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Abbas Kiarostami’s Humanist Legacy Lives on in Universal Language
The Canadian film remixes Iranian cinematic traditions, but speaks in its own whimsical voice.
On one level, Universal Language ’s title refers to Farsi, spoken by nearly everyone in the film’s absurdist version of Winnipeg — the city’s Iranian citizens, visiting tourists, Rankin’s own character (also named Matthew), and even the flocks of turkeys that roam the snowy streets. Set in a snowy, whimsical Winnipeg in which Iranian vendors push samovar carts, offer up bowls of khoresht stews, and lovingly tend to crocuses amid bland concrete partitions and utilitarian parking garages, Universal Language divides itself into various timelines that ultimately converge in the film’s back half. Disgusted by his students’ lofty career goals and how poor their grasp of the language is — Soleymanlou yelling “You don’t have the decency to misbehave in French?” is one of the film’s funniest moments — he threatens them all with expulsion after young Omid (Sobhan Javadi) admits he’s once again lost his much-needed glasses, and therefore can’t participate in class.
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