User Reviews

Advancing on the characteristic approach and satirical thematic concerns of director Roy Andersson's previous film, the excellent Songs from the Second Floor (2000), You, The Living (2007) presents to us yet another vaguely tortured, darkly-comic look into the failures of human existence; with an ironic juxtaposition between the presentation of both content and form that is disarming to say the least. Unlike his previous film, the themes of You, The Living are much less enigmatic and oblique. There is also a greater sense of structure here; and although the whole thing can be interpreted as a prolonged nightmare (or a dream of social dissatisfaction), the ultimate realisation of that final scene - which stresses subtly and a cruel sense of humour - makes the socio-political message of the film much clearer and more relevant than any of Andersson's work since the AIDs related short-feature, Something Has Happened (1987). Again, it can be seen as an extension of the director's background in commercial advertising, with any awareness of even a handful of his often fantastic TV commercials establishing his trademark use of deliberately static tableau, filled with an impeccably rich attention to mise-en-scene, and a genuinely impressive use of bold, comic-timing.

This, of course, shouldn't really come as a surprise; throughout his career - stretching as far back as even his second feature film, the critical and financial failure Giliap (1975) - Andersson has used elements of cruel, social-satire to draw on the notion of human fragility, and often in the attempt to mine an almost absurd comedy of errors motif that seemingly grows from routine, everyday-like misadventures, into full-blown comic-tragedies. At its most simplistic, his work could be interpreted as a series of sketches that attempt to parody the seeming futility of everyday existence in such a way as to find humour and hope in even the most despairing of situations. The aesthetic then is to document the harsh-realities of the world in the form of an ironic stylisation - once again capturing despair, loneliness and alienation with all of the designer gloss of an IKEA commercial - with the sly implication that modern consumer society wants us to aspire to the level of middle-aged suicide, alcoholism and tragic desperation being close to genius in its presentation. Nonetheless, there is much more to the film than such a glib description might suggest; with Andersson structuring these scenes in order to show the escalating sense of desperation, selfishness, worthlessness and self-pity of these bemused and befuddled characters, as their shallow hopes and dreams are exposed against a literal, last-minute offering of swift, apocalyptic despair.

As ever with Andersson, the design of the film is rich and exquisite from one scene to the next, with the director and his crew going to great lengths to create these locations (including all but one of the exterior shots) on the sound-stages of Andersson's Studio 24. Even though the world of the film is plausible to the point that we forgot the film was even shot in a studio, there still remains a continual off-kilter quality of wily exaggeration that becomes more and more notable as the film progresses. This sense of creative abstraction finally achieves its full potential during an apparent dream-sequence; in which a house moves through the countryside on a railroad track before finally pulling into a local train station to the cheers of the supporting cast. It perfectly captures the bleakly beautiful spirit of the film and the depth of Andersson's imagination as a filmmaker, here at the height of his creative abilities. Once again, we can argue the merits and the meaning of the film as we did with the more obviously downbeat Songs from the Second Floor, seeing it as either a stark, Godardian satire on the nature of consumerism and a comment on how the wheels of everyday existence conspire to grind us into place, or as a work of high-concept design intended to parody the slow grind of everyday existence - and the even greater weaknesses and despair - hidden beneath the already drab facade of day to day life.

Unfortunately, many will no doubt see the film as plot less or formless even, and, to an extent, it is. However, there is a real meaning here that is expressed through images that - even in spite of Andersson's ironic detachment and occasional mocking of his own characters and the directions they follow - offer us a number of moments that are emotionally affecting, and indeed, entirely memorable. Regardless of such interpretations - which are ultimately there for the individual to discover and interpret by themselves - the film works as a result of its keen sense of humour - which is continually dark and again reminiscent of the work of Aki Kaurismäki; in particular films like Hamlet Goes Business (1987) and The Man Without a Past (2002) - and of course, Andersson's uniquely defiant and immediately iconic style. As with "Songs" (and indeed, all of Andersson's work over the course of the last twenty-years) the episodic nature of the film can be a strain at first; however, it is worth sticking with, as the more obvious characters soon become apparent and their individual strands of the narrative become compelling in an oddly affecting way.

I enjoy the National Anthem. I enjoy the National Anthem if for nothing else then, just before the Midnight News, I imagine I'm playing the cymbals in the band. Not as easy as you may think! One, two, three, four; One, two three, four; but then what? So I have sympathy with the practising bass drum player in Roy Andersson's wonderful film, patiently waiting for his cue listening to a very 70s cassette player.

