Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

De Uitkijk’s December series “Final Cut” is dedicated to the most remarkable endings in the broadest sense of this word.

The first part of Roy Andersson’s dryly comic trilogy about the human condition at the dawn of the new millennium. One recurring figure is Karl, a desperate furniture dealer who sets fire to his own shop in an attempt to defraud his insurance company.

With his static camera, meticulously designed sets, and cool Scandinavian color palette, Andersson paints a mysterious and darkly humorous portrait of modern society. His work is steeped in deadpan absurdity and awkward humor, yet beneath the surface lies a deep melancholy and a cynical reflection on human shortcomings.

Andersson rejects cinematic conventions to create a language entirely his own — composed of 46 carefully arranged shots in which actors move like figures in living paintings. Behind the stylization and the black humor unfolds a sharp critique of a soulless consumer society. His tableaux reveal a world where architecture overshadows humanity and relationships drift further apart, forming a bleakly comic and poetic vision of contemporary life.

The people at Filmtheater De Uitkijk have kindly offered a very limited amount of free tickets for Subbacultcha members. Please make a reservation by sending an email to mailinglist@subbacultcha.nl with ‘Songs From The Second Floor’ in the subject line + your name in the email.