"How do we take it out of ice?" How do we carve a meaningful life out of the mundane?
Watching Universal Language (["در فارسی "آواز بوقلمون]) at TIFF last week was truly refreshing. If Macondo is the mythical town Márquez created in One Hundred Years of Solitude, then this tiny Farsi-speaking town in Winnipeg, Canada, is the fictional world Mathew Rankin and his team have brilliantly brought to life. They made it so realistic and believable that, by the end of the movie, someone from Manitoba sitting next to us turned and asked, "Does such a city really exist?"
The film is a thrilling fusion of Iranian and Canadian life experiences. As an Iranian-Canadian who has lived in the Toronto area for over 20 years, it was uplifting and joyful to see how seamlessly they crafted this comedy-satire—one that critiques yet never bends to despair. The Farsi language used in the film is humorous, the Farsi signs are brilliant, and I loved that the filmmakers didn’t try to translate everything, trusting that the film could still connect with a wide audience.
In his interview, Mathew Rankin beautifully described the movie as a “radical act of kindness”. The film is a poetic satire—philosophical and filled with deep reflections on human life and regret. But it doesn’t linger there; it moves beyond, leaving us—the viewers—wrapped in kindness and the lightness of laughter.
And the music choices? Loved them.
Bottom line: You have to watch it!
https://youtu.be/y-373fptEXI?si=AdwdSoiuJMFyeHKa