The 70s motif seems to continue throughout, with some classic, soulless furniture. Moreover, every scene has an eerie jade wash which emphasises the minute nuances of the subtlest of acting.

Which brings me to Jessika Lundberg's outstanding purple boots. Boots which otherwise would have inspired a Silk Cult advertising campaign.

But then the difficult bit. Someone asked me what it was about. Well there is a scene where the opening line as "I don't have that length in green" Brilliant. Straight out of a Gary Larson carton.

I can't say what it's about. Go see yourself.

Ron Plasma

Hmm. Larson! Sounds Swedish

(Viewed 15Apr08)

"With all the misery in the world, how can we not get drunk?" - Mia

A lovely aerial view of a major city turns ominous with the approach of a fleet of airplane bombers; an irate hairdresser reacting to a perceived racial slur cuts a road through a businessman's bushy hair; a man dreams of being dragged to an electric chair after a failed magic trick and a teacher breaks down in front of her grade school class because her husband called her a hag. These and about fifty other vignettes that run the gamut from the outright depressing to the wildly humorous to the joyously uplifting populate Roy Andersson's You, the Living, his first feature since his critically acclaimed if commercially unsuccessful Songs From the Second Floor.

You, the Living is filled with the same kind of imaginative set-pieces as Songs, replete with black humor, surreal situations, and strange looking characters. Though a bit overlong and less focused than his earlier work, what remains constant is Andersson's unmistakable style with its stationary camera, sterile-looking backgrounds, and precise attention to detail. If there is a theme that ties the sketches together, it is that our time on Earth is limited and "tomorrow's another day', so let's treat each other with kindness. Along the way, we are entertained by tuba and drum music from the Louisiana Brass Band, dinner guests at a banquet hall standing on their chairs singing a rousing song, and a house that turns into a moving train.

The emotions range from the gloom of a daughter attempting to communicate with an Alzheimer's patient to a young woman's ecstatic dream about marrying a handsome guitar-player named Micke to the cheers of a crowd of onlookers. While there is no continuous narrative thread, the theme of greed and desperation appears in several sketches. The first of these threads features two corpulent individuals and their tiny dog sitting on a park bench, the woman bewailing the fact that no one understands or loves her, yet she blithely ignores the man's comforting and reassuring words.

There is also a hefty admixture of irony. During what seems to be an executive luncheon, one man tells another on the phone that workers don't appreciate quality and how nice it is to appreciate money and the things that it can buy such as fine wine. When he is not looking, however, a man at an adjacent table calmly lifts his wallet from his jacket on the back of his chair. Though Andersson's cynicism is at times not very well hidden, You the Living has an underlying humanism that shows compassion for the human condition. It is a cautionary tale that looks at the mess we humans have gotten ourselves into but suggests there is still time to turn it around, if we heed the warning of the poet Goethe that opens the film, "Be pleased then, you the living, in your delightfully warmed bed, before Lethe's ice-cold wave will lick your escaping foot."

You, the Living (Sweden, 2007) captures every day life's sorrows, joys, and regrets through the world's best medicine, humor. Roy Anderrsson, the director and writer of You, the Living, uses off beat sarcasm similar to that of Monty Python to portray short clips of unglamorous people from all different walks of life. Although many of the characters appear to be in the dumps, the whimsical comments and random actions in the background make for a somewhat lighthearted film.

Within You, the Living there is no clear plot line nor do all of the characters have an actual name but they all a story to tell. The film opens with a frumpy middle-aged man snoring and fast asleep on a sofa. In the background you can see that there is a fake skyline out the window, which added a humorous touch on the set. The man suddenly awakes and states: "I just had a nightmare". This first scene set the anticipation for odd and out of place interactions.

In addition to the snoring man on the sofa there are several other absurd and rather interesting characters. For example, there's the tuba player that announces he lost his retirement money while having unexciting sex with his wife, the teacher that cries in front her class because her husband called her a hag, the man that gets invited to a dinner party and sent to an electric chair shortly after etc. Collected together these characters create a theme of the common man's life and how dismal yet silly it can be.

A way that these strange characters escape their dismal lives and find deeper meaning is through music. Some of the characters are members of a Louisiana music band that plays at rather strange venues. Each individual member of the band is given their own independent life snapshot; showing them practicing their music while having rather boring lives. Though their lives are unexciting they're band is a offbeat and quirky. For example, the band plays upbeat New Orleans music at a funeral, which at first appears inappropriate. That is until a woman accompanying the band sings a song about living in a land without tears or sorrow. The song combined with the place and circumstance added to the nature of the film as I found it comedic, touching and somber.

