A Pigeon Sat on a Brach Reflecting on Existence (2014)

Directed by: Roy Andersson
Country: Sweden

Movie Review: From Sweden, comes the last part of Roy Andersson’s trilogy about being a human being, carrying the emphatic title “A Pigeon Sat on a Brunch Reflecting on Existence”. It’s excused to say that this is not a film for everyone since its oddness and twisted humor can be a delight for some viewers and a horrible experience for others. Anderson continues relying on the absurdity of the situations created, often resorting in the repetition of ideas to become funny – the sentence ‘I’m happy to hear you’re doing fine’ is a good example. To be honest, “A Pigeon” didn’t always work fine for me, at least not as much as the two prior parts of the trilogy, the sensationally absorbing “Songs From the Second Floor” and “You, The Living”. The plot, loosely inspired on Vittorio de Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves” (who could guess?), tells the adventures of Sam (Nils Westblom) and Jonathan (Holger Andersson), two depressed salesmen who embark on a crazy trip where reality and fantasy get together. The eccentricities, a staple on Andersson’s filmmaking, have a good impact until a certain point, but after four or five incursions, they start losing the strength we were supposed to expect. There is an undoubted notion that we’re not before real-life episodes since a considerable amount of scenes end up seeming more theatrical than bizarre. However, and far from wanting to let the film down with what it has been said, the film also presents favorable aspects such as terrific visual compositions in tones of pale, a great casting, amusingly offbeat situations, and a constant tragicomic provocation in its approach. Unclassifiable, intriguing, and dauntless, Roy Andersson’s third reflection on existence is certainly not his best, but even fragmented, doesn’t embarrass the incomparable identity of a great filmmaker who philosophically ridicules about humanity. Still very virtuous, but I wanted to like it a bit more…