+ Best Swedish Movie of the Year
 |
| The original Swedish poster for Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existense |
Pigeon is the new film by great Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson (A Swedish Love Story/En Kärlekshistoria (1970)). It is an often humorous work about being human, the last part of Andersson's trilogy of films about living, which also includes Songs from the Second Floor/Sånger från Andra Våningen (2000) and You, the Living/Du Levande (2007).
Two aging men have a hard time selling their product, various joking devices. A dance teacher experiences a break-up. People die. There is cruelty. Beauty. Disappointments. Sexuality.
Andersson doesn't present a traditional plot, although Pigeon does have something resembling story and more recurring characters than, for instance, Song from the Second Floor. The visual side has grown warmer as well, more diverse and perhaps a little less depressed/depressing.
Pigeon is a nearly perfect, both poetic and highly stimulating film that should be experienced in a cinema and later on at home again. It is a rich and complex experience full of poignant, richly imaginative, often very funny, and also often sad tableau scenes. 39 in all.
Andersson is trying to describe the human condition at its fundamentals, as he sees it, and he has conjured up quite a collection here that accounts for many parts of it, at least: Our aptitude for, in different situations, complaining, for downplaying our letdowns, for reasoning away our defeats, for acting out and regretting, seeking solace and forgiveness, for seeking fundamental answers about our existence, and for wiping these concerns off the table, as our time isn't ever 'convenient' for them. Our propensities for greed, stupidity, evil, sadistic tendencies and obsessions with possessions and earthly titles also interest Andersson, who is never one to sentimentalize our species.
- He does present his ideas, - some quite realistic, others absolutely absurd, - with lots of subtle humor and warmth, and I have never had as good a time with an Andersson film as I had with the beautifully titled A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. - The title is inspired by the 1565 painting The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
Religion is not a part of Andersson's world, it seems, and love is also not something that really interests or convinces him, apparently, which I do feel is a lack of sorts for the film, and it also feels a little long towards its end, especially in the rather long, harrowing scene with the 'African burning instrument.'
The film has several highlights:
Holger Andersson and Nils Westblom ((You, the Living) both) are really great as the two aging business partners, who serve as a story anchor for the film.
The film's most impressive and crowning scenes are two that play out in an apparently contemporary tavern that is suddenly visited by both our salesmen business-partners and King Karl XII of Sweden, on his horse, followed by en immense number of soldiers, mainly outside, who are going off to fight the Russians. Viktor Gyllenberg is quite moving in the part of the homosexual king in these two scenes that really stood out as truly wondrous film magic to me. - Mysterious, weird, powerful, moving and otherworldly.
Pigeon becomes the 2nd really great Swedish film of 2014 that I have seen as of yet, the other one being Ruben Östlund's marvelous couple's crisis/skiing holiday drama, Force Majeure/Turist (2014).
Related posts:
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] Force Majeure/Turist (2014) or, Swedes in Trouble
Watch the trailer with English subtitles here
Cost: Approximately 4 mil. €
Box office: 0.2 mil. $ (Sweden 2014 only)
= Too early to say
[Pigeon won the Gold Lion at the Venice Film Festival as Best Film. It has not opened in several important film countries yet. - Don't miss seeing this in a cinema! Acceptable attendance is vital for Andersson's possibilities concerning his next film project.]
What do you think of Roy Andersson and his films?
How did you find A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence?
No comments:
Post a Comment