Rumours

Truly good satire needs a razor-sharp edge to succeed, but this latest effort from director Guy Maddin (in collaboration with filmmaking partners Evan and Galen Johnson) falls stunningly flat, resulting in a rambling, unfocused slog that somehow manages to mix messages and symbology that are simultaneously both cryptically understated and patently obvious. Set at a G7 summit in Germany, world leaders from the host country and their American, Canadian, British, French, Italian and Japanese counterparts (along with delegates from the European Union) hold their annual gathering to discuss the…

When the heads of government from the G7 arrive at a German castle for their annual summit, they expect it to amount to little more than a talking-shop fuelled by fine wine and fine dining before they issue a communiqué that will say precisely nothing of importance to anyone. Things start to look a bit odd, though, when the Canadian "Maxime" (Roy Dupuis) can't get a refill for his wine. Where have all the staff gone? No amount of bell ringing is summoning anyone and it's getting dark. Then Frenchman "Sylvain" (Denis Ménochet) sets off into the woods in search of his papers that have blown…