Tuesday, March 30, 2010
HALF NEW
I saw the second half of
Du levande / You The Living (2007)the Swedish film by Roy Andersson.
The first disc sent had a scratch on the last half hour. Someone didn't like it.
But I did.
Today, I watched the whole thing which means that I saw the same stuff twice and it still holds up. I saw more in the frame. Andersson uses a static camera.
I thought less about Tati today and more about Buster Keaton. The reviewer also saw a reference to the Ayn Rand novel You the Living in the title. If that is so then it is more than tongue in cheek.
Rand was against the state and supported the ego. The primacy of the individual. A lot of the baggers we see right now are Randians. Me first. Fuck the state.
Nothing in this film is as political but it is all about people pursuing happiness beyond reasonable limits and mostly all for themselves. A certain souzaphone player and drummer come to mind. Heedless of others they pursue a vision of happiness which doesn't work either. They fail to see that their own expectations are the ingredients of their depression.
There is even a psychiatrist who explains it all. People are mean. You can't make mean people happy. "I give them pills". They don't work either but they go away satisfied.
The film is actually quite funny if, in the end, rather dark or pessimistic.
It was as funny the second time as the first.
You know the Johnny Mercer song You Gotta Accent the Positive? Well these folks need a good dose of it.
It being Sweden, there is also a lot of alcoholism in here too. But I will let it go at that.
I have ordered an earlier Andersson film which is designed along similar lines.
Coming soon.
I will give this one a 5 out of Netflix5 because I have almost seen it twice already and I will probably want to see it again sometime. I look forward to Andersson's next film whenever that is. He has only made 4 in 40 years.
Be sure to see the slide show in the review at the link.
Labels: films
