Rumba review

Writers/ directors/actors Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon prove worthy heirs to the gangly genius of Jacques Tati in this surreal comic gem about two primary school teachers with a passion for rumba.

After a car accident leaves him with amnesia and her with an artificial leg, the film charts the couple’s ensuing misfortunes via one ingeniously realised set-piece after another.

Almost wordless, the gags have the escalating silliness of silent comedy – except any sense that this is a throwback to slapstick’s salad days is undercut by the jet-black perversity of the subject matter.

Shot in radiant primary colours, Rumba is a smart, droll pleasure.