Intertwined with music there is a theme of desiring to be loved and feeling unloved. Anna, a hopeless purple boot-wearing romantic, desires to be with, Micke Larsson, the lead singer and guitarist of a punk rock band. Anxious to see him, she practices telling him that she thinks, "he sounded great" at the show, she wishes he called her, and ultimately that she loves him. None of these words are actually spoken to him, which reveals her desperate nature and desire to be loved by him. Towards the end of the film, Anna describes a dream in which she marries Micke. The dream has Micke and Anna post wedding relaxing in a moving house. The house comes to a standstill in front of a crowd of random people that congratulate them on their marriage. The scene was rather bittersweet because the dream was whimsical and charming but the reality is that Anna will always long for his love.

Though all the characters faced quite different hardships one consistency was having random people with blank stares scattered throughout the majority of scenes. Literally almost every scene had a random nurse or bystander in the background that would stare directly at the camera as someone talked. At first I thought the stares were just to add comedic effect but it also brought attention to those in the background. This effect made me wonder who the main subject was of each scene. Additionally, it showed that extras could have an impact on the scene greatly when in a position to stick out.

The director, Roy Andersson, used many camera techniques to make the scene comical yet bleak. For example, he used dark colored lens to show the baseness of the plain character's lives. In contrast with these colors he had fake painted skylines that made it hard to take the scene seriously. The majority of Andersson's scenes were used with a tripod and showed the entirety of the scene. This made me feel as though I was an additional bystander observing these people's lives whether it was from across a street, through a door, or against a wall.

Overall the film was quite absurd and mildly entertaining in some scenes. I would recommend this film to anyone that like's Monty Python's humor and doesn't need an in depth story line to be entertained.

I've been wracking my brain to figure out a good comparison in popular media to Roy Andersson's dark comedy You, the Living or Du Levande (2007). The best parallel I can draw is to Tom Wilson's comic strip Ziggy. If you are familiar with the comic, it revolves around a rather mundane little man, Ziggy, who always winds up being the butt of his own jokes. Luckily, Wilson's comic only appears once a week and is four short newspaper frames at most. You, the Living sadly perseveres for an hour and a half.

The film is made up of dozens of vignettes. Some are very brief glimpses while others last uncomfortably too long. Almost every scene is taken in a single shot with a wide angle, with the camera positioned in one spot. Occasionally there are slow zooms, or pans that shift so slowly that the viewer is unsure whether the camera is actually moving or if they are just becoming drowsy from staring so long at an unchanging scene. I have never seen anything filmed like this before, with so few shots and perspectives. Most filmmakers try to engage the audience with diverse composition; this felt more like I was watching a play because of the static angle.

It also had a theatrical quality because of the set. I found the set to be very pleasing to the eye. It reminded me a lot of Wes Anderson's films because everything in it seemed very deliberate, like it was in exactly the right place. This contrasted with the subject matter; the majority of characters were disheveled and were going through existential crises. They seemed not to belong to the pristine world of this elaborately constructed set. Many of the vignettes began with a character breaking the fourth wall and addressing the viewer, "Last night I had a dream," and the set successfully created the dreamy quality that many of the characters described. Andersson used colors that were very bright, vibrant shades and vibrant, but they were all washed out shades and seemed to be watered down. The fact that this film took place in contemporary time in an urban setting (an imitation of Stockholm) but all of the scenery was designed also added to the dreamy quality in which you know that you are in a specific place but it is different for some reason than the way you know it in reality.

Though it was aesthetically well put together, when it comes down to it, I think this is a film that you'll either love or hate. I happened to hate it. It had aspects of the absurd in which there were scenes that could certainly happen, but they never actually would because they are far out. All of the characters were caricatures whose actions were disgruntling. They found themselves in awkward situations which were laughable and pathetic. It was like Family Guy because it was so stupid that I felt bad laughing, though that is not the strongest comparison because that humor is slapstick, whereas Andersson makes you cringe and chuckle at other people's misery. Usually, what began as humorous lasted half a minute too long, leaving me as a viewer anticipating the next bizarre event, tapping feet hoping to escape the current misery.

