Movie Review: "The Twentieth Century" (2020)
The Twentieth Century Movie Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories
Written and Directed by Matthew Rankin
2020, 90 minutes, Not Rated
Released on November 20th, 2020
Starring:
Dan Beirne as William Lyon Mackenzie King
Louis Negin as Mother
Richard Jutras as Father
Sarianne Cormier as Nurse LaPointe
Satine Scarlett Montaz as Little Charlotte
Catherine St-Laurent as Ruby Elliott
Mikhaïl Ahooja as Bert Harper
Brent Skagford as Arthur Meighen
Kee Chan as Dr. Milton Wakefield
Trevor Anderson as Mr. Justice Richardson
Emmanuel Schwartz as Lady Violet
Seán Cullen as Lord Muto
Review:
Don’t you love that moment? I do. You know the one I’m talking about? It’s the one where you discover something so exceptional and unique that it makes you realize why a cliché is sometimes the only way to describe what you’ve just seen. Those moments are few and far between, so it’s a genuine pleasure to give you my two cents on The Twentieth Century.
It’s the story of William Lyon Mackenzie King (Dan Beirne; Fargo TV series), the man who was Prime Minister of Canada not once, not twice, but thrice! Not only that, he did it in non-consecutive terms. He was also an occultist and a pretty hardcore mama’s boy, but that’s as far as we go by way of synopsis. It’s not really possible to break this flick down in a logical way, and that’s just one of its many oddball charms. The Twentieth Century takes the framework of a very famous man’s story and makes it into a one of a kind satire that’s (here comes the aforementioned cliché) absolutely unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
Broken into ten chapters and complete with handy-dandy title cards, King’s rise to power and various struggles are documented in ludicrously surreal fashion. It’s not that the story doesn’t work in a linear way or make sense; it does. The presentation, however, is so wonderfully bizarre and visually striking that you’ll still have trouble with occasionally losing the narrative thread because it’s just so fucking weird. I’m not Canadian so I can’t pretend to know jack shit about how they roll, but there are some piss your pants hilarious lines that feed all those stereotypes with a heaping dose of cinematic Miracle Gro. Every time you laugh, it’ll catch you off-guard. The Twentieth Century is one of those great flicks that rewards you in that way.
Chapter Two: “The Dominion School of Nationhood” can easily stand alone as a criminally brilliant satirical portrait of polite Canadian indoctrination that also includes clubbing baby seals in true Whack-A-Mole fashion. I’m not kidding, folks. The entire series of leadership tests is a tale I need to see explored further, but it’s also works as scathing commentary on indoctrination of any political stripe. It’s downright vicious while still leaving you rolling. Also, I now need to acquire enough skill to piss my name in the snow IN CALLIGRAPHY.
Wow. Vancouver is a real shithole.
On the visual side of things, The Twentieth Century is a damn work of art. The grain of the visual aesthetic and the 4:3 aspect ratio blends with the talkie style title cards to give new meaning to old-school flavor. Gender roles are turned upside down as men play women and women play men, and they’re really damn good at it. Lady Violet (Emmanuel Schwartz; We Are Gold) will leave you feeling a bit conflicted. The color palette is a shifting array that’s always heavily textured. It’s a style overload in a movie that has enough going on to avoid being labeled as “style over substance”. I’m pretty sure there was a massive, all-powerful narwhal in there, too.
You heard me right. I said massive, all-powerful narwhal.
The Twentieth Century is a Canadian Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a slick piece of nonsensical absurdity taken to the artistic extreme. I want to sit and watch this with a real Canadian historian; better yet, I want to drop some acid with a real Canadian historian and watch this. It’s that kind of signature film, something you’ll definitely remember your first time with (that also gets better with subsequent viewings).
Grade:
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
