Songs from the Second Floor

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Movie
German title Songs from the Second Floor
Original title Sånger från andra våningen
Country of production Sweden , Norway , Denmark
original language Swedish
Publishing year 2000
length 98 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Roy Andersson
script Roy Andersson
production Lisa Alwert
music Benny Andersson
camera Istvan Borbas ,
Jesper Klevenas ,
Robert Komarek
cut Roy Andersson
occupation
chronology

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The recent thunderstorm

Songs from the Second Floor is the third film by the Swedish director Roy Andersson from 2000. The film received several awards, including the special prize of the jury in Cannes 2000. The film opened on April 18, 2002 in German cinemas.

action

The film does not have a stringent, narrative structure, but is divided into different, seemingly adjacent scenes, which, however, have a strange, desperate mood in common and take place at the same time.

The film begins with a scene in which Pelle learns from his supervisor Lennart that it is time to layoffs. However, it is not a normal conversation, instead the supervisor lies in a bare room under a solarium, whose artificial light illuminates the room. Lennart is not even visible to Pelle when he receives the instructions obsequiously and noticeably intimidated. Shortly afterwards, Lasse is released, then crawls around the corridor of the office building and clings to Pelle's legs. In the midst of such episodes is Kalle, who has just set fire to his furniture store in order to collect the sum insured. He is desperate and knows that he will not succeed in his betrayal. In addition, his son Tomas, who has gone mad from writing poetry, is in psychiatry. Other short episodes are lined up and held together by the general apocalyptic mood and the focus on Kalle. In addition, sentences that have escaped senselessness like everything has its time and whoever sits down be loved are repeatedly drawn through various scenes .

reception

  • "Welcome to Roy Andersson's cabinet of absurdities." ( SZ am Sonntag )
  • "Grandiose, grotesque and certainly unique." ( Kölner Stadtanzeiger )
  • “Kafka meets Tarkovsky. A pretty exciting combination. " ( Berliner Morgenpost )
  • “Roy Andersson made a challenging and in every way impressive film that casts a hurtful and bitter look at what defines our human existence at heart. Anyone who has seen him will not forget his pictures again. ” ( Editing - Das Filmmagazin )
  • "A wonderful film about the end times" ( taz )

In 2012 the film magazine FLM organized a vote for the “best Swedish film of all time” among 50 critics and film scholars, in which Songs from the Second Floor took tenth place.

Awards and festival participation

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ”Körkarlen” utsedd till bästa film at svd.se, August 30, 2012 (accessed on September 9, 2014).