By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Roy Andersson
Starring: Björn Englund | Briggita Persson | Elisabeth Helander | Jessika Lundberg | Leif Larsson | Olle Olson
Original language title: Du Levande
Country: denmark, france, germany, japan, norway, sweden
Year: 2009
Running time: 95
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445336/
Michael says: “It’s nearly impossible to describe the absurdist films of Roy Andersson, whose SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR was a minor Chlotrudis hit several years ago. Andersson’s films examine the human condition, with sly, deadpan humor, and static shots that are almost still photographs set out in a brilliant succession of dreamlike tableaux: a bride and her guitar-playing groom sail along in a house moving like a train; a man complains of his financial woes while his wife tries to make love to him; a drunken woman shouts’“No one understands me’ to a bar full of silent patrons; a man waiting in line to buy a train ticket changes queues repeatedly, to no advantage. It all adds up to something, and it’s a joy to watch. 4 ½ cats”
Diane says: “Fell asleep on first try, but glad I persevered. I’m becoming quite the Roy Andersson fan. Oh, that Scandinavian sense of humor! If you long for the silences of KITCHEN STORIES or the absurdity of SCREAMING MEN, maybe this is your next movie.
“The themes of isolation and resignation are evoked in the movie’s form as much as in each scene. Through fifty or so vignettes, a minor character in one becomes the focus of the next, yet no one can see that the lives are connected. One fine vignette: a man sits slumped in his living room chair, his white standard poodle next to him. A woman appears in the doorway: ‘It’s almost half past five!’ And out. The man says to the camera, ‘What can I say?’ Waits a beat, then calls out,’Oh, really?” Cut.
“Sound is topnotch and lovely in this very quiet film: footsteps, whimpers, a muffled dog’s bark, the fzzt of a malfunctioning electric chair…. Colors are bleached and somber. 3 1/2 cats, because I’m not sure it has staying power. Now on DVD.”
| You the Living (Sweden/Germany/France/Denmark / Norway/Japan; 95 min.)
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