A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Swedish: 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 his "Living" trilogy, following Songs from the Second Floor (2000) and You, the Living (2007). It premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival[2][3] where it was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film.[4] It was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.[5][6]

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
Turkish film poster
Directed byRoy Andersson
Produced by
  • Linn Kirkenær
  • Pernilla Sandström
  • Håkon Øverås
  • Philippe Bober
Written byRoy Andersson
StarringNisse Vestblom
Holger Andersson
CinematographyIstván Borbás
Gergely Pálos
Edited byAlexandra Strauss
Production
company
Roy Andersson Filmproduktion AB Coproduction Office
Distributed byMagnolia Pictures (US)
Release date
  • 2 September 2014 (2014-09-02) (Venice)
  • 14 November 2014 (2014-11-14) (Sweden)
Running time
101 minutes
CountrySweden
Norway
France
Germany
Denmark
LanguageSwedish
Box office$237,517[1]

Its title is a reference to the 1565 painting The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The painting depicts a rural wintertime scene, with some birds perched on tree branches. Andersson said he imagined that the birds in the scene are watching the people below, wondering what they are doing. He explained the title of the film as a "different way of saying 'what are we actually doing', that's what the movie is about."[7] At the Venice Film Festival, Andersson said that the film had been inspired by the 1948 Italian film Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica.[8]

Plot

The slow cinema movie consists of a series of mostly self-contained tableaux, sometimes connected by recurring themes or characters. The story loosely follows two traveling novelty salesmen, Jonathan and Sam, who live in a desolate flophouse, and their unsuccessful attempts to win customers for their joke articles (vampire teeth, laughing bags and a monster mask).[9] Although there is no main storyline in the traditional sense, all scenes are connected.[10]

Cast
  • Holger Andersson as Jonathan
  • Nils Westblom as Sam

Reception

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence received an 89% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 7.83/10. The consensus reads: "Expertly assembled and indelibly original, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch concludes writer-director Roy Andersson's Living trilogy in style."[11] The film also received a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 23 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[12]

See also

References
  1. https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/duva-satt-pa-en-gren-och-funderade-pa-tillvaron-En#tab=box-office
  2. "International competition of feature films". Venice. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  3. "Venice Film Festival Lineup Announced". Deadline. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  4. "Roy Andersson film scoops Venice Golden Lion award". BBC News. September 7, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  5. "Sweden Sends Roy Andersson's 'Pigeon' to Foreign-Language Oscar Race". Variety. September 1, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  6. Roxborough, Scott (September 1, 2015). "Oscars: Sweden Picks 'A Pigeon Sat on a Branch' for Foreign Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  7. "Roy Andersson siktar på Guldpalmen". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). January 27, 2013. Det är egentligen bara en slags omskrivning för 'vad håller vi på med egentligen', det är det som filmen handlar om.
  8. "Roy Andersson film scoops Venice Golden Lion award". BBC News. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  9. "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence review – a unique hallucinatory trilogy". The Guardian. April 23, 2015.
  10. Mai, Nadin (September 11, 2017). "A pigeon sat on a branch reflecting on cinema". The Art(s) of Slow Cinema.
  11. "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence". rottentomatoes.com. June 3, 2015. Accessed May 6, 2020.
  12. "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence". Metacritic. Accessed May 6, 2020.
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