Go Your Own Way

Before Rumours (2024), I had watched exactly one Guy Maddin movie, and thought I had him figured out. Rumours is completely different, but I didn't have to change my opinion at all.

The movie takes place at a G7 summit in Germany, hosted by Cate Blanchett, chancellor of Germany. The final dinner will be held in a pavilion in a park, with just the seven leaders. On the walk to the pavilion, they stop to see an archeological dig, where several Bog Men are being excavated - ancient corpses. perfectly preserved in the mud of a marsh, except their bones are dissolved. Most of the leaders are not impressed.

We also see that Roy Dupuis, PM of Canada, has had a fling with Nikki Amuka-Bird, PM of the UK. He's a young, handsome man with a man bun, interested in renewing the fling, while she wants to keep it professional between them now. But Blanchett seems to be interested.

At the dinner, the leaders try to work out a short joint statement on the summit. Their efforts are not very inspiring. Charles Dance, president of the USA, falls asleep. Dupuis keeps storming off - and hears strange sounds. Blanchett follows him, and, yep, they get it on.

But when they return, they notice that the waiters have disappeared. And there cel phones don't work (except the Italian PM, he didn't bring his). It's getting dark. Dupuis wanders off and finds a brain the size of a small car. Bog men are seen lurking in the shadows. Bog men are doing something freaky in the shadows. And so on. 

There are a couple of comic themes to this. The most obvious is how helpless our leaders are without their aides and servants. But Maddin doesn't really lean on this. He's more interested in how taken up by anodyne, pointless "joint statements". There's a lovely scene where one of the leaders is musing about the first G7 joint statement. He starts to recite it from memory and the whole group joins in. And it's the most boring, meaningless load of BS you've ever heard. 

Of course, Maddin also has to focus on Canadianness (Canadianity?). His Canadian is sexy, brooding, handsome, and in the end, puts together a stirring (boring) statement, and saves the day (?). In fact, I think the biggest joke of the movie is that leaders are people, with romantic entanglements, weaknesses, petty grudges and so forth. Actually, it's a joke on us all.