You, The Living reviews

Review by CFF Student Critics on 28 Sep 2010 Prior to seeing YOU, THE LIVING, I had read very little information on the film so went in totally unsure what to expect apart from the fact it was Swedish and had been thoroughly praised at various other film festivals. After watching it, it turned out the praise had been deserved; YOU, THE LIVING was an extremely interesting and perhaps heartening surprise.

The film doesn't exactly have a straightforward narrative, but rather is made up of 50 sketches strung together telling several separate stories in the process, making for captivating viewing even with the very truthful and not too exciting story-lines. Andersson's directing and writing provided excellent black comedy and peculiar but fairly unelaborate shots both of which worked in, may I say, genius harmony. Andersson won various Best Director awards, including one from the Chicago International Film Festival in 2007 when the film was first released. And interestingly, none of the actors in the film are professional which could have turned the film into a total flop, however, the use of non professional actors makes the film all the more raw and real which, I'd say, in short is what the film is meant to be all about.

Mollie Parker

Review by Festival Daily on 26 Sep 2010 Every so often, you watch a film so strikingly different from anything else you have seen recently it can be quite a challenge to decipher your own reaction to it. YOU, THE LIVING, the most recent feature-length work by Roy Andersson, is one such film.

A multitude of individuals all loosely connected in some fashion, jumping between scenes in their lives - some tragic, many incredibly comedic - are the subject of YOU, THE LIVING. Incredibly funny in places, the tone of the humour varies across the film, from the simple humour of a man in a zimmer frame dragging his dog along behind him to the more absurdist. Chief among them a builder’s dream where he is sentenced to death, by judges drinking steins of beer, for destroying valuable antique china in a predictably ill-fated attempt at the old trick of pulling the table-cloth from under a huge dining table. Despite the differing lives portrayed, all are part of the distinctly framed world that they inhabit.

‘Framed’ is really the right word here. Andersson’s camera is static, shots are immaculately set and none of the individuals receive close ups or anything more intimate than the medium range shots which comprise most of the film. The indescribably drab sets almost bathe in a greenish-blue hue, as if reflecting the misery and zombie-like appearance of those under its harsh glow.

The straight-faced, deadpan humour of YOU, THE LIVING is really quite distinctive. An excellent film definitely not mistaken for any other.

Jim Ross

Review by CFF Student Critics on 24 Sep 2010 How this film can make me laugh, when it doesn’t have a funny or feel good story, I do not know. The first 15 minutes of the film is one of the most enjoyable film openings I have seen. This film has many different types of comedy, there is in your face, and then it is subtle, and sometimes both at the same time. YOU, THE LIVING is made up of 50 or so scenes about the lives of several dull (yet loveable) Swedish characters. The film is set in an urban area of northern Europe. Wherever the scene is set, its set is made up of dull colours and everyday normal objects, which helps us realise how these people are so depressed, but don’t think that it’s a bad film because it is about people living a depressive and monotonous life, because this film is absolutely marvellous. How Roy Andersson can make a scene where a woman is leaving a man and thinking of committing suicide can make the whole audience in a cinema laugh is amazing. Each character leads a different life and they all have different reasons for being the way they are which makes each character unique and loveable for a different reason. The film does not follow any conventional narrative and yet I came out from watching the film wishing that every film were like this one.

Will Johnson

Review by Mike, St Ives on 23 Sep 2010 Great to revisit Roy Andersson's "You, The Living", with its unique stylised black humour.