Andersson admits that he has an expressionist influence, which I saw come through in this piece. The film was not so much plot driven as theme driven. It never focused on one character for too long but would switch between characters whose lives vaguely intersected. If any take away from You, the Living it would be, "when something is bad, it can only get worse." In one of the early scenes, a man is practicing the tuba in his apartment. It cuts to the man in the apartment below, frustrated with the noise bleeding through the ceiling. He bangs a broom against the ceiling to signal the tuba player to stop, but his broom banging ends up knocking down his chandelier. This pretty much sums up the "heads you win, tails I lose" motif. You don't get to really learn any intricacies of the characters. Instead they are all seen as one dimensional and are defined by a certain type of action rather than as multi-faceted. There is no passion for any of them, and ultimately, you don't really care that they are in miserable predicaments because none of them have depth. This is ultimately a very bleak film and even if you find it more amusing than I did, it will likely still leave you disheartened.

Minor Spoilers will follow.

This movie is even more odd and unconventional than "songs from the second floor". There is no main character we follow around. There is no "plot" in the conventional way. There is no emphasis on an happy end. There is no crowdpleasing. In other words Roy Andersson is back with a vengeance. Instead of falling back on convention and fixed formula Roy Andersson concentrates his film around an idea. I will not go into what that idea is, but even if you don't "get it" i promise that you will see the greatest visual depth ever put to film. The majestic scenes from "songs" pale in comparison here. A work of visual splendor.

So be kind to your fellow man, because after all "we are the living", and only you and I have the power to change our lives. That is at least what I thought when I saw the final scene in the movie, with the inhumane bomber planes sweeping in over the city in the film to take our lives away.

And of course don't forget to see this movie when it gets a limited release near you. This is one of those movies that actually have the power to make you a better person, like de Sica's "Bicycle Thieves". A very warm and humanistic film.

"Be pleased then, you the living, in your delightfully warmed bed, before Lethe's ice-cold wave will lick your escaping foot."

This opening quotation by Goethe speaks to director Roy Anderson's quest to expose the human condition of the living through a series of absurd and whimsical vignettes. Although the film lacks an overarching linear narrative, these vignettes all speak to unique human experiences in the at times crazy world that the living occupy. Through the character's bizarre interactions and comedic confessions, You, The Living opens the viewer to see the world and its workings in a novel way.

One important theme of the film is the role of onlookers. These scenes explore how we don't realize how entangled we are with the bystanders that frequently surround us. Many of us go on our day-to-day business without considering the experiences of others. For example, there is one scene where daughter is trying to communicate with her mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's, while an unaddressed nursed sits daftly in the background. In a more obvious way, the large depressed woman who humorously wails that nobody understands her blatantly ignores her devoted partner and his tiny dog, who try to care for her. Ignoring the people around us comes to serious detriment to the businessman in the restaurant, when his oblivion allows a man sitting nearby to swipe his wallet out of his pocket whilst the rich man boasts to his friend about his wealth on his cell phone. At other times, the film shows what happens when the world simply ignores us. A man must endure the rain when a crowded bus stop denies him a place to stand, and another must take the stairs. These scenes capture the film's carefully balanced tone between humor and tragedy in its exploration of the world's forgotten or overlooked.

Another interesting aspect about the film is that there are several occasions when the actors directly address the camera and audience. This often occurs when characters are describing their dreams to the viewer. The effect is humorous but poignant. For example, during one scene a man caught in traffic leans out the car window, looks into the camera, and begins to describe a dream where he is sentenced to the electric chair for breaking a family's precious china during a magic trick gone wrong. We see the dream played out, then return to the car inching along the screen. Although the content of the dream is certainly absurd and humorous, his story reveals complex emotions and human insecurities. Likewise, when a lovesick girl addresses the viewer and recounts her dream, we get a personal glimpse of her wild but lighthearted passion for guitar player Mikke. In one of the most visually compelling scenes of the film, Mikke plays the guitar in their moving house, while a crowd of supportive fans wish them the best as they continue on life's journey. The girl's recounting of the dream expresses her deep desire to be supported and loved.

