The Twentieth Century
Directed by: Matthew Rankin
Written by: Matthew Rankin
Starring: Dan Beirne, Sarianne Cormier, Catherine St-Laurent, Mikhail Ahooja, Brent Skagford, Seán Cullen, Louis Negin, Kee Chan, Trevor Anderson, Emmanuel Schwartz, Richard Jutras, Satine Scarlett Montaz
Biography/Comedy/Drama - 90 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 17 Nov 2020
Written by: Matthew Rankin
Starring: Dan Beirne, Sarianne Cormier, Catherine St-Laurent, Mikhail Ahooja, Brent Skagford, Seán Cullen, Louis Negin, Kee Chan, Trevor Anderson, Emmanuel Schwartz, Richard Jutras, Satine Scarlett Montaz
Biography/Comedy/Drama - 90 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 17 Nov 2020
Out of all the off-the-wall, random, and satirical ideas Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century offers its courageous audience, the one I champion the most are national leaders, be they Prime Ministers, Presidents, or Czars, do not have to be the most charismatic personalities known to man. Why would we want that anyways? Wouldn’t an introverted technocrat more motivated by policies than polls make the more adept politician? According to Rankin, William Lyon Mackenzie King, a real Canadian Prime Minister, was a fine choice for Prime Minster because he was so bland and mundane. Rankin appears to take all the liberties in the world with historical accuracy, but to those unfamiliar with Canadian political history, which should be just about all of us outside Canada, King was real…but everything else is satire making way for a jolly good time and some audacious filmmaking.
One look at The Twentieth Century and you’ll notice Rankin has entered his German Expressionism phase. The sets are right out of 1920’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. All of the cardboard sets have jagged edges and the lighting spotlights faces and bathes everything else in shadow. This is either an homage to 1920's German filmmakers who Rankin thought would juxtapose nicely with a Canadian Prime Minster who served in the same decade, or this is his way of operating around a micro-budget. Either way, film aficionados will enjoy the nostalgia trip while more contemporary audiences unfamiliar with foreign, niche cinema may chafe at such curious surroundings.
One look at The Twentieth Century and you’ll notice Rankin has entered his German Expressionism phase. The sets are right out of 1920’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. All of the cardboard sets have jagged edges and the lighting spotlights faces and bathes everything else in shadow. This is either an homage to 1920's German filmmakers who Rankin thought would juxtapose nicely with a Canadian Prime Minster who served in the same decade, or this is his way of operating around a micro-budget. Either way, film aficionados will enjoy the nostalgia trip while more contemporary audiences unfamiliar with foreign, niche cinema may chafe at such curious surroundings.
In Rankin’s world, Prime Ministers are not selected by voting citizens or even electors, candidates compete in a series of Canadian feats of strength such as baby seal clubbing, bird calling, and peeing your name into the snow. Party candidates will then compete in a Quebec ice maze to raise their flag. Most of the Canadian hangers-on harp at what they call the Disappointment. Canada has been mediocre for too long, it is time to punch its weight on the world stage. On one side is the British Governor-General, Lord Muto (Seán Cullen), Her Majesty’s representative in their cold, western colony. He is a fire-breathing warmonger manipulating his furious base against the Boers in South Africa and especially against the pacifist over there in Quebec. Pacifism is more dangerous to Lord Muto than any other ism.
Muto’s champion will be Mackenzie King (Dan Beirne). He is spineless, malleable, and will do as he’s told. Brought up this way by a domineering mother, Mackenzie knows the woman he must marry and the job he must attain, for mother has dreamed them both. However, to Mackenzie’s immense shame, he harbors a secret footwear fetish which will not only come between him and political acclaim, but according to a nationalist doctor meant to cure him Clockwork Orange style, will destroy all of Canada. It is in bounds to accuse Rankin of going over-the-top on the absurdism, but if he pulled the reigns in, The Twentieth Century wouldn’t be nearly as fun as it is. Not only will you learn there once was a man named William Lyon Mackenzie King, but that it's also ok to make fun of Winnipeg, because that is what Canadians do.
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