Roy Andersson is a Swedish film director, known by his dry, at times frozen black comedies full of wry humour and misanthropic observations. He achieved early acclaim with 1970's A Swedish Love Story. Then his career as a film director went on hiatus although he became renowned for his work in advertising. Already in XXI century he made a comeback with a trilogy of films released in 2000, 2007 and 2014.
Filmography
- En kärlekshistoria (A Swedish Love Story 1970)
- Giliap (1975)
- Sånger från andra våningen (Songs from the Second Floor 2000)
- Du levande (You, the Living 2007)
- A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron 2014)
Tropes
- Black Comedy: Of a very dry and static kind.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: You, the Living and some of his commercials feature characters speaking to the camera.
- Capitalism Is Bad: The director rejects this system.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Used frequently within his long scenes. If there is an extra standing in the background in a scene (often in another room, but viewable), chances are they become important or at least have some text until the end of the scene.
- Crapsack World: Generally prominent, but especially upfront in Songs from the Second Floor and A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.
- Comedic Sociopathy: A lot of the humor in his films can best be described as schadenfreude. Taken up to eleven with his insurance commercials which basically just show things Going Horribly Wrong in unpredictable ways.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In a dream of a character in You, the Living, he is sentenced to death for breaking expensive tableware.
- Dream Sequence: Two in You the Living, one in A Pigeon Sat On a Branch Reflecting on Existence.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Inverted as A Swedish Love Story was his most straight movie.
- Funny Background Event: Used frequently throughout all of his films.
- Humans Are Bastards: His films are generally pretty misanthropic.
- Kafka Komedy: All over the place, especially notable with Sam and Jonothan in A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.
- Karma Houdini: The protagonist of World of Glory being this after World War II is the main theme of that Short Film. There's also a Nazi Grandpa in Songs from the Second Floor who certainly counts as this.
- Leave the Camera Running: Many a scene in his movies are not cut after the action stops, the camera lingers for some time.
- No Ending: His films don't go out of their way to give any kind of resolution of the problems and conflicts portrayed.
- Random Events Plot: Usually, the scenes of his films share hardly more than a theme and their setting. There are a handful of recurring characters within each respective narrative, but even they don't feature in every scene by a long shot. His films can feel like Anthologies because of this.
- Trilogy: Songs from the Second Floor (2000), You, the Living (2007) and A Pigeon Sat On a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) form an informal one.
- What Were They Selling Again?: Just like his films, his commercials
are laden with intricate film-making and absurd occurances, sometimes to the point of distracting from the product they advertise.
