magda_butra

Pigeon is made in the same style as You, the Living. Again we have plenty of short scenes, shot from one angle, with no cuts. Filled with absurdity, no actual plot, various way of interpretation. Too deep or too obvious, Andersson bounces between two extremes. The characters and the scenes are overdrawn. Everything happens in one, slow pace. Silence is boring and dulling the vigilance. In comparison, You, the Living seemed more... lively.

If Andersson shows Swedish society, I felt the criticism towards it in one scene, mocking it in the second and a direct reference to it in the third. The critique is present in a scene with elderly elegant Swedes observing the cruelty, done by non-Sweden. For me this is a reflection on Swedish neutrality in the 20th century. Mocking the Swedish society appears in the last scene. Bunch of people is waiting at the bus stop and one of the men starts to ask if today it's really Wednesday, cause for him it felt like Thursday. The group assures him that yes indeed, it's Wednesday. Additionally, the other man explains, that we all have to agree that it's Wednesday, otherwise there's gonna be chaos. Of course the first man did not imply that we wished it's another day of the week or that he is still gonna pretend it's not Wednesday. It did not hinder the other man to make sure that everything is clear - even if you feel like something else, you have to agree with everyone else in order to keep peace and organization. It might be exaggerated reference to Jantelagen (no one is special, no one should act like they are superior to one another). It is established that it's Wednesday, everyone has to adjust.

And then it's my favourite scene with Charles XII. He, as a Swedish king, should be a clear indicator that Andersson tells something about Sweden. Okay, we have a king with absolute power, everyone serves him even if he has the most ridiculous demands. But... this could be any monarch, right? So for me by using him, the director was more about praising the modernization, understood both as moving from kingdoms to democracy and as equalization of the societies. Choosing Charles XII could simply just give Andersson space to mock king's homosexual needs, which was directly shown. Despite different possible interpretations, I admire Andersson for the technical management of this scene. It's the longest one in the movie and the most complicated. So many elements could go wrong and in the end there is this final version with no cut. Standing ovation.

What if we look at Pigeon not as a portrait of Swedish life, but a life itself? All the feelings are phlegmatic. Even love, even anger, even laughter. Is the life so unfair or do we make it this way ourselves? I think that Swedish societ" is just a frame. Andersson is using some obvious cliches and stereotypes (which still can be true!) about his motherland in order to explain something more, something common to all human beings. Or I'm just trying to find deeper meaning which really isn't there. If so, this is just another proof of this director's strength - his movies can be seen through so many shades of interpretation.

Andersson is not using a typical plot. He presents couple of stories, which may or may not relate to one another. They don't have to comment on each other, comment on life, say anything at all. If there are connections between the scenes or the characters, they are not important. A particular scene can be a pearl by itself. All are shot from one angle, with no cut. All the colours are typically Swedish - monochrome, faded pastels, beige, brown and grey, no intensity (thanks to this measure whenever the director uses a vibrant colour it catches the eye immediately). All the sceneries are very Swedish as well - the interiors are very simple, with almost no decorations, showing only useful items. Andersson shows mainly the inside of the flats, but whenever he goes on the streets, he follows this pattern - modernistic architecture with clean cuts of the brick, faded shades of the colours. He uses all the most Swedish surroundings that he can find. But is he showing Swedish society?

There are samples of life, which are undoubtedly Swedish, there are processes, which can be found in several societies. For the former I might mention a scene with drinking songs. I know, it's basically a human quality to sing and drink, but Swedes have some unique lyrics and games, known across all counties and generations. For the latter there is of course Nazism, hidden in the movie and in Swedish society as well and this may apply to other countries. Sweden is such an interesting case for that - as a country neutral during the second world war, brining humanitarian help, on the other hand having many supporters of this ideology.

Andersson is showing different aspects of life - conflict in the marriage, children taking advantage of their parents, lost love, loneliness, Nazism. Those might be universal issues, affecting all humans, taken up by numerous artists so far. In You, the Living Andersson is playing smoothly with all measures possible. It's hard to judge the movie as a whole, I enjoyed particular scenes. Maybe they are pure absurd, mumbling, overdrawn. Maybe there is a meaning, message, interpretation. Andersson is surprising me with absurdity of life, not always so unexpected. He surprises me with normality. One does not have to be a freak to be weird.