''Songs from the Second Floor'' ( sv, Sånger från andra våningen) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 6 October 2000, written and directed by

Roy Andersson Roy Arne Lennart Andersson (born 31 March 1943) is a Swedish film director, best known for ''A Swedish Love Story'' (1970), '' About Endlessness'' (2019) and his "Living trilogy," which includes '' Songs from the Second Floor'' (2000), '' You, ...

. It presents a series of disconnected vignettes that together interrogate aspects of modern life. It uses quotations from the work of Peruvian poet

César Vallejo César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza (March 16, 1892 – April 15, 1938) was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only two books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators ...

as a recurring motif. It is the first film in a trilogy, followed by ''

You, the Living ''You, the Living'' ( sv, Du levande) is a 2007 Swedish black comedy-drama film written and directed by Roy Andersson. The film is an exploration of the "grandeur of existence," centered on the lives of a group of individuals, such as an overweigh ...

'' (2007) and ''

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence ''A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence'' ( sv, En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron) is a 2014 internationally co-produced black comedy-drama film written and directed by Roy Andersson. It is the third installment in ...

'' (2014).

Plot

A man is standing in a subway car, his face dirty with soot. In his right hand he carries a plastic bag with documents, or rather, the charred leftovers of them. In a corridor a man is clinging desperately to the legs of the boss who just fired him. He is screaming: "I've been here for thirty years!" In a coffee shop someone is waiting for his father, who just burned his furniture company for insurance money. Traffic jams and self-flagellating stock brokers are filling up the streets while an economist, desperate for a solution to the problem of work becoming too expensive, gazes into the crystal ball of a

scryer Scrying, also known by various names such as "seeing" or "peeping", is the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions. The objective might be personal guidance, prophecy, revelation, or in ...

. The main men all have goals but their destinations change during the story.

Cast

* Lars Nordh as Kalle * Stefan Larsson as Stefan * Bengt C. W. Carlsson as Lennart * Torbjörn Fahlström as Pelle Wigert * Sten Andersson as Lasse * Rolando Núñez as the foreigner * Lucio Vucina as the magician * Per Jörnelius as the sawed man * Peter Roth as Tomas * Klas-Gösta Olsson as the speechwriter * Nils-Åke Eriksson as patient * Hanna Eriksson as Mia * Tommy Johansson as Uffe * Sture Olsson as Sven * Fredrik Sjögren as the Russian boy

Reception

Film critic

J. Hoberman James Lewis Hoberman (born March 14, 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, author and academic. He began working at ''The Village Voice'' in the 1970s, became a full-time staff writer in 1983, and was the newspaper's senior film critic ...

from ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' concluded about the film: "Easier to respect than enthuse over, Andersson's rigorous personal vision is not only distanced but distancing."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' gave the film four stars out of four and wrote, "You may not enjoy it but you will not forget it."rogerebert.com,
Songs from the Second Floor
. Accessed October 3, 2015. Anton Bitel, writing for ''Eye for Film'', felt that "the heavy symbolism overwhelms the storytelling." On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film received an 89% approval rating, based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10.rottentomatoes.com
Songs from the Second Floor (2002)
. Accessed May 16, 2016. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film was given a score of 76 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."metacritic.com
Songs from the Second Floor
. Accessed December 27, 2015.

Awards and nominations

Wins *

Bodil Awards The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given by the Danish Film Critics Association. The awards are presented annually at a ceremony in Copenhagen. Established in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe. The awards are given ...

**Best Non-American Film (Bedste ikke amerikanske film) Roy Andersson (director) *

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Jury Prize A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England durin ...

(Roy Andersson) * Brothers Manaki International Film Festival **Audience Award István Borbás *

Norwegian International Film Festival The Norwegian International Film Festival ( no, Den norske filmfestivalen) is a film festival held annually in Haugesund, Norway. The festival goes back to 1973. In 1985, the Amanda award was instituted. The Amanda is awarded every year at the fe ...

**Norwegian Film Critics Award Roy Andersson *

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards ( sv, Guldbaggen, en, Gold scarab) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name ...

**Best Film (Bästa film) Lisa Alwert **Best Direction (Bästa regi) Roy Andersson **Best Screenplay (Bästa manuskript) Roy Andersson **Best Cinematography (Bästa foto) István Borbás and Jesper Klevenas **Best Achievement (Bästa prestation) Jan Alvemark Nominations *

Golden Palm The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

**Best Foreign Independent Film - Foreign Language

References

External links

* * * * * * *
"The New Cult Canon: ''Songs from the Second Floor''"
at ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...