One of the best comedy films (satire, black comedy, dramedy, etc.) of 2019 to get blindsided by the Covid-19 pandemic was writer/director Matthew Rankin’s debut effort, The Twentieth Century, which opened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September of 2019 to solid reviews and the first of its many film festival awards — Best Canadian First Feature Film for Rankin.
The film, an indie production, was acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories just before it opened in Toronto … they knew a good thing when they saw it. Throughout the fall of 2019, Oscilloscope marched it out on the festival circuit to build awareness and get the word out through the media … the awards that piled up were just a bonus. Off to Europe in early March … and then you know the all too familiar story. Theatrical venues dried up.
When a studio like Walt Disney takes a film with a $100 million production budget and takes it direct-to-video (Soul), you know there is a problem. In light of that, Oscilloscope did the only reasonable thing, they announced the move to the home entertainment packaged media marketplace with the release of DVD and Blu-ray editions of Rankin’s The Twentieth Century on May 18.
If you are not Canadian, then the name William Lyon Mackenzie King probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to you. Mackenzie King (played here by Dan Beirne — Space Riders: Division Earth, We Were Wolves, Suck it Up, etc.) was the longest-serving Prime Minister of Canada, not consecutively, but during three terms in office, including World War II. Almost 22 years in office, covering the time period from 1921 to 1948.
Another little tidbit about King is, that when he died, scholars found the largest collection of diaries imaginable — a typical movie script runs about 120 pages (give or take) … King’s life, as detailed in his diaries, if translated into a movie script would yield over 400 such scripts!!
Oh my, where does one begin? A literal telling of King’s life, which was, to the casual observer, pretty mundane, would end up being a multi-part mini-series, at best … and it could end up being pretty boring.
So, Rankin took an entirely different approach. He has jumbled up the “big picture,” moved characters are around in time and made King more of a Monty Pythonesque caricature — you don’t really believe Abe Lincoln was a vampire hunter do you (as depicted in Timur Bekmambetov’s 2012 film) — so if you are looking for actual history, look elsewhere.
The Twentieth Century is a visual feast, which the actors having a field day with historical Canadian figures … it is so odd, if the Road Runner and Wiley Coyote would show up on the screen, you’d think nothing of it. And yes, it is true, King’s diaries contained details on his occult extracurricular activities (no one had a clue) and details on his sexual behavior, which Rankin lampoons to the fullest extend imaginable!!
Bonus features include commentary from writer/director Matthew Rankin and the film’s star, Dan Beirne, and three short films — Mynarski Death Plummet, Tabula Rasa and Docking.
Also added to the release calendar this past week from Oscilloscope Laboratories is the May 11 DVD and Blu-ray debut of documentary filmmaker Reiner Holzemer’s Martin Margiela: In His Own Words.
He departed the world of fashion abruptly in 2009. His company, Maison Margiela, which he founded in 1988, became the center of avant-garde designs, with the models over the years being notably secondary to the design and presentation … it was his hallmark.
This iconic Belgian designer remained something of an enigma during his career and when Holzemer was given access for the documentary, the anticipation was that the layers would be pulled back and the persona would become a person. Perhaps, but one of the conditions was that the subject would not be on camera as a talking head. Instead, the creative process and an understand of how Margiela achieved his design vision emerges through conversataions and interviews with those who covered his career. It is a fascinating take on the life of a fashion icon.
Bonus features include a video session with filmmaker Reiner Holzemer, two short films by Martin Margiela — Kristina and Seven Women — and a short film by Marina Faust (Maison Margiela photographer) titled Duvet Coat.
Martin Margiela: In His Own Words is presented with a mix of French and English, with English subtitles when needed.
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