THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Dir. Matthew Rankin, 2019.
Canada. 90 min.
In English and French.

In 2019, singular Canadian filmmaker, animator, and documentarian Matthew Rankin unleashed his first feature in the form of a surrealist satirical fever dream depicting the rise of Canada’s longest-serving— and perhaps loneliest— Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. Viewers follow King through his trials and tribulations as he strives to become the man his mother has been grooming him to be since birth: preserver of the National Disappointment. The Twentieth Century takes extensive liberties in its dramatization of real historical figures and events while nailing prevailing notions that Canadianness is synonymous with earnestness, shame, and passive aggression.

From beginning to end, it is a maximalist work of art set against gorgeous German Expressionist backdrops which create intentional artificiality, suggesting that the concept of Canada may, in itself, be fake. Highlighting its hyper-stylization is a score that vacillates between synthwave and patriotic fanfare by composers Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux and Peter Venne. Come to the Burning S for a viewing experience unlike any other (and to support the ongoing efforts to increase appreciation for Canadian culture in Williamsburg, Brooklyn).

Preceded by:

THE TESLA WORLD LIGHT
dir. Matthew Rankin, 2017
Canada. 8 mins.
In English.