Good concept, poorly executed.

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is Andersson's follow up to Songs From The Second Floor in what is supposed to be a loose trilogy, spanning more than a decade and each seven years apart. And it is not dissimilar. Songs was about a bleak and futile beginning of the new millennium, about the past coming back and haunting our characters, about the pervasive sense of disillusionment that converges so brilliantly in the final scene. Here, because Andersson injects more humour into the film, it resembles his many commercials much more than Songs, and becomes a complaint heavy film. There are characters complaining about not being understood, characters complaining about bad haircuts, about neighbours practising loudly with their brass instruments, and sometimes they are valid, sometimes they are not. The backdrop is the same; the same sense of dread at the future, of financial and emotional instability, of life being wasted, but while Songs did not provide a remedy, You, The Living provides a compromise. A whole cast of characters look up from their menial day-to-day tasks, and as a whole squadron of bombers prepares to bombard the city, a warning is heeded. But it is funny first and foremost, and I think this is the major difference from Songs. That had the same city of characters, but each of them seemed to be going through the same life crisis. In You, The Living, Andersson prepares no less than fifty living canvases of different classes, careers and aspirations, and shows all their unique woes and worries, and then lightly laughs at them for this (a psychiatrist has begun to feel the weight of all his patients, and refuses to treat them anymore, or a man bemoans the loss of his retirement funds during sex). The beginning is as telling as ever; a heavyset punk middle-aged woman moans about how no one understands her, how all she wants to do is get away from it all, and then starts to sing in time to a brass tune that pumps up and introduces the opening credits. And here is another difference; Songs was tranquil in its soundtrack, and the weeping of its city took over, but here a Dixieland jazz theme by Benny Andersson seems to creep in and out of scenes (along with a thunderstorm), whether it belongs or not. An example of this would be at the funeral of the CEO; the sudden cut seems to signal the key message, that life can end so suddenly, and therefore it is that much more precious.The film touches upon each of these characters, and explores how they differently deal with grief, or pain, or suffering. It is the same kind of suffering, but it becomes so funny and unique how they retreat to different areas of their imagination. A carpenter spends an eternity narrating in traffic jam a dream whereupon he fails to perform a magic trick, and much like the failed sawing of the volunteer in Songs, it is funny, but moreso in an absurd way, instead of depressive. The comedic timing here milks the failure for all its worth, and then keeps going; the sentencing is done via auction, and look for the the man quickly thumbing through the instruction manual for the electric chair moments before the execution is to be carried out. A hairdresser has been taking a barrage of xenophobic comments over the years, and lashes out, but amends by 'fixing' it, and that becomes a rather pointed comment at the businessman's age. A woman begins a well-meaning prayer about the pervasive problems of society (and I have seen many describe this as the bleakest scene in the film, an electric condemnation), but it quickly descends into a rather ironic and hilarious bit as she begins to pass harshly judgement herself, as the list grows and grows without any attempt to slow down, and as she keeps the church waiting. And we see how various inhabitants react to the incessant and loud practising of the brass band. There are also moments of such starkness that oppose this comedy, and Andersson manages to take such simple and common problems and explore how unique our reactions to them are. He depicts not a marriage couple fighting, because the insults hurled are of course childish and of no real meaning, but the aftermath, split into two separate scenes, where their worries spill into their careers, and others offer their advice. A girl has bumped into her idol singer, before being directed to the wrong address, and turns up instead to the brass band's rehearsal (and here we see subtly how Andersson weaves the stories together). Each scene in You, The Living is a long take, but her daydream is the most vivid of them all. Who hasn't let their imagination run wild into endless idyllic territory? Andersson's construction of this cosy apartment block mounted atop a train becomes so heart-lifting in its symbolism, as the crowd gather and congratulate their marriage. Where will you go, they ask? Does it matter? It is also one of the only times a character directly addresses the camera, and we can feel the young girl's heartbreak through the screen, even for a fantasy so far-fetched. Songs, seven years ago, would have reacted to this with such cynicism and bite that crushes her dreams instantly. But here, she is allowed to be vulnerable, to have a little hope. The characters are self-absorbed, wallowing in pity, and each think their lives are over, but that is the depth in them. That someone could be so petty, or hypocritical, or so lost in imagination. That delightfully warmed bed is sometimes just so, so comfortable.

