You, the Living

Colour, 35 mm
Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, 2007, 90 min
Section: Open Eyes

Synopsis

Like the well-known Songs from the Second Floor, You, the Living follows a series of seemingly disjointed events and introduces a large number of characters in very different situations in their lives. Andersson allowed his fascination with mankind to run wild, and created a real tribute to the human being - a social creature living in communities with other creatures whom he depends on and who depend on him. The film flies in the face of all rules of dramaturgy and standard methods of narration, the result of which is a nonetheless powerful story - a story of human existence, the adventure of life, interpersonal relationships, wishes, and fears; a story of love and the yearning for self-fulfilment. The director himself says that the film is about the living, about those we want to laugh with and whom we shed tears for as well. “It is simply a tragic comedy or a comic tragedy about us.” Andersson remains faithful to his dry, though very human, sense of humour, which enthralled audiences at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and was a unique opportunity among the dark dramas on this year’s programme to laugh at the comic and slightly awkward situations that the film’s protagonists find themselves in.

About the director

Roy Andersson (b. 1943, Gothenburg, Sweden) debuted in 1969 with his film A Swedish Love Story, for which he received the Golden Bear at the Berlin IFF. His following film Giliap (1975) was shown in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes, but failed to match the success of his first work.  Andersson then threw himself into the world of advertising, where he became one of the most successful and most awarded directors. In 1981 he founded his own production company, Studio 24. He directed the short films Something Happened (1987) and World of Glory (1991), both of which were shown at the 1995 KVIFF. He also self-produced his big comeback in the world of feature film production, the film Songs from the Second Floor (2000), for which he took the Jury Prize at the festival in Cannes. The film was also shown at KVIFF in 2000 and was released in Czech cinemas. You, the Living was included in the Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.