Rating: 
Summary: I'd like to see Songs from the First Floor too
Review: Beutifull cinematography. Each scene could be a potography in a gallery. The pace and absurdity of the events render this film a poetic comedy/tragedy. The visula style and stationary camera highlights the irony and ridicule in modern life. The reviews here fail to emphasize how funny the sureal scenes are.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute gem
Review: I first saw this film IIRC in 2001 at the Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival ("Ebertfest") in Champaign-Urbana. I instantly fell in love with the film -- it was clearly the best film at the festival. And then I waited for DVD release... and waited... and waited. Finally I received my copy, some 4+ years after the film was released.Upon watching it again, I felt it lost something compared to the presentation on the massive screen and enthusiastic 800+ audience at the Virginia Theatre. The visuals are intentionally drab, but incredibly rich and detailed; hence, the small screen is not kind. Also, like much absurdist art, it is difficult to recapture the emotional shock and wonderment of the first viewing. But yet the movie is still compelling on DVD. This Swedish comedy is dark, brooding, irreverent and often times disturbing. From the grey skies to the traffic-jammed streets to the predominantly obese and ashen-faced cast, this movie makes no attempt to be be pretty or cheery. However, certain scenes of despair are so full of beauty, one smiles despite oneself. I am reminded of certain scenes from the work of Terry Gilliam. The plot is rather simple: things are not going well in this fictional Scandinavian city and the citizens are getting desperate. Don't ask why or where -- it's truly unimportant. Woven into this fabric is Caesar Vallejo's poem "Beloved be the man who sits down," the verses of which form a a type of modern beatitudes extolling the merits of the mundane individual. In the movie, the poem is written by the protaganist's son, who now resides in a mental hospital. Ironically, the people in the patients in the mental hospital appear to be the only sane residents in a city gone loopy as capitalism, government and religion fail its increasingly desperate and selfish citizens. A great film to see, but really not for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute gem
Review: I first saw this film IIRC in 2001 at the Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival ("Ebertfest") in Champaign-Urbana. I instantly fell in love with the film -- it was clearly the best film at the festival. And then I waited for DVD release... and waited... and waited. Finally I received my copy, some 4+ years after the film was released. Upon watching it again, I felt it lost something compared to the presentation on the massive screen and enthusiastic 800+ audience at the Virginia Theatre. The visuals are intentionally drab, but incredibly rich and detailed; hence, the small screen is not kind. Also, like much absurdist art, it is difficult to recapture the emotional shock and wonderment of the first viewing. But yet the movie is still compelling on DVD. This Swedish comedy is dark, brooding, irreverent and often times disturbing. From the grey skies to the traffic-jammed streets to the predominantly obese and ashen-faced cast, this movie makes no attempt to be be pretty or cheery. However, certain scenes of despair are so full of beauty, one smiles despite oneself. I am reminded of certain scenes from the work of Terry Gilliam. The plot is rather simple: things are not going well in this fictional Scandinavian city and the citizens are getting desperate. Don't ask why or where -- it's truly unimportant. Woven into this fabric is Caesar Vallejo's poem "Beloved be the man who sits down," the verses of which form a a type of modern beatitudes extolling the merits of the mundane individual. In the movie, the poem is written by the protaganist's son, who now resides in a mental hospital. Ironically, the people in the patients in the mental hospital appear to be the only sane residents in a city gone loopy as capitalism, government and religion fail its increasingly desperate and selfish citizens. A great film to see, but really not for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute gem
Review: I first saw this film IIRC in 2001 at the Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival ("Ebertfest") in Champaign-Urbana. I instantly fell in love with the film -- it was clearly the best film at the festival. And then I waited for DVD release... and waited... and waited. Finally I received my copy, some 4+ years after the film was released. Upon watching it again, I felt it lost something compared to the presentation on the massive screen and enthusiastic 800+ audience at the Virginia Theatre. The visuals are intentionally drab, but incredibly rich and detailed; hence, the small screen is not kind. Also, like much absurdist art, it is difficult to recapture the emotional shock and wonderment of the first viewing. But yet the movie is still compelling on DVD. This Swedish comedy is dark, brooding, irreverent and often times disturbing. From the grey skies to the traffic-jammed streets to the predominantly obese and ashen-faced cast, this movie makes no attempt to be be pretty or cheery. However, certain scenes of despair are so full of beauty, one smiles despite oneself. I am reminded of certain scenes from the work of Terry Gilliam. The plot is rather simple: things are not going well in this fictional Scandinavian city and the citizens are getting desperate. Don't ask why or where -- it's truly unimportant. Woven into this fabric is Caesar Vallejo's poem "Beloved be the man who sits down," the verses of which form a a type of modern beatitudes extolling the merits of the mundane individual. In the movie, the poem is written by the protaganist's son, who now resides in a mental hospital. Ironically, the people in the patients in the mental hospital appear to be the only sane residents in a city gone loopy as capitalism, government and religion fail its increasingly desperate and selfish citizens. A great film to see, but really not for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful film, but a bit long and convoluted
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this film, but I find it difficult to recommend, because it certainly had its share of problems. Also, I know that one of the primary reasons I enjoyed it is because it perfectly fits the definition of the type of film I usually enjoy (sparse dialogue, strange characters, surrealist/absurdist humor, perhaps more than a bit too self-consciously "arty"), instead of being truly unique and original in a way that eschews all filmic definitions. The film also suffers greatly in the middle section: in the beginning, all of the vignettes seem completely unrelated, but by the conclusion it is obvious that most are quite interrelated in one way or another; therefore in between those two moments is a somewhat frustrating time span in which the viewer must slowly piece together the fragments, trying in vain to attach the ones that just don't quite (and never will completely) fit. Thus, although the leaden pace adds to the humor of many individual scenes, it hurts the overall narrative structure of the film by needlessly lengthening the "confusion zone" between the point where the film feels utterly abstract and the point in which its story arch comes into focus. It is because of this problem, and because of the earlier mentioned refusal to add anything truly new and unique as far a theory (Dada and Surrealism have been better tackled by Clair and Buñuel, respectively, and leaden-paced vignettes are a staple of Jarmusch), that I know that even though I found this film to be enjoyable, its impact will probably fade in a relatively short amount of time. Sacrificing a girl to appease the stock market is, however, just plain genius.
