Voci di potere

Buñuel's movies might be lacking some zombies (at least I don't recall their presence). But IMHO they're much more to the point when it comes to avant-garde surrealism infused with political commentary. For artful, unconventional, surrealist and political satirical films, Buñuel is probably still the bench mark.

I'd strongly suggest that rather spending your time and money on the quite boring 'Rumours', you try to get your hands on VHS or Disc copy of Buñuel's first movie 'Un Chien Andalou' (The Andalusian Dog) from 1929, an unprecedented collaboration with Salvador Dalí. Or enjoy some of his classics such as 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie' (1972) or 'That Obscure Object of Desire' (1977).

Giving this an 6/10 rating

So bizarre is this film, six of us were in the screen when I watched it, and three walked out about 40 minutes into it, and too be fair, I can understand, this film is horror, comedy, satire and political drama, you get all of that, thanks to Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin. All three writing and directing this madness.

This is Guy Maddin, all over, so I expected it weird and arthouse, not making any real sense neither, well ,some kid of plot, which is there, thanks to the acting of Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, and others with Alicia Vikander doing a some very odd work here. The cast had some real work to do in this, and with the most strangest dialogue and situations this year, it was not a total loss, not one to walk out on, if you knew what to expect, as I did.

Not in the worst film this year, that goes too 'The Crow', not sure if this is one that really will pull in much crowds, which is why it has such a limited showing. Had to travel a bit for this one and find good time as well, was not doing the 9pm slots that most cinemas are showing it.

For someone who is a bit behind on Guy Maddin (and yes, that "someone" is me), Rumours is probably a bad place to begin. It also makes sense, as this is a lot more accessible than his prior catalog of silent films (a phrase I am comfortable using without the addition of "tribute" or "pastiche", because they're just that faithful to how silent cinema used to look), so I'm definitely not alone in starting here -- though I may have lost some cinephile cred in admitting this.

Regardless of how well you know your Maddin, this is certainly a movie with a lot of personality. It's hard to compare to any other film released this or any other year -- although I'm tempted to name one particular sequence "a better adaptation of Color Out of Space than the actual Color Out of Space movie".

Every location contains strange colors and magical mists; the music choices are bizarre to the point of idiosyncratic brilliance; the characters -- from the inexplicably British US president (Charles Dance) to the Swedish Secretary General (Alicia Vikander) who knows the forest's secrets -- are delightfully odd, but sometimes irritatingly unintelligible. (Cate Blanchett's performance, which has been described as an impression of Sandra Hüller doing an impression of Princess Diana, is particularly bemusing.)

It is also a pretty funny movie. For a while, at least. It loses some of its steam and satirical edge in the second half, seemingly getting bored of itself. Regardless, I am eager to check out more of this man's catalog and deeply ashamed that I have not.

I was really looking forward to watching Rumours since the premise seemed original and the trailer looked fun without giving away too much. I still enjoy zombie movies, even though there are countless examples in the genre, because with some talent and unique ideas, they can still be great.

In this film, the leaders of the seven wealthiest liberal democracies are having their annual G7 meeting in a gazebo, while something strange begins happening in the world, with zombie-like creatures appearing in the woods. The movie is a satire and heavily dialogue-driven, which I didn't mind, and the bits of humor sprinkled throughout felt like a fitting touch.

However, as the movie progresses, nothing significant really happens. The characters interact and speculate about what might be going on, but there's no real climax. It's mostly talking and walking through dark woods with little action. Occasionally, the zombies or "Bog People Dancers" as they are credited appear in the distance, but they don't pose any real threat.

I understand what the movie is trying to achieve, but it's simply not entertaining and definitely doesn't warrant a 104-minute runtime. The acting was fine, though the inconsistent accents were noticeable but not overly distracting, but still worth mentioning.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed. While there might be a small niche audience that enjoys Rumours, the majority likely won't find it engaging. [4,7/10]

I really didn't like this film. Fundamentally, almost nothing here worked for me. The satire can be summed up as 'politicians dumb', the photography is super weird and cheap looking, and the surrealist scenes are done without artistic reason. I have so much to say, and somehow this film has left me speechless.

Perhaps we can talk about some of the good? Cate Blanchett is okay in the lead role, but the material is so weak that it's hard to make heads or tails out of her actual performance. There are actually a couple good jokes sprinkled about its runtime. The jokes about trapping pedophiles and protestors attacking the leaders were pretty good, but only ephemeral glimmers of escape in the time warp that was this film. Perhaps another positive is that the characters in the group are all very distinctive, albeit mostly one dimensional.

On the whole, you can tell that this film is drawing from that Monty-Python-esque tradition of dry British satire, but there is so little endearing about the film. The characters are not particularly likeable, and the film makes no effort to make us want to root for the protagonists. The plot should be a straightforward zombie survival plot, but somehow we meander around with few goals or progress through the entire runtime. I'm sorry to say that the photography is awful. In day scenes, there is an ever present, odd cheesy glow. For the rest of the film, all shots are tight, despite being outdoors for virtually the whole film. It seems like just out of frame are the warehouse lights and HVAC system for the cheap and repetitive looking set. Nikki Amuka-Bird had a very poor showing in performance. Truly YouTube level acting.

Shockingly cheap film for a movie with real Hollywood actors in it.