Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson)

And what about Andersson? With internationally acclaimed films to his name such as You, the Living, Songs from the Second Floor and A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, the film director is often called the Swedish grand master of tragicomic absurdism. Andersson’s camera has been capturing desolate kitchens, bedrooms, bars and corridors of closed doors for eighteen years. His colour palette is composed of miserable green, grey and cream.

Songs from the Second Floor (2000) is brimming with tragicomedy and irony. The film is a tribute to human failure. Andersson creates a stylised, abstract form out of banal daily reality by drumming up a cast of characters in loosely juxtaposed scenes. The characters don’t have it easy in an absurd, lonely world where everything is for sale. The absurdness of the film is sometimes reminiscent of Monty Python or Jiskefet, but far more serious, consistent and disturbing. In 2000 the film won the jury prize at Cannes Film Festival.