You, the Living

Sweden 2007

Swedish with clear English subtitles

Director & Scriptwriter Roy Andersson

Producer Pernilla Sandstrom

Artificial Eye 2008

R2 DVD

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

I must admit I am at a complete loss about this film. It must be a comedy – nothing so bizarre could be anything else, but it is so sombre that “comedy” doesn’t really describe it. There is no particular narrative to it, just a series of short scenes in which various characters appear and disappear, sometimes never to return. It seems to be obsessed with peoples’ dreams, which is probably just as well since their daily lives are so dull.

Roy Andersson is usually a maker of commercials, which probably is reflected in the short nature of each scene. He has made films before, including Songs From The Second Floor, which I have not seen. “Songs” is apparently a lot like this one. His work is almost clinical and mostly done in the studio. The greenish shade of fluorescent lights pervades the film, giving everything a gloomy look. Even the few outside shots seem to feature an awful lot of rain – hardly a tourist advertisement for Sweden.

The constant introduction of new characters and new problems keeps the viewer off balance to the point that it is almost a pleasure to see a previous character reappear and carry out the next part of his boring little life. The only constant is that in most scenes there is a person standing there, motionless, uninvolved, but observing … what?. There are some slightly Monty Pythonesque sketches to provide all-too-brief moments of more normal humour, but overall the film is quite surreal. That is not to say that it isn’t funny. It’s just funny in a very different way. Like that other well known Swedish comedy piece, the Volvo.

Although it’s not a comedy in the conventional sense, I just couldn’t turn it off until the very end – it’s that compelling. I am unsure whether this was because I was waiting to see what happened next, or just waiting to see if anything happened – just like the solitary watcher.

The extras include a Director’s commentary, Behind the Scenes, the usual trailer, and excerpts from other Andersson films. These really don’t help make any better sense of the film.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.3 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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