Directed by Roy Andersson
Sweden 2000, 98 min
MAR 15 & 16
This brilliant apocalyptic comedy is comprised of 45 precisely staged vignettes in which a series of minor catastrophes (an office clerk is fired and humiliated; a magician’s sawing trick goes disastrously wrong; an immigrant is casually attacked in full view of a bus queue; an enormous traffic jam brings the city to a standstill) create a cumulative sense of impeding global doom.
“Songs from the Second Floor has all the enjoyable randomness of a very lively dream and so manages to be compelling, amusing and unsettling at the same time.”
- Michael Thomson, BBC News
"One of the most highly crafted [films] in recent memory... Confirms Andersson as a formidable talent working with a total control and freedom equaled only by the late Stanley Kubrick."
- Derek Elley, Variety
"Beguilingly entertaining… it’s a combination of Bergman and Feydeau. Or for those of with pop sensibilities, Jacques Tati as rendered by “The Far Side” cartoonist, Gary Larson… A heartbreakingly thoughtful minor classic, the work of a genuine and singular artist."
- Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times
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