ROY ANDERSSON

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB.5

Original title:  En Duva Satt Pa En Gren Och Funderade Pa Tillvaron

Sweden/Germany/Norway/France, 2014.  Roy Andersson Filmproduktion AB, 4 1/2 Film, Arte France Cinema, Centre National du Cinema et de L’Image Animee, Coproduction Office, Essential Filmproduktion GmbH, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Fonds Eurimages du Conseil de l’Europe, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Norsk Filmfond, Svenska Filminstitutet, Sveriges Television,  ZDF/Arte. Screenplay by Roy Andersson.  Cinematography by Istvan Borbas, Gergely Palos.  Produced by Pernilla Sandstrom.  Music by Hani Jazzar, Gorm Sundberg.  Costume Design by Julia Tegstrom.  Film Editing by Alexandra Strauss. 

Follows Songs From The Second Floor and You, The Living to cap off a trilogy of witty, surreal visions from the imagination of Roy Andersson.  We travel deeper into the ephemeral with scenes of humans occupying dreamlike spaces, less humorous and romantic and much darker this time, using the barest of framing devices of two traveling salesman collecting payments for the novelty items they sell.

The moments featured include a centuries-old battle intruding on a modern-day bar and a horrific vision of human slaves being sacrificed to industrial greed, while nostalgia weighs heavy when an old man sits in a bar and flashes back to a time and its revels gone by.  It’s a quiet, slow burn of a film like the other two, intelligently rendered and exquisitely directed; it’s also highly consistent, each episode is worthy of all the others, so if you’re bored it won’t get any better, but if you’re into it you will be more than satisfied.

European Film Award:  Best European Comedy
Nominations: Best European Film; Best European Director (Roy Andersson); Best European Screenwriter

Toronto International Film Festival:  2014

Venice Film Festival Award:  Golden Lion