Whimsical and candy-colored, this French-Belgian comedy may call to mind Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie (2001), but its stylized two-dimensionality—symmetrical compositions, geometric slapstick, characters flattened out like paper dolls—is more directly influenced by Buster Keaton’s surreal silent shorts. Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, graceful and goofy physical performers, play an ardent married couple who spend their days teaching grade school and their nights tearing it up at Latin dance competitions, until an auto accident costs her a leg and him his short-term memory. The story plays out with an absolute minimum of dialogue, and the visual gags are highly inventive. In a comedy market dominated by crudity, sarcasm, and smug pop-culture references, laughs this pure hit like lightning. Abel directed. In French with subtitles.
Rumba
1 hour 14 min