not say anything at all. When Sylvain Broulez has his notes blown away, he chases them across the property. When he returns he is covered in mud and in distress, claiming to have been attacked by the bog people when he tripped and fell into the dig site. He also noticed that the castle was vacant and no one was around.
When Maxime Laplace, clearly a spoof on current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the most handsome member complete with man bun, is distraught over his affair with Cardosa Dewindt ending along with his wife leaving him (also a parallel to Trudeau), Orlmann follows him to provide comfort. Much like how Angela Merkel seemingly was always making eyes towards Trudeau at international events, Orlmann seduces Laplace where they have sex in the forest.
Upon their return to the gazebo, they find it vacant with the chairs strewn about, glass broken and mud covering everything. They wander around the property until they find the rest of the group in distress claiming they were attacked by protesters, or so they think because unlike protesters this group didn’t have signs, unified chants and didn’t vocalize opposition to any specific platform members of the group might have. But they are sure they were protestors… probably.
From there the group decides to travel across the grounds to get to a nearby highway and find help. Along the way they must endure Broulez getting hurt and being unable to walk (which is solved first by the very strong Laplace carrying him until they find a wheelbarrow to push him around in), finding a giant glowing brain with the European Union President Celestine Sproul (Alicia Vikander) worshiping it while speaking in gibberish (Swedish) ranting about a Night Queen and Wolcott just deciding to lay down since he’s had enough and is fine with everyone else carrying on without him.
The film is absolutely farcical, taking aim at politicians the world over. At one point Laplace speaking to the protestors (the bog people in reality) is giving what sounds like a Justin Trudeau land acknowledgment speech full of eye rolling platitudes. The American President, played by the very British Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, Gosford Park) is asked why he has an accent, he starts to explain but is interrupted and never finishes his thought, basically the filmmakers acknowledging and not caring about their casting decision. The characters routinely question what the giant brain (that must be a male brain because it’s larger than a giant female brain according to one leader) means, never giving or getting a clear answer.
All the while, the group continues to try to write their speech for the crisis, playing word association games and figuring out how to combine their earlier brainstorming session notes. The film is clearly an allegory for the scriptwriting process and writer’s block, in the vein of something like the Coen Brothers explored with Barton Fink.
The film is absurdly funny with all its heightened insane scenarios, but often feels like it is stuck in a loop refusing to move on from a schtick or making any deeper points. Viewers will be left scratching their heads despite having laughed for over 90 minutes but having no real concept of the themes other than politicians are bad and writing is hard.
Roy Dupuis, the French Canadian icon (Shake Hands With the Devil, The Rocket) is the MVP, seducing and crying over every woman on screen while the men all fawn over him. He possesses a faux hipster energy with his man bun and unbuttoned dress shirt claiming to be a progressive. He is embroiled in some sort of complicated insurance fraud, a nod to the numerous complicated scandals that plague the real Canadian PM.
The cast is stacked with hilarious turns from Cate Blanchett as she struggles to be the leader of the conference despite constantly being interrupted by Sylvain Broulez. Denis Ménochet (of Inglourious Basterds fame) is so over the top and ridiculous as the French PM, while Rolando Ravello plays the Italian PM, is the newest member of the group after being elected recently is constantly ignored until he proves his worth by having a lifetime supply of salami in his pocket to share with others.
This is a film where the rating does not really matter. It is not a typical Guy Maddin film as it features a more famous cast than he usually makes movies with and a (slightly) higher budget. If the humour works for the audience, then it doesn’t matter that the movie is beyond irreverent. But if the jokes fall flat, then nothing will click. The film could have used a bit of a tighter edit, and perhaps less repetition of certain jokes but if you are on its wavelength it will be a memorable film.
Rumours was seen during the Vancouver International Film Festival.
