Sydney Film Festival Review - Rumours

 

“Let’s get back to the statement.”

Satirical, surreal and strange, Rumours initially riffs on the melodramatic soap opera of politics and the hollow semantic statements they conjure up at shallow summits, but then injects an absurdist apocalypse that adds further confusion to the “crisis” that caused the leaders to convene in the first place, to mixed results that are always entertaining, even if they aren’t always accessible.

Discussion Points:

I feel like I’m going to be in the minority for this one, but I had a really fun time and laughed a decent amount at this. Yeah the satire is shallow and ultimately pretty toothless, but it’s obvious that the political setting really isn’t the prime focus - instead it’s the melodramatic soap opera and strange surrealist setting that allows stereotyped caricatures of world leaders to bumble about just as confused as the audience is. The cast is obviously having a blast especially Roy Dupois, and there are no weak links. They function as fun caricatures and amalgamations of various Presidents and Prime Ministers as well as perpetuating respective cultural stereotypes. The script takes cheap shots, but they often land - and if anything it’ll make you sympathise for Canada even more than you may already. The absurdist elements are the most hit and miss element of the film. The concept of dropping the G7 leaders in a forest of fog during an apparent apocalypse is a fantastic premise, but it’s undercut by odd moments that cause more confusion than comedic pay off. However, that doesn’t full distract from the stronger comedic moments, and I still really enjoyed Rumours as a whole.