Quick Summary: An unusual film consisting of a series of loosely-connected vignettes. It's dark, surreal, more than a little disturbing, and quite, quite fascinating.

Title: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch, Reflecting on Existence (En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron)

Release: 2014

Director: Roy Andersson

Starring:

Holger Andersson (Jonathan)

Nisse Vestbloom (Sam)

Sometimes, when I watch a film, I realise that nobody else in the room is experiencing the film in quite the same way I am. Watching A Pigeon Sat on a Branch, Reflecting on Existence was one of those times. The film is billed as a dark comedy; I definitely got the dark, but I think I missed the comedy. There were several strange moments where I was sitting there, in the darkened theatre, crying my heart out for the poor people on screen, while everyone around me was laughing uproariously. So, I clearly got something different from the film than everyone else did. But, did I enjoy it? Definitely.

A note of caution, before we go any further: there are a few extremely disturbing scenes in this film, including simulated animal abuse, several deaths, and a particularly harrowing nightmare sequence where a large group of people are murdered to create a musical instrument.

The film consists of a series of loosely-connected, surreal vignettes, all set in a grimy, sadly unkempt version of Gothenberg. Each vignette deals with a particular type of unhappiness; there is the tale of a pilot who keeps missing a lecture he desperately wants to attend, the reminisces of an elderly gentleman who remembers his crush on a barmaid 60 years before, and the sad story of a dance teacher in love with her handsome male student (she sexually harasses him; he quits the class).

There are two storylines which get more attention than the others. In one, Sweden's King Karl XII (1682-1718), along with his army, returns to refight the Great Northern War, except entirely within a Gothenberg suburb. The other repeating storyline deals with two hapless but loveable novelty salesmen. Jonathan and Sam wander Gothenberg trying to bring people happiness by providing vampire teeth (with extra long fangs!) and hilarious masks. Unfortunately, even those who buy their products don't seem to want to pay them.

In the end, we are left to conclude that it is our own indifference to one another that brings about most of our unhappiness, a message that would be difficult to convey without the use of multiple vignettes. I was fortunate enough to see this film at a screening that Andersson himself attended. He commented that, in film, as in many forms of art, content is more important than technique. This film shows the importance of content, but also demonstrates that technique can enhance and emphasize the film-maker's message.