Swedish director Roy Andersson’s films have a distinctive style and tone, which you’ll either be on board for or have no patience with. About Endlessness (2019; Om det oändliga) follows in the tradition of his previous trilogy of movies – Songs From The Second Floor; You, The Living; and A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Contemplating Existence. A series of artfully composed tableaus locked off in master shots for one take, often visual gags that are either funny, sad, sweet or dark. People are given ghastly make up and grey outfits to look even more depressing, and everything is a set constructed in Andersson’s studio often with painted backgrounds. About Endlessness is little over an hour in running time but feels longer as an experience due to the patient way the shots unfold and the scenes change without much of an overriding narrative. Here, I felt I could pick up the subtle connections between scenes, contrasting the one that came before by featuring the same item – a knife – or a different take on a similar theme – not knowing what to do, knowing what to do and failing. The first image is of a couple – a man and a woman – holding each other as they emerge from clouds of mist and smoke, floating in the sky, high above a city of ruins. A woman’s voice often is heard narrating scenes, “I once saw a man…”, and concepts of eternity, energy and facets of life are explored in each scene. The film often never goes for an obvious joke and lets the mundane play out to the point of its innate surreal ridiculousness. A recurring character is a priest who has lost his faith – all he can do is drink and cry, bemoaning like a little child, “What can I do if I’ve lost my faith?” There’s something both sad and hilarious about this exaggerated misery, and the prosaic reactions by the people around him. I love how Roy Anderrson’s movies are specific to Sweden and European history, but there’s a universality I think in how it makes an audience reframe living experience. Life is depressing and beautiful in equal turns, and there’s enough distancing technique and wonderful craft that allows me to sometimes laugh at the horror. Available to stream on SBS On Demand. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 