The Twentieth Century (film)

Not to be confused with Twentieth Century (film), 1934.

The Twentieth Century
Film poster
Directed by	Matthew Rankin
Written by	Matthew Rankin
Produced by	Gabrielle Tougas-Fréchette Ménaïc Raoul
Starring	Dan Beirne Catherine St-Laurent Louis Negin Brent Skagford
Cinematography	Vincent Biron
Edited by	Matthew Rankin
Music by	Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux Peter Venne
Production company	Voyelles Films
Distributed by	Oscilloscope Pictures
Release date	September 10, 2019 (2019-09-10)(TIFF)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

The Twentieth Century is a 2019 Canadian surrealist black comedy written and directed by Matthew Rankin in his full-length directorial debut. ^[1] The film presents a fictionalized portrait of the rise to power of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King as played by Dan Beirne. ^[2] It won three Canadian Screen Awards.

Historical divergence

The film is not a realistic or literally accurate depiction of Canadian history, ^[3] instead mixing and matching elements of real history with invented fantasia in a stylized manner reminiscent of the films of Guy Maddin, and taking place largely on deliberately unrealistic sets influenced by German Expressionism, 1940s melodrama and wartime propaganda films. ^[4] Rankin himself described it as "one part Canadian Heritage Minute and one part ayahuasca death trip". ^[5]

Although most of the film's major characters are at least loosely based on real Canadian historical figures, not all of their careers actually coexisted. In reality, although Mackenzie King and Arthur Meighen already knew and disliked each other by 1899, neither man had even entered electoral politics at all yet, let alone being candidates for Prime Minister, as of that time — while the real Bert Harper was never a political rival to either man, but merely a government bureaucrat. Harper did genuinely die by drowning, albeit not until 1901, and he drowned while attempting to rescue Bessie Blair, the daughter of New Brunswick premier Andrew George Blair. The real Lord Minto, further, was a benign figure who distinguished himself in Canadian history primarily as a patron of amateur sports, and his term as Governor General had already ended by the time either King or Meighen were in politics — whereas Lord Muto, his fictionalized portrayal in the film, is an openly fascist dictator with much more control over political affairs than Canadian Governors General actually have, who oversees Canadian politics in a manner more reminiscent of The Hunger Games than the real Canadian electoral process, and who is openly conspiring to draw the Canadian military much more deeply into the Boer War. Minto really did have daughters named Ruby and Violet, although both were only teenagers, not adult women, as of 1899. Joseph-Israël Tarte was also a real political figure, although he did not serve concurrently with either King or Meighen and was not strongly associated with the Quebec nationalist movement; he was, however, an opponent of Canadian entry into the Boer War.

According to Rankin, "I wanted everything to feel artificial all the time. The conceit of the film is that Canada might just be totally fake and in this person’s head. And the film is about his head. Everything in the film is drawn from Mackenzie King’s diary and reprocessed. I describe it as a nightmare that he might have had in 1899." ^[6] He has also described the film as a satire on the overly earnest way that Canadian history is often presented in film and television, contrasting it against both Heritage Minutes and Sullivan Entertainment costume dramas. ^[6]

The film also makes use of both cross-gender acting, with three significant characters (King's mother, J. Israël Tarte and Lady Violet) portrayed by cross-gender performers in drag, and colour-blind casting, with two White Anglo-Saxon Protestant characters (Bert Harper and Dr. Wakefield) portrayed by Asian-Canadian actors. Rankin has described this aspect of the film by saying that "I wanted to take a school-play approach that you don't see so much in film for some reason. In a school play you can have a Filipino Captain von Trapp and a transgender Artful Dodger and it's fine. In film, I don’t understand why there’s this pressure to always link an actor to their exact demographic profile." ^[6]

Cast

Sean Cullen plays the role of the Governor General.

• Dan Beirne as William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Catherine St-Laurent as Ruby Elliott
• Mikhaïl Ahooja as Henry Albert Harper
• Brent Skagford as Arthur Meighen
• Seán Cullen as Lord Muto, Governor General of Canada
• Louis Negin as Mother
• Kee Chan as Dr. Milton Wakefield
• Trevor Anderson as Mr. Justice Richardson
• Annie St-Pierre as J. Israël Tarte
• Richard Jutras as Father
• Sarianne Cormier as Nurse Lapointe
• Emmanuel Schwartz as Lady Violet

Release

The film premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival in the Midnight Madness program, ^[7] and won the festival's award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. ^[8] The film was subsequently screened at the 2019 Los Cabos International Film Festival, ^[9] where it won the festival's Premio Competencia award. ^[10]

Critical reaction

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A silly, surreal treat for fans of absurd comedy, The Twentieth Century takes a sideways -- and often deliriously entertaining -- look at Canadian history." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Film critic Peter Howell described the film as "Monty Python by way of Rankin’s fellow Winnipegger Guy Maddin", ^[11] while David Friend of The Canadian Press said the film "subverts the mystique around politicians by mocking patriotism, propaganda and Canadian identity." ^[12]

For The Hollywood Reporter , Jordan Mintzer described the film as "Guy Maddin meets John Waters by way of Powell and Pressburger". ^[13]

In 2023, Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail named the film as one of the 23 best Canadian comedy films ever made. ^[14]

Accolades

In December 2019, the film was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list. ^[15] The film received eight Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020. ^[16]