Rating: 
Summary: MADE ME CRY...
Review: If it was the filmakers intention to bore the viewer to tears, then he made a fantastic film. I like avant garde filmaking and never cared for hollywood wiz bang blockbusters but this film was so painfully boring it made me cry. Did the filmaker succeed in his goal for the film? In my opinion yes.
Rating: 
Summary: Before you jump...
Review: If you feel you need a push, an extra little something to convince you that there is no point to life, no point at all - watch this film. No plot.
Unrelentingly depressing.
Interminably long.
Excruciatingly slow. It consists of a series of unrelated scenes. In each scene, awful, humiliating and depressing things happen. A demented person lies in hospital. A man screams after he caught his hand in a train door. Dead people walk around. People are being hanged. I had no idea what was going on. Except that it was all horrible. As an added bonus, everyone in the film is sick or dead or at the very least morbidly obese and sickly looking. If not actually sick. And dying. Apparently there is deep meaning in this film. It's 'philosophical'. Apparently you have to 'decipher the images'. I just wanted to scream. Like Munch.
Decipher that. I've heard this film being compared to Bunuel. I guess if you like him, you might want to give it a shot. Otherwise, spare yourself the torment. Life is short. Why waste any moment?
Rating:
Summary: Before you jump...
Review: If you need a push, an extra little something to convince you that there is no point to life, no point at all - watch this film! No plot. Unrelentingly depressing. Interminably long. Excruciatingly slow. It consists of a series of unrelated scenes. In each scene, awful things happen. Demented person in hospital. Man screaming, his hand in trapped in a train door. Dead people walking around. People being hanged. No idea what was going on. Except that it was all horrible. As a bonus, everyone in the film is sick or dead or at the very least morbidly obese and sickly looking. If not actually sick. And dying. Apparently there is deep meaning in this film. It's 'philosophical'. Apparently you have to 'decipher the images'. I just wanted to scream. Like Munch. Decipher that! I saw somewhere people saying it reminded them of Bunuel. I hate Bunuel. I hate Fellini too. I guess if you like them, you might like this.
Rating:
Summary: Before you jump...
Review: If you need a push, an extra little something to convince you that there is no point to life, no point at all - watch this film. No plot.
Unrelentingly depressing.
Interminably long.
Excruciatingly slow. It consists of a series of unrelated scenes. In each scene, awful, humiliating and depressing things happen. A demented person lies in hospital. A man screams after he caught his hand in a train door. Dead people walk around. People are being hanged. I had no idea what was going on. Except that it was all horrible. As a bonus, everyone in the film is sick or dead or at the very least morbidly obese and sickly looking. If not actually sick. And dying. Apparently there is deep meaning in this film. It's 'philosophical'. Apparently you have to 'decipher the images'. I just wanted to scream. Like Munch.
Decipher that(...)
Rating:
Summary: Before you jump...
Review: If you need a shove, an extra little something to convince you that there is no point to life - watch this film! No plot. Unrelentingly depressing. Interminably long. Excruciatingly slow. It consists of a series of unrelated scenes. In each scene, awful things happen. Demented person in hospital. Man screaming after trapped hand in train door. Dead people were walkng around. People hanged. No idea what was going on. Except that it was all horrible. As a bonus, everyone in the film is sick or dead or at the very least morbidly obese and sickly looking. If not actually sick. And dying. Apparently there is deep meaning in this film. It's philosophical. Apparently you have to 'decipher the images'. I just wanted to scream. Like Munch. Decipher that! I saw somewhere people saying it reminded them of Bunuel. I hate Bunuel. I hate Fellini too. I guess if you like them, you might like this.
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