Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century draws comparisons to Guy Maddin. And sure, both Winnipeg-born directors use German Expressionism as their jumping point. But that’s pretty much it, as Rankin creates his own animal in his second full-length feature. Here, he depicts the life of William Lyon MacKenzie King (Dan Beirne). He’s the guy who’s in the Canadian $50 bill, or the occult one. Think of him and Abraham Lincoln as what would happen if Canada elected Marianne Williamson. And yes, there’s a part of me that wishes the Canadian electorate was that kind of brave today. Anyway, yes, the film touches on the occult stuff with his Mother’s (Louis Negan) prophecies but that’s it.

The Twentieth Century also references King’s rivalry with Arthur Meighen (Brent Skagford), but beyond that, everything is pure fiction in the best ways. The film’s biggest conflict, the thing that may hinder King from becoming the Prime Minister is a foot fetish. Rankin tells all of that and more using inventive production design, bringing to life what may happen if Bauhaus artists depicted Mount Olympus. Content and form merge here. The style reminds viewers that its protagonist is one of the previous centuries important figures without lionizing that figure, giving him the the kind of flaws people have today.

People watching The Twentieth Century now are doing so within a climate that’s reframing history. The film came a year before political upheaval but it’s interesting to watch it in the context I just described. We no longer think of Great Men, and Rankin creates a world grappling within the duality of believing in Great Men despite of the evidence around them that disproves it. William still wants to Prime Minister, but doing so is becoming more difficult while his family is falling apart. His mother tries to control his life whil his Father (Richard Jutras) suffers because of debt collectors. He also struggles with picking between two women (Sarianne Cormier and Catherine St-Laurent) in his life.

This warped Canadian Heritage moment specifically works because of its actors. It’s easy to wink in a film with these kind of twists but Beirne and his co-stars treat the material with the right amount of sincerity. They also portray this anachronistic version of the Victorian age while, approproately enough, plays with ideas of gender. The production design also works because it’s not as manicured. Which, in fairness, most films with ‘fake sets’ are kind of like this. In reviewing this, my colleague Thomas wrote about its divisiveness. But you know what, I’m all for how this film depicts Canada’s greatest weirdo.

Watch The Twentieth Century on OVID.