Crashdance

French film Rumba is absurdly funny and stylish

by MATTHEW HAYS

When the term “feel-good” is used in a film blurb or review, I always pack the Pepto-Bismol before heading off to the screening. And the ways in which films make us feel good are rightly likened to suspension of disbelief—they are very unique to each spectator. When I saw The Station Agent a few years ago, I was assured it steered clear of sentimentality. I thought it was the schmaltziest mess I’d had to sit through in years.

Thus it’s pleasing to report that Rumba, the low-budget oddity that had its premiere at last week’s World Film Fest and opens this week, is a strange but delightful feature.

It’s made by the husband-and-wife team of Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, who play a husband-and-wife team of dancers who struggle to recover after a debilitating car accident that robs Fiona of one of her legs.

Doesn’t sound like much fun, but Abel and Gordon’s oddball comic sensibility, fused with their infectious love of dance, makes Rumba a welcome respite from the rigid conformity that suffocates so many movies. The details are quirky and funny: their love of dance runs so deep, we see them busting a move as they iron a shirt or clean their shoes.

There are some truly strange plot twists and ideas packed into this 77-minute film. There’s a beautiful scene before a campfire, when Abel and Gordon serenade each other by warbling through their rendition of “Sea of Love.” Too bad Gordon’s wooden leg catches fire.

But the bravado of the ludicrous plot twists are only matched by the filmmakers’ stylistic flourish. These include car rides backed by glaring rear projection, and through long sequences where nary a word of dialogue is heard. (Indeed, the influence of French master Jacques Tati can be felt throughout.) I wasn’t a bit surprised to read these two have extensive background in theatre and circus performance.

Rumba comes through it all as a film both daring and sweet. Its strange and silly conceits, its sheer chutzpah, made me like it all the more.

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