Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

Songs from the Second Floor (Swedish: Sånger från andra våningen) is a Swedish black comedy-drama film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 6 October 2000, written and directed by Roy Andersson. It presents a series of disconnected vignettes that together interrogate aspects of modern life. It uses quotations from the work of Peruvian poet César Vallejo as a recurring motif. The film was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 73rd Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.

It is the first film in a trilogy, followed by You, the Living (2007) and A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014).

Plot

The film is composed of various loosely connected vignettes. It follows numerous characters during a city-wide, unending traffic jam with no clear cause. Stock brokers whipping each-other are filling up the streets. A businessman is fired and pleads for his job. A man looking for someone's office is beaten on the street by passersby. A magician accidentally injures a volunteer with a saw. A furniture salesman burns down his business for insurance money, and one of his sons, a poet, has been institutionalized. Shortly after deciding to try selling crucifixes, the furniture salesman starts being followed by ghosts, including someone he borrowed money from and a boy killed during Nazi occupation of Russia. Meanwhile, a senile general is celebrated on his 100th birthday and makes a Nazi salute. An economist finds that they "can't afford to work" anymore. The economist, along with clergy, push a young girl off a cliff in front of a large crowd hoping it will fix their problems, but it does not seem to help. Dozens of businessmen push carts overburdened with luggage and golf clubs to the airport. Outside the city, the furniture salesman discards his unsold crucifixes. He's approached by a crowd of ghosts, including the sacrificed young girl, and he begs them to leave him be.

Cast

Lars Nordh as Kalle

Stefan Larsson as Stefan

Bengt C. W. Carlsson as Lennart

Torbjörn Fahlström as Pelle Wigert

Sten Andersson as Lasse

Rolando Núñez as the foreigner

Lucio Vucina as the magician

Per Jörnelius as the sawed man

Peter Roth as Tomas

Klas-Gösta Olsson as the speechwriter

Nils-Åke Eriksson as patient

Hanna Eriksson as Mia

Tommy Johansson as Uffe

Jöran Mueller as the economist

Sture Olsson as Sven

Fredrik Sjögren as the Russian boy

Reception

Critical response

Film critic J. Hoberman from The Village Voice concluded about the film: "Easier to respect than enthuse over, Andersson's rigorous personal vision is not only distanced but distancing." Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four and wrote, "You may not enjoy it but you will not forget it." Anton Bitel, writing for Eye for Film, felt that "the heavy symbolism overwhelms the storytelling."

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 89% approval rating, based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. On Metacritic, the film was given a score of 76 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The film is featured in "Ari's Adventures in Moviegoing", a collection of films on the Criterion Channel that were handpicked by Ari Aster, director of Midsommar (2019) and other horror films. Aster states that he saw this film in the theater with his mother at the age of 14, and states that the impact of this film on him was "seismic", citing the film as a major influence.

Awards and nominations

Wins

Bodil Awards

Best Non-American Film (Bedste ikke amerikanske film) Roy Andersson (director)

Cannes Film Festival

Jury Prize (Roy Andersson)

Brothers Manaki International Film Festival

Audience Award István Borbás

Norwegian International Film Festival

Norwegian Film Critics Award Roy Andersson

Guldbagge Award

Best Film (Bästa film) Lisa Alwert

Best Direction (Bästa regi) Roy Andersson

Best Screenplay (Bästa manuskript) Roy Andersson

Best Cinematography (Bästa foto) István Borbás and Jesper Klevenas

Best Achievement (Bästa prestation) Jan Alvemark

Nominations

Cannes Film Festival

Golden Palm

British Independent Film Awards

Best Foreign Independent Film - Foreign Language

See also

César Vallejo

List of films with longest production time

List of submissions to the 73rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

List of Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

Official website

Songs from the Second Floor at IMDb

Songs from the Second Floor at the Swedish Film Institute Database

Songs from the Second Floor at Rotten Tomatoes

Songs from the Second Floor at Metacritic

Songs from the Second Floor at Box Office Mojo

"The New Cult Canon: Songs from the Second Floor" at The A.V. Club