Swedish auteur Roy Andersson (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence) once again ponders the human condition, and the meaning of life, in a series of wry, mordant, impeccably art directed sketches and tableaux that span WWII to the present day.

These dreamy, deadpan, and mostly unrelated vignettes feature an assortment of impassive characters in a variety of ordinary and fantastical settings, from the mind of a tormented priest to contemporary cafes and the skies over Cologne.

These vignettes play out in a single take, viewed by a locked-down camera with a static frame that holds its human subjects in the philosophical distance of a deep-focus long shot. Andersson won Best Director at the Venice Film Festival for this series of uproarious and existential vignettes about the futility, vulnerability, and hilarity of life.

Screened in Swedish with English subtitles.

Roy Adersson  |  Sweden  |  2019  |  76 mins