Songs From The Second Floor!!!

[THC]

I rented this film a few days ago.  For some reason a mainstream video store by my house had a copy of this film on DVD.  It's suprising since I can't even find the DVD for sale on the internet but maybe it is just too new to be sold yet (since video stores sometimes get them early).

Well I have to say that this film stuck with me for a long time.  It is too hard too describe.  This is not a movie for everyone.  It is one of those movies where the planets have to be in the right alignment for it to really effect your life.  

I hope noone else has a thread for this movie and I have missed it, if so, please direct.

Otherwise, please go see this film so we can discuss.  

THC

[Ghostboy]

I've been wanting to see this for so long! It never made it to theaters here in Dallas. I'm going to have to scour the web for it now, or else just break down and get a video store membership.

[russiasusha]

I highly recommend this movie because of the fact that each scene is composed of only one non-moving shot; except for one.  Has this been done in a movie before?  Anyway, simplicity rocks!

O yeah.  It kind of goes over board with the symbolism.  Not that I'm against symbolism, I just didn't get it.  I'm sure with each viewing it will get better.

A funny and weird movie.

[children with angels]

As far as I remember, 'Stranger Than Paradise' is composed purely of static, one-shot scenes. Or at least I hope it is: I always mention that movie as a perfect example of minimalist cinema on that basis. I've never heard of the movie you're talking about, but I'm now intrigued and shall seek it out. As rusiasusha so right says, simplicity does rock.

[Gold Trumpet]

I've been wanting to see this movie for a few years now. Really, any word on a US release at all?

~rougerum

[Ghostboy]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3318778224&category=4179

I saw Roy Andersonn's TV spots at the Guggenheim in NYC. They were awesome.

[CollinBullock]

I saw this movie at Roger Ebert's film festival a couple of years ago.

The kind of film you can see as many times as you want, and still feel as if you can never get to the bottom.  A haunting, bleak, hilarious, difficult, challenging, and unforgettable picture.

[Gold Trumpet]

I ordered a copy from Ebay and got it today and just finished watching it. It really is an amazing film and sad to think it came out so many years ago but feels brand new. I'm counting it 2002 anyways. This is a rare movie that not only shows another world, but gives the feeling of being trapped in it. It is really hard to describe but when I saw Ebert and Roeper review it, Roeper had it good when he said they all seemed stuck in a purgatory of sorts. It feels like that, where things look kind of normal, but everything is off balance. Instead of the real world existing as it does, for these people, it exists as a prison and you get that literally from the film through how it was made. After being bombarded with movies that take way too long on explaining themselves, this movie stood for the experience and had an air of ambiguilty written all over it. Why is this quality being ignored so much in movies these days? It is my absolute favorite thing of the movies.

~rougerum

[THC]

There are such so many great scenes in this movie.  
My favourite were

-When the guy gets fired and he is just being dragged down the hallway by the leg of his boss

-I like the opretic scene on the subway.  Just the state that man is in and everthing, it is just perfect.

-The last shot of the movie in the garbage dump when the whole cast from the movie walk towards the man in a very haunting kind of way.  I couldn't believe it.

-The one where the girl is sacrificed seemed a little over the top at first, but it was brillint none the less.

this movie is definately  an experience.  I don't know if it would have the same effect on a second viewing, but I am sure the video store that I rented it from won't rent it again so they will probably end up selling it for like $10 in a few weeks, so I'll pick it up to own.

On a side note, that is the one advantage of living in the suburbs where no one likes good movies- The movie stores only rent them once (to me) and then sell them to me at a highly discounted ammount.  ex. Seven Samurai Criterion, The Seventh Seal (I know I was the only one who rented that one)

-THC

[New Feeling]

Songs From The Second Floor is one of the greatest films I have ever seen.

[THC]

I agree in a way

But I can totally apreciate how someone wouldn't agree.  

It is really a personal thing

It either strikes a personal chord with you or not.  

It definately isn't a classic in the sense that everyone should like it etc.. etc..

I really believe that movies have to do with the alignment of the planets and that sometimes movies just come along at the right time in my life.

Some examples are:  Mulholland Drive, Wild Strawberries, Contempt, and Red Beard.

-THC

[Ghostboy]

I finally saw this tonight. I still don't know what to think -- my initial isntict is to say that I loved it, but I don't think love is the right word for it. It's stunning, that's for sure. My jaw sort of dropped at a few points (most of which are mentioned above), but it was so odd -- something would happen, and it would take me five or ten seconds to realize how profound it was. The subway being a prime example -- I thought the girl was just yawning for the first few seconds.

I also really enjoyed the behind the scenes stuff on the DVD; that almost the whole thing was shot on a soundstage is amazing. And the 'Work In Progress' bits were very interesting, showing how much work went into every beat of the film.

[Alexandro]

I saw it in 2000...was my favorite film from that year, second was requiem for a dream...

it's still one of the best movies to come out this decade...will probably end in my top ten of the decade in 2010...

it's just so completely differente from ANYTHING else outhtere...you can easily find dvd copies here...on region 4

[ono]

I just finished watching this.  It was slow, and a little too loosely structured, but the ending made up for it.  And the score.  Oh, the score!  That last song that played into the credits was brilliant.  I can't say the whole film was brilliant.  The atmosphere made the film, and it is a shame more films don't try to create that.  Atmosphere only goes so far though, and so does abstraction.  They are both admirable, and this film is admirable, so it's good for a watch.  Definitely not the second coming though.  The abstraction hurts the film, as it is a bit impenetrable.  I imagine, though, that that was what Andersson was after.