A couple minutes into Rumours, indie auteur Guy Maddin’s outlandish political satire, Canadian Prime Minister Maxime Laplace (an intensely sensual Roy Dupuis) desperately tries to rekindle his relationship with British Prime Minister Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird), with whom he’d shared a brief moment of intimacy at the last meeting of world leaders. After she awkwardly turns him down, he stops, crestfallen, as the sound of mournful saxophones blares over the score, suddenly transforming the movie into a torrid drama. It’s a ridiculous moment that sets the stage for the rest of this absurd and hilarious movie.
