Another shot: A man is sentenced to death by three judges holding large glasses of draft beer and is about to sit On the electric chair, a small group of spectators sat in front of the glass windows of the execution chamber. A small group of spectators sat in front of the glass windows of the execution chamber ready to enjoy the moment of lively entertainment, several of whom also bought popcorn. After checking the circuit, an executioner walks up to the death row inmate and says, "Try thinking of something else"...
Here are a few scenes from Swedish director Roy Andersson's latest film, Du Levande. The film can be called deadpan, or simply a "tragicomedy". The film is filled with lens language that blurs the boundaries between sadness and joy, and the indifferent actor's expression and the cold picture color can't help but remind people of Aki Kaurismaki, a Finnish director who is also in northern Europe. Like Roy Andersson's eight-year-old film Songs from the Second Floor (2000), Du Levande is made up of a series of grotesque stills with bright, ugly backgrounds and happy, sad atmospheres. The pieces are linked by a bar similar to the American painter Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks and an empty, almost unfurnished building complex. The subtle relationship between the characters in the film is difficult to express clearly, but the lifeless portraits of people always emerge, overlapping and multiplying, and there are many cheerful things, such as the young girl Anna in the bar, she is in a closed and crowded place. Look for the lead singer of that rock band in the bar. He once bought her a drink and she started dreaming of a sweet wedding between them. Of course, there are more tragedies, such as the dream of the craftsman. He dreamed that he was dragging all the antique china from the tablecloth to the floor in someone else's house, for which he was sentenced to death...
There is a common theme among the many seemingly unrelated scenes in the film: despite living in a city, despite the crowds around, the fact that individual people are always alone. This theme of "lonely individual" has been particularly prominent in the Nordic films in recent years. Although Northern Europe may be the most prosperous place in the world, the long dark nights, cold winters, and old and dead neighbors make people's sense of loneliness more and more prominent. This may be the reason why existential philosophy originated in Northern Europe. One, and the films of Roy Andersson and Aki Kaurismäki are just a visual representation of existentialist philosophy. For those who are really alive, we may only be like the kneeling woman in the movie, praying for the ultimate forgiveness. But while people are indulging in lamenting the hopeless banality of the movie, there are some ironic and joyous scenes from time to time, and the audience can only be dumbfounded by these comedies that seem to exist in life. The moral of the film is gloomy and dark, but there is always humor and tenderness in the sadness. In the film's dramatic dialogue, it's like the encounter between Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen. Many people in the movie said one sentence in unison: Tomorrow will be another day. These short, empty words between ordinary people are a true portrayal of the increasingly depressed and tired people in real life. The many irrelevant dialogue scenes reveal another theme of the film: that communication between people is difficult, or impossible.
Like Songs from the Second Floor, Du Levande is a social warning record, and the endlessly slow-moving river of cars in the film is a symbol of a society that has stopped functioning. But unlike the previous films, the people in Du Levande found a way out, and that was the dream. The people in the movie also live in reality, but they can escape the mediocrity in reality and all the problems in life through dreams. In fact, for director Roy Andersson himself, it is only in the dream world that he can be freed from the pressures of real life to create this surreal dreamlike imagery.
Anna, the girl who is actively looking for love, is the heroine of the movie because she dares to dream: dreams about love and kindness between people. She had a dream of marrying rocker Micke, they lived in a small apartment, Micke was playing the guitar, Anna was unpacking presents in the bedroom in her wedding dress, and suddenly the house started moving like a train. Countless people came running out of the window, crowding around each other, congratulating them and yelling Hurra, Hurra. After the dream, she suddenly said: "Everyone is so friendly, even though we don't know each other." This sentence, along with the congratulations from the crowded crowd, was a meager message in the dark and obscure fog of the movie. Here's the hope, even though the film's repeated dullness may be a harbinger of the society's demise soon.
Du Levande was shot with a "still" camera, each scene was shot in one long shot without movement or editing. Andersson calls this practice: a form of visual art in which the picture is not dictated by the plot. That is his own understanding of the film. His images are always able to attract a part of the audience into another world, where the film can free them from the everyday vulgarity and into the dream world.
Du Levande ("You're alive") should perhaps be better known as "You're dead". The smell of death hangs over from beginning to end, not only in the funeral scene in the movie, but also in the bartender ringing the bell, and repeating the "last chance" shout, and the misty flashing "" The tram with the word "Lethe" (in Greek mythology, Lethe is the river leading to the other side of the world); on the other hand, the characters in the film are always so pale and sad, like the walking dead. It is commendable that all the actors in the film are amateur actors who Roy Andersson "collected" from restaurants, cafes and stations. Such actors may be easier for the audience to understand because they can often find their own shadows.
The quotation at the beginning of the film comes from Goethe's "Roman Elegy", and the meaning of the death lament for the living is self-evident in the film. When the movie ends, there may be some strong feelings that the audience can take away from being able to communicate with others and understand each other. Because for the living, this era has taught people too much selfishness and greed, like the fat woman in the movie opening, who bemoans her misfortune, keeps complaining that her man doesn't love her, sharp Yelling to get him out of the way. Perhaps people who are still alive should learn to trust each other, and communication and understanding will be the blessings of life. As for dreams, living people always need...
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