Tim Kidner Intriguing and/or infuriating in varying amounts, one can't help feel that being Scandinavian and knowing their 'humour', would definitely help, here. But for those who "get" the uniqueness of Roy Andersson really swear by his genius, whilst (possibly) the majority will prefer watching their dinner getting cold.These vignettes, of exaggerated ordinariness are almost caricatures of contemporary City life and its inhabitants - few words, static cameras that portray life as idiosyncratic snippets, are based on Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo's works. Abandon all pre-existing ideas and notions on what makes a film or what should happen within it, clear the mind and let 'Songs..' take over you.There is little, or indeed, no point in describing what happens or to whom. It almost doesn't matter. My thoughts (this is my 4th viewing and it seems as fresh as the first) is that it's Alice In Wonderland, except the colour and acid-trip weirdness has been replaced by an adult version, set on cold, blue and empty streets and in boxes of concrete where people sort of live and where almost all colour has been drawn from them and their lives. It's not a comedy in the usual sense, though is often funny purely by being so offbeat.The comparisons could go on for as long as one's own personal repertoire and viewing/reading history allows - it's inevitable: Jacques Tatti suddenly crops up in my mind.There's nudity, but not as we usually see it - we expect to be rather offended by people that, shall we say, we wouldn't want, or expect see in films, to be naked, or making love, but actually we see very little and they pass onto the next scene as if there had been nothing so natural, ever!Whatever you take from Songs From..., you'll take something - perhaps how this Andersson bloke ever got the money to make such dross and now you've gone and wasted yours on buying it, or a cinematic experience that at least has to be admired, for its audacity - and uniqueness.If you like your world cinema and one from the margins at that, I would say, go for it - as I did. I've never known it to be on TV, or in any DVD rental store. If you hate it, sell it again 'as new'; you'll get 3/4 of your money back, I reckon, via Amazon. Personally, I really rather like it - very much, actually - the next step up from my own state of sanity often seems very small at times - and knowing that difference is the only thing that remains essential!ps - If you are currently undertaking intensive psychiatric treatment, you might prefer to steer clear of this one - or at least, don't tell the doc! The final scene, alone, with all its connotations will keep psychologists working overtime and have them reaching for the drugs trolley themselves!

vromos-458-520497 some men wonder about ultimate meanings, and usually they are not found, other movies did that. some of them on a simpler scale_ like "the Seventh Seal"_ and some did it the hard way like this movie, here are symbols, some of them were simple to catch some were not as they were dug deep out of the memories and dreams of the artist, do we sacrifice our young ones to keep the elder as they are?, but are the elder comfortable with that?, do they live!!?, does any one who is ultimately good in our world always get accused and crucified?, do I have to live in an asylum if I'm a poet without a sense of trading?, do economists and old men with ties and ((experience)) actually understand a hick or is it all vomit?, do we have to carry all of our old trash with us no matter how heavy it is thinking that this is how we will get to the better moments?, funny!!, but happens!!, does it happen all the time?, in other words is this view universal or is it just a view out of the scope of one cinematographer?, very few will be able to decide.

Fredrik Öhman How, on Earth, could this movie have won prizes like Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival and Best Film at Guldbagge Awards? HOW?! The cinematography is... interesting, though. The film itself is unbelievable boring. It's THE worst Swedish film I've ever seen. I can give you a list of a whole bunch of other Swedish movies that are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than this piece of crap. If you like Swedish films, will say. For instance: Låt Den Rätte Komma In, Lilja 4-Ever, Nionde Kompaniet, Livvakterna, När Mörkret Faller, Alla Älskar Alice, Storm, Besökarna, etc.Do yourself a favor: Don't watch Sånger Från Andra Våningen! I'd rather watch Teletubbies 24/7 . . .

Weredegu I watched this movie the first time and I found it intriguing but kind of hard to stay with. When I saw it the second time two years later I laughed myself sick. The third time around, one more year gone by, I could hardly wait to see it again. To know this film was a masterpiece was not difficult, already the first time. To feel it, though, required the second time. It just physically works that way. The camera takes in so much with each shot, you can't keep up with it. And it's not simply that there are too many details in each and every composition. More than that, it's the difficulty of taking them all in digestion-wise. All the small pieces of information you may gather from watching add to an extremely dark view of the world. 'Mister Andersson' planned it all very carefully. It's like he was really-really fed up with everything in the matrix, you know, and decided to let his anger go by preparing for years for every single destructive shot included in the 'movie' (movie is not a really appropriate word, since it's rather static in fact), so that he could reveal the most about the ugliness he saw around himself. He invites you to a corner at some party you may not have enjoyed anyway, to a corner from which you can see all those present at the same time, and then he shows you how all those people around kill, maim and torture each other. And, to get you even more desperate, he also points out the strings attached to them: they are all puppets on strings, you see, they are doing what they are doing because their characters and their whole lives are structured in a given way stemming from reasons beyond anyone individually. Then he finally gives you some consolation by somehow putting what you see into an angle from which you can't help but laugh, not really cruelly, because it's about your own fate, too. It's just the emergency exit for the mind, for which the safest way out is delving into something totally different after watching this twisted reality show.