Monthly Archives: October 2015

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015), Roy Andersson ★★★★★

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The final film in Roy Andersson’s Living trilogy (the first 2: Songs from the Second Floor (2000), You, the living (2007)). Like Jacques Tati, Andersson uses every inch of the screen, and characters in the background, far and near, contribute to each scene. I actually saw this playing at my favorite theater (which shows the majority of the limited releases in this town) but I hesitated, and didn’t realize it was a Roy Andersson film. One day I will see one of his films on the big screen. This viewing was through an Amazon UK Artificial Eye region 2 dvd.

A shilling for a shot glass is the price you have to pay, when you drink at Limping Lotta’s bar in Gothenburg – the best scene in the film – sung to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

And if the truth be known, I saw this on Wednesday!  And then it’s Wednesday again…

The Duke of Burgundy (2014), Peter Strickland ★★★★★

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There are many spoilers below. When I saw this yesterday I went in completely blind. Everything was a surprise. No, there is no plot revelation. But a spoiler is a spoiler, so this warning is relevant.

Butterflies, and the 4 M’s: moth, master, maid…, and mannequins? TDoB starts slowly with a theme that is repeated as to be read from a script. Nothing is as it seems. And what you think is going on is going on – you can see it as well as hear it. Imagery describes each plateau. Hannibal Lector’s words apply: The significance of the moth is change. Caterpillar into chrysalis, or pupa, and from thence into beauty.

You, the Living (2007), Roy Andersson ★★★★★

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I’ve seen one other film by Roy Andersson, Songs from the Second Floor (2000), which set me up for this one nicely. I was watching some of the director interviews on You, The Living, and he mentions his commercials, which are available on youtube. I actually saw his latest limited U.S.release, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015), playing at my favorite theater and I didn’t realize it was a Roy Anderssson film. So now I’ll have to settle for the Artificial Eye amazon.co.uk (Region 2) dvd I just ordered a minute ago.

There is one scene that is a must see. I’m going to type it in white so as to not spoil it for those who will actually seek out this five star gem (highlight between the brackets to read):

[ The scene starts with the below screen capture. The girl, who you’ll recognize as she’s in several earlier scenes who is seeking this guitar player’s affections, starts talking to the camera about a dream she had. The next scene is her dream; a very small apartment…, the guitar player is sitting in a small kitchen and starts playing a song. He has his back to a refrigerator and a window’s right pane to his right showing an unrecognizable scene that may be distant trees. The girl is in her wedding dress with her veil still on in the next room framed by the door from the kitchen sitting on the bed and taking off her signature pink boots. There is something strange about the window scene. Something on the bottom is flickering. At first I thought, that’s a reflection of a ceiling fan as it’s flickering on the bottom, but then I thought – they’re showing the view of someone on a train. So I focused on the window for a utility pole to zip by or something like that and sure enough, slowly but surely you see that it is in fact a train that they are on, but how can a train have a cabin that looks like an apartment interior? Then the camera ever so slightly moves left, showing more of the window’s left pane, and then the scenery slows, and you see it entering a station and a very large crowd of people are looking at this cabin / apartment and start running along like fans at a concert and the train stops. Scene shift to the fan’s pov on the station platform and they are looking at the side of a multi-story apartment, slowing to a stop at the station like it’s a train (nothing pulling it).

And I did start watching it a second time and noticed the first scene dovetails with the last.

Search for You, the Living | Dream Honeymoon Scene to view. ]