esrosedotblog

LIFE IN 50 SEGMENTS

Today's movie was Roy Aundersson's

Du levande / You the Living (2007)

Swedish. Great. Wry. Poignant. Funny.

Yes. 50 vignettes. I didn't count. I accept that.

Some are related.

All are on the side of sad and sometimes tragic. But always a laugh is behind or in front of the tear. Droll?

Some have compared this to Jaques Tati. I can see that.

This project took three years to make. It is all studio filmed. It has an enormous cast as almost all of the vignettes have different actors.

Those who do show up in different scenes help underscore the point or the laugh or the simple emotion. We know the backstory.

Most are looking for happiness when it is right in front of them or could be.

The sets are all in pastels and natural wood. Some are enormous. I would not normally pay attention to this but I knew how the film was made and it helped me sort of get my bearings. Some pieces of some sets and a bar set are used over and over in different arrangements.

This is intentional. I am sure that it doesn't bear a lot of scrutiny but it gives us a base or a skeleton to this widely various number of situations that we are sort of pushing through.

On the other hand, it never seems rushed.

My disc had a bad scratch so I missed two or three pieces.

I will see it again and I want to. All of it.

That makes it a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films