One criticism of the film is that because there is no real plot development or overarching resolution of conflict, the film does seem to drag on towards the end. Each vignette is entertaining in and of itself, but without a narrative to tie them together some may find the film too long to captivate the viewer's attention throughout the entire length of the film. However, the filmmaker does make several attempts to subtly connect the characters in unexpected ways. Fore example, all of the characters find themselves in a torrential thunderstorm midway through the film, and their shared experience of the dark deluge unites their stories. Likewise, there are some characters who we revisit from time to time throughout the film, notably the lonely Mia, and the lovesick girl who pines over Mikke the guitar player. We also often find ourselves at the seedy bar. The monotony of day-to-day life is explored in the bar, as every day the bartender ceremoniously rings a bell and shouts for the people to come order their last drinks. Although these connections and patters do unite the story as a whole, the film would probably be improved if the director has pared down the vignettes and omitted a few of the scenes to make the story move faster.

Although this film is a clear deviation from Hollywood narrative style, the raw human experiences explored through the characters and scenes is a wonderfully comedic cinematic journey through the life of you, the living. It is no surprise that the film has won a host of awards across the globe, and an overall positive international response. The film cover's description of the film as a hybrid of "Bergman meets Monty Python" is not far off base: it adopts the famed Ingmar Bergman style of revealing the deep emotions and underlying psychology of the characters while also using hilarious timing and dialogue to explore these themes. Overall, this "tragicomedy" explores what it means to be a human in a refreshingly enjoyable way.

Do you ever feel like you are completely alone or that no one else could possibly understand the way you are feeling? While I would venture to guess that almost everyone has felt this way at some point in their life, viewing You, The Living, by Roy Andersson (2007) is a valuable experience, even if you haven't experienced feelings of loneliness and solidarity. This film presents the intimate moments of several different people's lives. Through several small anecdotes viewers are invited to watch people as they experience the joy and daily struggles that are all a part of the human experience.

The anecdotes illustrate a variety of experiences, but all of them present the idea of longing; a longing to feel understood, a longing to connect with others in a meaningful way, a longing to do something important/valuable within one's life, etc. However, many of the characters' wishes and hopes for the future seem silly. For example, the young woman who has a crush on Micke Larsson (Eric Bäckman) believes that if only she could be with him, then everything in her life would be alright. Similarly, the woman in the opening scene wants a motorcycle to leave town with the belief that her problems will stay behind. The characters' ideas and visions for the future are unrealistic because there are no simple answers or "fixes" to being happy and living in the moment.

Andersson explores difficult questions through this film; Do we matter to anyone? Would people notice if we just disappeared? What is the meaning of living in the moment and being alive? Through oddball characters and over-the-top scenarios, viewers are presented with a dark but comedic look on life. Sometimes it feels as though everything in the world is backwards in relation to what we expect or perceive during certain situations. This feeling is reflected and explored through the multitude of small sketches that make up the film. Take the psychiatrist sketch for example. He prescribes tons of pills to his patients claiming that he is too tired to help people become happy through therapy. Since this scenario presents a situation we might not expect, or something that goes against the norms of society, we are forced to think critically and question the meaning of what we are seeing.

The viewers takes viewers on a whirlwind adventure of musical entertainment. Several genres are represented, and an interactive approach is taken to incorporating sounds to the film. The opening is characterized by grand, sweeping orchestral music. Micke Larsson's character adds a large element to the film by the inclusion of rock music. An unusually popular genre for Sweden, the inclusion of this sketch is also supported by the two characters in the opening of the film who also portray a "hardcore" vibe. Another interesting aspect to the sounds/music in the film is the interactive approach that is taken. In several of the smaller stories background music is playing and characters begin to play an instrument or speak in rhythm, adding a supplement to the background track. This is evident in the scene where the man begins to play the sousaphone in his kitchen, as well as when another man participates in the funeral band. This film is one of the latest film of Swedish director Roy Andersson, and is one of only five feature films that he has directed. Andersson's career has been directed mostly towards commercials as well as a few short films. While You the Living certainly has overarching themes, the film is broken up somewhat into the individual stories of several characters. These stories come together to emphasis the often comedic tragedies of life, and while they might be less effective at communicating this point as an isolated incident the story of each character could be viewed on it's own. This could be link to Andersson's experience of working in shorts and commercials is apparent; he is comfortable conveying a large message or point in a more condensed period of time.

This film is certainly successful in pushing me to question what I was viewing. However, I will also say that I found this film to be confusing. The multiple story lines, while reflective of the chaotic nature of life, were sometimes difficult to piece together. I can certainly respect the themes of interconnectedness and the universal human experience that Andersson explored throughout this film, but I do feel that through the seemingly random collection of anecdotes this message may be confusing or difficult to see. But if you are looking for an artsy film to analyze or just something out of the ordinary, then I would definitely recommend this film.