Songs from the Second Floor

SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR is the first film in a darkly humorous, existential trilogy by Swedish auteur Roy Andersson (the other films are “You, The Living“ and “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence“) This cinematic poem, inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo, is a story about our need for love, our confusion, greatness and smallness and, most of all, our vulnerability. It features many characters, among them a father and his mistress, his youngest son and his girlfriend. It is a film about big lies, abandonment and the eternal longing for companionship and confirmation. The tone of Swedish director Roy Andersson's highly original and challenging work recalls such bleak visionaries as Samuel Beckett and Luis Buñuel, and though it certainly perplexed audiences, it also left them laughing uncontrollably. The unique, genre-defying film won the Jury Award in Cannes and played at major festivals around the world. “Slapstick Ingmar Bergman.” (J. Hoberman)

Keywords

  • Award Winning
  • Philippe Grégoire
  • Screen: Scandinavia
  • Black Comedy
  • cinema
  • family
  • literature
  • philosophy
  • relationship

Actors

  • Lars Nordh
  • Stefan Larsson
  • Bengt C.W. Carlsson
  • Sten Andersson

Director

  • Roy Andersson

Comedy


1h 39min


16 FSK

SV


EN

DE

Denmark
Norway
Sweden
2000
An equally bitter, hilarious and poetic meditation on love, relationships and life itself. Awarded the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes.

An equally bitter, hilarious and poetic meditation on love, relationships and life itself. Awarded the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes.


SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR is the first film in a darkly humorous, existential trilogy by Swedish auteur Roy Andersson (the other films are “You, The Living“ and “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence“) This cinematic poem, inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo, is a story about our need for love, our confusion, greatness and smallness and, most of all, our vulnerability. It features many characters, among them a father and his mistress, his youngest son and his girlfriend. It is a film about big lies, abandonment and the eternal longing for companionship and confirmation.

The tone of Swedish director Roy Andersson's highly original and challenging work recalls such bleak visionaries as Samuel Beckett and Luis Buñuel, and though it certainly perplexed audiences, it also left them laughing uncontrollably.


The unique, genre-defying film won the Jury Award in Cannes and played at major festivals around the world. “Slapstick Ingmar Bergman.” (J. Hoberman)

Festivals

Cast & Crew