Rumours

It is difficult to imagine anything duller than a G7 conference. A gathering of the most powerful people in the world that in reality, after its photocalls, seems to inevitably issue communiqués which read like poorly researched undergraduate politics essays. Canadian directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson have set out to change that with their side-splittingly funny new film Rumours.

Some of the leaders concerned are Cate Blanchett’s prim and proper German chancellor with a repressed sexual appetite; Canada’s prime minister (Roy Dupuis), whose sex appeal masks deep insecurity and anxiety; US president (Charles Dance) is an odd, British-accented ageing mix of Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and more revered presidents of the past; Britain itself is represented (Nikki Amuka-Bird), full of neat political phrasing but too in love with the game of politics; plus Japan’s Prime Minister (Takehiro Hiro), who gets little to do.

Then there are the two oddball wild cards, France’s President (Denis Ménochet) and Italy’s premier, played by Rolando Ravello. These two, along with Dupuis, really steal the show from cast members with more storied reputations. That is no disparagement to Blanchett and Dance. But Ménochet, Dupuis and Ravello are just brilliantly comic and get the best lines. Finally, there is Alicia Vikander as the ditzy but clever head of the European Commission.

The plot follows the leaders as they convene a working group to decide on their banal communiqué. However, hounded by spirits stirred by the excavation of an Iron Age man, they find themselves on a forced quest through the woods, isolated from the world by an unseen and unspecified catastrophe. The premise though is just an excuse to let the actors and scriptwriters bounce off one another. That’s a useful skill from its directors.

Maddin and the brothers Johnson know that when you have a great script, idea, and cast you only need to give them the room to let rip. Yet, Rumours is not up there with the absolute best political satire. It is no The Death of Stalin, for a simple reason. There is a lack of a true payoff to its mockery that nails its target rather than just imagining a very funny scenario where world leaders behave like terrified children.

That’s fine though. It still has moments that leave audiences hooting in the aisles thanks to their truth-telling absurdity. God knows those of us who follow geopolitics could do with a laugh at the expense of useless leaders given the state of the world.

Mark Worgan

Rumours is released on 6^th December 2024.

Watch the trailer for Rumours here: