Rumours

Rumour has it there's a new movie out written and directed by 3 different people: Galen Johnson, Evan Johnson, and Guy Madden. A Canadian/German production, RUMOURS is a satirical look at the annual G7 summit, gathering together 7 of the world leaders who try to prepare a joint statement to address an unspecified world crisis. I really enjoy weird movies, but this one almost pushed my tolerance to the limit. It took a bit to understand the kind of humour this movie is going for. I appreciate it a tiny bit more now that I've had time to contemplate. Basically, it's a movie that says politicians and world leaders are more focused on drawing up a statement than actually taking any action. There is still one aspect of the movie I still don't understand, which I can't tell you about, just know it's very weird. According to this movie, politics is just one big circle-jerk. A few standout performances from Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupius, and Denis Ménochet carry the film. So much of RUMOURS is strange and surreal, but I feel like it's full of symbolism and metaphors. I understood some of them. By the end, I think I had a fun time?

I was really looking forward to watching Rumours since the premise seemed original and the trailer looked fun without giving away too much. I still enjoy zombie movies, even though there are countless examples in the genre, because with some talent and unique ideas, they can still be great.

In this film, the leaders of the seven wealthiest liberal democracies are having their annual G7 meeting in a gazebo, while something strange begins happening in the world, with zombie-like creatures appearing in the woods. The movie is a satire and heavily dialogue-driven, which I didn't mind, and the bits of humor sprinkled throughout felt like a fitting touch.

However, as the movie progresses, nothing significant really happens. The characters interact and speculate about what might be going on, but there's no real climax. It's mostly talking and walking through dark woods with little action. Occasionally, the zombies or "Bog People Dancers" as they are credited appear in the distance, but they don't pose any real threat.

I understand what the movie is trying to achieve, but it's simply not entertaining and definitely doesn't warrant a 104-minute runtime. The acting was fine, though the inconsistent accents were noticeable but not overly distracting, but still worth mentioning.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed. While there might be a small niche audience that enjoys Rumours, the majority likely won't find it engaging. [4,7/10]

Giving this an 6/10 rating

So bizarre is this film, six of us were in the screen when I watched it, and three walked out about 40 minutes into it, and too be fair, I can understand, this film is horror, comedy, satire and political drama, you get all of that, thanks to Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin. All three writing and directing this madness.

This is Guy Maddin, all over, so I expected it weird and arthouse, not making any real sense neither, well ,some kid of plot, which is there, thanks to the acting of Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, and others with Alicia Vikander doing a some very odd work here. The cast had some real work to do in this, and with the most strangest dialogue and situations this year, it was not a total loss, not one to walk out on, if you knew what to expect, as I did.

Not in the worst film this year, that goes too 'The Crow', not sure if this is one that really will pull in much crowds, which is why it has such a limited showing. Had to travel a bit for this one and find good time as well, was not doing the 9pm slots that most cinemas are showing it.

For someone who is a bit behind on Guy Maddin (and yes, that "someone" is me), Rumours is probably a bad place to begin. It also makes sense, as this is a lot more accessible than his prior catalog of silent films (a phrase I am comfortable using without the addition of "tribute" or "pastiche", because they're just that faithful to how silent cinema used to look), so I'm definitely not alone in starting here -- though I may have lost some cinephile cred in admitting this.

Regardless of how well you know your Maddin, this is certainly a movie with a lot of personality. It's hard to compare to any other film released this or any other year -- although I'm tempted to name one particular sequence "a better adaptation of Color Out of Space than the actual Color Out of Space movie".

Every location contains strange colors and magical mists; the music choices are bizarre to the point of idiosyncratic brilliance; the characters -- from the inexplicably British US president (Charles Dance) to the Swedish Secretary General (Alicia Vikander) who knows the forest's secrets -- are delightfully odd, but sometimes irritatingly unintelligible. (Cate Blanchett's performance, which has been described as an impression of Sandra Hüller doing an impression of Princess Diana, is particularly bemusing.)

It is also a pretty funny movie. For a while, at least. It loses some of its steam and satirical edge in the second half, seemingly getting bored of itself. Regardless, I am eager to check out more of this man's catalog and deeply ashamed that I have not.

I for one quite enjoyed it. Did not understand it completely, honestly could not pick out all of the symbolism, allegory etc, but it was interesting and fun to try. There are no laugh out loud moments, but smirks aplenty as connections and parallels are suggested and at times blatantly stated.

The cast, the script, the dialogue were convincing and never overplayed, these were serious politicians acting like real people in a surreal situation. The choice of subdued lighting in red tones, and a off kilter soundtrack kept everything suitably unreal. Direction and editing could not be faulted.

Would/could a film like this be made in an authoritarian country? Undoubtedly not.

Its a fun film that can be taken seriously.