Roy Andersson has become known for his deadpan, surrealist, and often-dark humor. You, the living is a great example of that. It deals with the lives of ordinary strange people with no real connections until you look closer and notice the details. For me, that is what makes this movie funny, sad, and artistically impressive. Andersson is known for tending to use unprofessional actors in his film, which add to both the realness of the reality he has created and the offsetting surrealist feel of the film. Thought You, the Living, Andersson has the actors monologue about their lives (often breaking the fourth wall) with whatever grievance or happiness is afflicting them. One woman (in a very famous scene) reflects on a dream she had in which she married her crush. Another woman cries as her class watches because her husband called her a name. The acting is atrocious, but the sets are absolutely incredible, so that there is a strange disconnect between the actors and their surroundings. At the same time, their slightly off looks, pale dead-like faces match the sad, dreary, sterile feeling of the environment they are placed. The humor in this film tends to be completely oblivious to the characters, which is a sad commentary on the reality we find ourselves in. A great example from the film is the very sweet looking man who is practicing his drums. He is alone in a very simple room listening to music while keeping beat with his drum, which has been muffed. Partway through the scene, the door shuts behind him in a seemingly angry way, while the man notices, does not seem bothered and continues to play. Another example is when a man is recalling a dream he had while slowly passing the camera in his car (he is stuck in traffic) The entire dream is emotionless for him until the very end when he has the realization that the electric chair is a terrible invention.Andersson uses steady, long shots to capture this humor. Because of this, he has created a style that is entirely his own with no imitators or followers. This is partly because the shots and construction of the set are so detailed that other directors cannot possibly think of doing it in this way because it is so time (and money) consuming. When the woman talks about marring the guitarist. Andersson built that large set on a functional rail so it could be moved around and leave at the end of the scene. While digitally altering the film may have been more feasible, knowing how much work went into that one scene is incredible and makes watching it again, that much more impressive. In this sense I can really see the artistry in this film, even if I did not particularly enjoy watching it, I can appreciate the effort, time, and thought that went into each scene.For all its humor and incredible artistry, the overall message of the film is rather sad and depressing. Andersson tears about the way we think we fit into this world with his mockery of our feeble attempts to be something special. He even troughs the title in our face with a bit of sarcasm and perhaps contempt, You, the Living. With the sad monotonous way we live our life and pointing out the humiliation of our existence. Though Andersson has been critiqued for his seemingly blaming stance of society, he says he does it with a sad heart, and that his films are not meant to anger, but are done with understanding and sadness.You, the Living is supposed to be the second in a trilogy of films, the first being Songs from the Second Floor. His next and third film for this series is anticipated to come out soon. What I find interesting, is with his great success of his first movie, A Swedish Love Story, he was depressed about being pegged for a certain type of style and refused to make a sequel. After years of work (not with feature films) he has finally been pegged down to a style, but it entirely his own and of his own making. In today's world, even with a relatively new industry like film, that originality and creativity is what I find most impressive; especially with his work in You, the Living.

Roy Andersson's film, "You, The Living" ("Du Levande in Swedish) covers the broad topic of humanity with vignettes of many different stories of people in Sweden. Andersson shows many sides of human nature, including loneliness, fantasizing about the future, getting stuck on dreams, and forgetting to appreciate what you have while dwelling on what you think is wrong in your life and your relationships. He gets his message across pretty clearly with the various examples of people from different places in age, society, and life in general.The lives of the different characters are not very connected as you see in other Nordic films with the same style, but they do typically meet at least once. The film does not have one plot or even a connection that ties all of the characters together other than short meetings and the connection of humanity. The style used to connect each vignette was similar to that of "Paris, Je T'aime", a French film with a similar concept of showing human nature through short vignettes. Although there is not much connection throughout the film, it still succeeds at generally holding the attention of the viewers and getting a message across. With each scene, we learn a little bit more about what Andersson wants the viewers to take away form the film- enjoy life to the fullest while you can. Each character and story displays an example of how humans tend to take life for granted, whether through daydreaming instead of actually living in the now or through literally taking what is good in life for granted. The characters in the film show how humans can miss out on good things because they are focused on the wrong things, such as money or dreams of the future. The one character that shows an attempt to make her fantasy come real is Anna. We are introduced to her with a full view of what she imagines could happen with the musician at the bar. The difference between her and the rest of the characters we see is that she actually acts on her desires and does not lose sight of the present opportunity due to other distractions.What makes this film unique in the genre of films with many vignettes to get across a single message is Andersson's style. The lighting is natural, but the characters all seem very pale and mundane, like life without the right desires and intentions. On top of having very pale, almost lifeless skin, the characters dress in boring colors such as grey and khaki. The only one who really stands out is Anna and her bright pink boots. It is impossible not to notice Anna's boots right away in Andersson's fictional lifeless world. Her boots are a great example of Andersson's common use of symbolism. Her boots represent her odd ability to go after what she dreams of, unlike the other characters in the film. Furthermore, the music played in the film is used very strategically to enhance many of the actions of the characters. Each song shows some of the quirky characteristics of each character while also emphasizing their own view of the world, whether that be bleak or optimistic. For instance, the song in the opening scene with the woman singing about no one understanding her has a quirky melody, yet demonstrates her focus on the wrong parts of life. Contrastingly, the music played by Anna's new husband at the end of her dream shows a brighter, more beautiful world. The sun comes out and the people gather all because of Anna's willingness to act on her desires and take a risk. The use of color and music in the film to represent life without truly living show Andersson's vision of some of the flaws in humanity. Andersson successfully takes a common theme seen in films and makes it his own with his unique filming style.Andersson's film is a serious take on the flaws of human nature and how to get what will truly make you happy in life while still having some comedic relief. With Andersson's odd sense of humor, you will find yourself laughing at times that you feel you should not be laughing. This comedic aspect of the film makes it much easier to take in the message that Andersson is attempting to get across and, ironically, take him much more seriously. Without the comedy, the film would be very bleak and pessimistic. However, this film is actually easy to take in most of the time and sends a very strong yet honest message. Andersson does a great job of creating a film with an important lesson that is also entertaining to the viewers, which not many directors do successfully.

