Film clips: "You, the Living" goes beyond deadpan

Bjorn Englund in the Swedish film "You, the Living." Palisades Tartan

Last update: October 29, 2009 - 7:27 PM

YOU, THE LIVING

Gallows humor, slow-burn timing, static takes and wide shots that turn the screen into a series of one-panel cartoons: Swedish director Roy Andersson's "You, the Living" (★★★) is a comedy that goes beyond deadpan, passes glum and emerges into a weird realm of miserable hilarity. There's no central narrative for this collection of vignettes, just the theme of pressing on despite the futility of it all. A hefty biker chick repeatedly laments, "No one understands me," despite her devoted boyfriend's assurances that he really, really cares. A despairing husband bemoans his financial woes while making love to his deliriously excited wife, who wears a horned Viking helmet. Another unlucky fellow breaks an antique at a dinner party and goes to the electric chair for his gaffe. The only escape is through fantasy (there's a sweet vignette of a jilted bride daydreaming of happily ever after) and music. Andersson engineers his stories so that some characters cross paths; several lonely musicians come together to belt out some Dixieland, and that's as good as it gets. It's chilly Swedish fatalism with a ridiculous twist, Ingmar Bergman with a whoopee cushion. (In Swedish, subtitled. Unrated but includes sex, drinking, adult themes. 9:15 p.m. today, 5:15 & 9:15 Sat.-Sun., 7:15 p.m. Mon.-Tue. Oak Street Cinema, 309 SE. Oak St., Mpls. $5-$8. 612-331-3134.)

COLIN COVERT