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Berlin International Film Festival	20 February – 1 March 2020	FIPRESCI Prize (Forum)	Matthew Rankin	Won	[17]
Canadian Screen Awards	28 May 2020	Best Motion Picture	Ménaïc Raoul, Gabrielle Tougas-Fréchette	Nominated	[16] [18]
		Best Actor	Dan Beirne	Nominated
		Best Director	Matthew Rankin	Nominated
		Best Original Screenplay		Nominated
		Best Art Direction/Production Design	Dany Boivin	Won
		Best Costume Design	Patricia McNeil	Won
		Best Hair	Nermin Grbic	Won
		John Dunning Best First Feature	Matthew Rankin	Nominated
Directors Guild of Canada	26 October 2019	DGC Discovery Award		Nominated	[19]
Los Cabos International Film Festival	13 – 17 November 2019	Best Film		Won	[20]
Prix Iris	10 June 2020	Best Director		Nominated	[21] [22]
		Best Art Direction	Dany Boivin	Won
		Best Sound	Bernard Gariépy Strobl, Sacha Ratcliffe, Lynne Trépanier	Nominated
		Best Editing	Matthew Rankin	Nominated
		Best Costume Design	Patricia McNeil	Won
		Best Makeup	Adriana Verbert	Won
		Best Hairstyling	Nermin Grbic	Won
		Best First Film	Matthew Rankin	Nominated
Toronto International Film Festival	5–15 September 2019	Best Canadian First Feature Film		Won	[23]
Vancouver Film Critics Circle	7 January 2020	Best Canadian Film		Nominated	[24] [25]
		Best Director of a Canadian Film		Nominated
		One to Watch		Won
		Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film		Nominated
		Best Actor in a Canadian Film	Dan Beirne	Won
		Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film	Louis Negin	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film	Catherine St-Laurent	Nominated
Grindhouse Paradise	3 – 5 September 2021	Audience Prize	Matthew Rankin	Nominated	[26]

References

1. Duchesne, André (July 29, 2019). "Le premier long métrage de Matthew Rankin au FNC". La Presse .
2. "Oscilloscope heads to The Twentieth Century". Playback . August 2, 2019.
3. Knight, Chris (December 11, 2019). "Chris Knight: Canada's 10th PM was a total oddball — at least thats what Matthew Rankin wants you to believe". National Post .
4. Blichert, Frederick (September 26, 2019). "'The Twentieth Century' May Be the Heritage Minute We Need". The Tyee .
5. Forani, Jonathan (September 5, 2019). "'Heritage Minute from hell': Mackenzie King has boot fetish in TIFF flick". CTV News .
6. Kevin Ritchie, "Director Matthew Rankin plunges into the depths of Canadian shame". Now , December 12, 2019.
7. Howell, Peter (July 31, 2019). "Indigenous films highlight Canadian slate at TIFF 2019". Toronto Star .
8. Vlessing, Etan (September 15, 2019). "Toronto: Taika Waititi's 'Jojo Rabbit' Wins Audience Award". The Hollywood Reporter .
9. Larson, Richard Scott (November 23, 2019). "Los Cabos Film Festival 2019: Workforce, The Twentieth Century, Waves, & More". Slant Magazine .
10. Hopewell, John (November 16, 2019). "'Twentieth Century,' 'Dove and the Wolf,' 'Hurricane Season' Win Los Cabos Festival". Variety .
11. Howell, Peter (December 12, 2019). "'The Twentieth Century' has fun portraying Mackenzie King as a loonie prime minister". Toronto Star .
12. Friend, David (14 September 2019). "Six stellar films that flew under the radar at the Toronto International Film Festival". CityNews/The Canadian Press. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
13. Mintzer, Jordan (September 27, 2019). "'The Twentieth Century': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter .
14. Barry Hertz, "The 23 best Canadian comedies ever made". The Globe and Mail , June 28, 2023.
15. Wilner, Norman (December 11, 2019). "TIFF announces Canada's top 10 films of 2019". Now .
16. Wilner, Norman (February 18, 2020). "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Prepare for a Schitt's show". Now .
17. Roxborough, Scott (1 March 2020). "Berlin: Christian Petzold's 'Undine' Wins FIPRESCI Critics Award". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 7 May 2020.
18. Weaver, Jackson (28 May 2020). "Antigone named best picture on final night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News . Retrieved 28 May 2020.
19. "Nominees announced for 18th Annual DGC Awards". CNW Group. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
20. Hecht, John (16 November 2019). "'Twentieth Century' Wins Top Prize at Los Cabos Film Fest". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 22 May 2020.
21. "Prix Iris 2020: «Il pleuvait des oiseaux» et «La femme de mon frère» partent favoris". The Huffington Post (in French). 23 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
22. "Le film Antigone, grand gagnant du Gala Québec Cinéma avec six prix" (in French). Radio-Canada. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
23. Knight, Chris (15 September 2019). "TIFF 2019: The winners, losers and honourable mentions of the film festival". National Post . Retrieved 7 May 2020.
24. Mack, Adrian (December 13, 2019). "Marriage Story dominates Vancouver Film Critics Circle noms". The Georgia Straight . Retrieved January 9, 2020.
25. "Vancouver film critics award 'The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open'". Tri-City News. January 7, 2020. Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
26. "The Twentieth Century". 25 June 2021.

External links

• The Twentieth Century at IMDb
• The Twentieth Century at AllMovie
• The Twentieth Century at Rotten Tomatoes