Do you ever feel like you are completely alone or that no one else could possibly understand the way you are feeling? While I would venture to guess that almost everyone has felt this way at some point in their life, viewing You, The Living, by Roy Andersson (2007) is a valuable experience, even if you haven't experienced feelings of loneliness and solidarity. This film presents the intimate moments of several different people's lives. Through several small anecdotes viewers are invited to watch people as they experience the joy and daily struggles that are all a part of the human experience. The anecdotes illustrate a variety of experiences, but all of them present the idea of longing; a longing to feel understood, a longing to connect with others in a meaningful way, a longing to do something important/valuable within one's life, etc. However, many of the characters' wishes and hopes for the future seem silly. For example, the young woman who has a crush on Micke Larsson (Eric Bäckman) believes that if only she could be with him, then everything in her life would be alright. Similarly, the woman in the opening scene wants a motorcycle to leave town with the belief that her problems will stay behind. The characters' ideas and visions for the future are unrealistic because there are no simple answers or "fixes" to being happy and living in the moment. Andersson explores difficult questions through this film; Do we matter to anyone? Would people notice if we just disappeared? What is the meaning of living in the moment and being alive? Through oddball characters and over-the-top scenarios, viewers are presented with a dark but comedic look on life. Sometimes it feels as though everything in the world is backwards in relation to what we expect or perceive during certain situations. This feeling is reflected and explored through the multitude of small sketches that make up the film. Take the psychiatrist sketch for example. He prescribes tons of pills to his patients claiming that he is too tired to help people become happy through therapy. Since this scenario presents a situation we might not expect, or something that goes against the norms of society, we are forced to think critically and question the meaning of what we are seeing. The viewers takes viewers on a whirlwind adventure of musical entertainment. Several genres are represented, and an interactive approach is taken to incorporating sounds to the film. The opening is characterized by grand, sweeping orchestral music. Micke Larsson's character adds a large element to the film by the inclusion of rock music. An unusually popular genre for Sweden, the inclusion of this sketch is also supported by the two characters in the opening of the film who also portray a "hardcore" vibe. Another interesting aspect to the sounds/music in the film is the interactive approach that is taken. In several of the smaller stories background music is playing and characters begin to play an instrument or speak in rhythm, adding a supplement to the background track. This is evident in the scene where the man begins to play the sousaphone in his kitchen, as well as when another man participates in the funeral band. This film is one of the latest film of Swedish director Roy Andersson, and is one of only five feature films that he has directed. Andersson's career has been directed mostly towards commercials as well as a few short films. While You the Living certainly has overarching themes, the film is broken up somewhat into the individual stories of several characters. These stories come together to emphasis the often comedic tragedies of life, and while they might be less effective at communicating this point as an isolated incident the story of each character could be viewed on it's own. This could be link to Andersson's experience of working in shorts and commercials is apparent; he is comfortable conveying a large message or point in a more condensed period of time. This film is certainly successful in pushing me to question what I was viewing. However, I will also say that I found this film to be confusing. The multiple story lines, while reflective of the chaotic nature of life, were sometimes difficult to piece together. I can certainly respect the themes of interconnectedness and the universal human experience that Andersson explored throughout this film, but I do feel that through the seemingly random collection of anecdotes this message may be confusing or difficult to see. But if you are looking for an artsy film to analyze or just something out of the ordinary, then I would definitely recommend this film.