Thursday, October 12, 2017

En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron/A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014)

Netflix has a pretty interesting selection of movies available for streaming.  They have (or have had) major movies, such as The Matrix.  Some are less familiar to American audiences, like First Squad.  What you may not know is that there’s a list of subcategories for Netflix’s selection.  This is how I found out that they have a decent selection of art house movies.  One of these art house movies is called En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron, or A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.

The movie is a series of (loosely) related scenes.  Several feature two traveling salesmen, Sam and Jonathan, who are just trying to sell some novelty items that no one seems to want.  Two scenes feature a man waiting for someone who is apparently not going to come.  One early scene has a man dead on a cruise ship; someone points out that the food’s already paid for, so they can’t put it back for sale.

Each scene is supposed to be commentary on society, although it’s just absurd enough that I’m not really sure where each is going.  Sam and Jonathan are at least relatable, as it’s easy to relate to a difficult task.  However, it gets repetitive to the point where I’m not sure if that was supposed to be saying something.  (They keep hawking the same items in the same order using the same spiel.)  There were also several scenes where someone was saying, “I’m happy to hear you’re doing fine.”  Each scene has the line (or some variation) uttered at least once.

In each scene, the camera doesn’t seem to move.  If a room is used more than once, the angle may change from one use to the next, but each time we see a particular skit, it’s shown from an unchanging direction.  The colors are also very muted.  There’s nothing vivid about any of the buildings or scenery.  Even outdoor scenes where it’s a bright, sunny day, we don’t get the full vibrancy you’d expect from a bright, sunny day.  This flows over into other aspects, such as the acting.  The dialogue is delivered in a very simple, subdued, almost monotone fashion.

Most scenes probably won’t evoke that much emotion.  Taken together, you do get a sense of a story, even if it is haphazard and disjointed.  Life, like the movie, isn’t usually interesting or straightforward.  Context does matter for something, but not always.  And you’re not always going to understand what that context is.

This is one of those movies that most people will shut off early on.  Those that don’t may or may not regret it.  (If you tend towards big-studio productions, you’ll probably be shutting it off relatively early.)   It leads with three displays of death, including the one on the boat.  In another scene, people are led into a large metal cylinder; when it’s closed, a fire is lit beneath it.  Instead of screams, you hear eerie music.  There are a few dark, depressing elements to the movie.  To say that it’s not a movie for children is an understatement.  It’s not even going to be a movie for most adults.

The movie is the third in a trilogy by the director.  Netflix doesn’t currently have either of the other two streaming, although it looks like they are available on DVD.  From what I’ve read, the other two are similar to this one in that they’re short, loosely connected skits about the human condition.  There doesn’t seem to be any connection between the three movies in terms of characters or dialogue, so it’s possible to watch them out of order.  I’ve added them to my queue, although I’m not sure how soon I’ll get around to watching them.

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