My first Roy Andersson movie was A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence, which I loved, though when I reflect upon it, I can think of certain moments and scenes but not the experience as a whole. Maybe that’s because of Andersson’s particular style, his movies consist of surreal, deadpan tableaus, one after the other; afterwards, it feels like you’ve floated through a foggy, bittersweet, hilarious exhibition of images. Going backwards into his trilogy, I watched You, The Living (2007) next, which is the second movie (after Songs From The Second Floor, which I still have to find a copy of) and I also loved it. People in a Swedish city, wearing pancake makeup to resemble ghostly figures, go about their day, telling their dreams and nightmares that they’ve had to the camera, or observing something from their apartments or from the street, or congregate at the bar before last drinks are called, or they’re playing musical instruments in large rooms and trying to avoid the rain, or they’re standing in awe of developing thunderstorms. So many great visual gags and thoughtful minutiae, I was chortling heartily throughout, and then it builds to a moment where one of the few recurring characters describes a dream, which we see and then I was suddenly moved to tears. The deadpan approach of Andersson’s existential tragi-comedy does make the short running time feel a bit longer in the viewing experience, but You, The Living caps off everything with a great ending and a wonderfully memorable closing shot. Available to stream on Kanopy. Recommended.
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