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Songs from the Second Floor

Sånger från andra våningen

Denmark, Norway, Sweden

2000

98 Min

Color

1.66:1

Swedish

Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
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PROD Lisa Alwert, Roy Andersson

DP István Borbás, Jesper Klevenås, Robert Komarek

CAST Lars Nordh, Stefan Larsson, Bengt C.W. Carlsson, Torbjörn Fahlström, Sten Andersson, Rolando Núñez, Lucio Vucina, Per Jörnelius, Peter Roth, Klas-Gösta Olsson, Nils-Åke Eriksson

SOUND Jan Alvemark, Christian Christensen, Jens Munter, Owe Svensson, Jesper van Dongen

Cannes (In Competition): Jury Prize, Karlovy Vary, Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema), San Sebastián, London (Experimenta)

Synopsis

Songs from the Second Floor unfolds through a series of tableaux to present a portrait of a city grinding to a halt. A magician’s act goes horribly wrong; flagellants march through the streets causing endless traffic jams; a man is summarily sacked from his job after years of service and through all this walks the soot-covered Karl, who has just burned down his business for an insurance claim.

The surprise hit of last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Andersson’s first feature in 25 years paints a wildly funny, darkly surreal picture of spiritual meltdown at the end of the century. Justifiably compared with sources as varied as Bunuel and Bergman. –Cambridge Film Festival

Director

Roy Andersson

Roy Andersson (born 31 March 1943) is a Swedish film director, best known for his films A Swedish Love Story and Songs from the Second Floor. More than any other, Songs from the Second Floor succeeded in cementing his personal style — a style characterized by long takes, absurdist comedy, stiff caricaturing of Swedish culture and Felliniesque grotesque. He has spent much of his professional life working on advertisement spots, directing over 400 commercials and two short films, but only directing four feature-length films in three decades. His latest film is You, the Living from 2007. —Wikipedia

Wall

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Clive.R.Watson

14Jan12

The scene on the train with the other passengers singing around him is quite something.

suddenmoves

27Dec11

I only wish I had watched it on a bigger screen!

Krsto Čović

4Dec11

"We are heading for the year 2000. And this here is the birthday boy. You get a chance like this only once in a lifetime. It'll be another thousand years before this man is as important again."

Justin Serulneck

19Nov11

I've never seen such a remarkably bitter, angry, scathing, and sarcastic film since I can remember. I can't believe I went so long without knowing this film exists!

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Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.

Figurative and Abstract: An Interview with Roy Andersson

By Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on August 9, 2009

There aren't many careers in the history of cinema quite like Roy Andersson's. Fresh out of film school, he had a major success with En kärlekshistoria

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Reviews

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Blessed be the one who sits down.

By 5 o'clock coffee on December 9, 2011

The first impression I had watching “Songs From the Second Floor” was of a collection of life metaphors boxed in a surrealistic shape. A slight discomfort. Later on, some scenes insisted on coming… read review

Pictures at an Exhibition

By Mugino on February 6, 2010

It took me a few days to process this film, to go from detached amusement to gradual acknowledgement of something approximating comprehension on my part. Perhaps I’m slow — admittedly, I’m not the… read review

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