Director: Roy Andersson
Duration: 94'
Language: Swedish
Subtitles: Chinese and English
Categories: Group C (For audiences aged 13 and above only, but not suitable for age under 18)
The Cannes Film Festival 2007 – Un Certain Regard section
Selected to the Toronto Film Festival
Best director at the Chicago Film Festival
The Guldbagge Award 2008 for best film, best director and best script
What does it mean to be human?
In You, the Living (Du Levande), Roy Andersson explores this question by depicting mundane, everyday moments in a nondescript Swedish city. The film, which is made up of 57 tableaux, is a relatively slow-paced, loosely connected, quietly funny narrative with no main characters or plot development to speak of. While very little happensplot-wise, You, the Living manages to capture human life in its boring and bland, but also bitter and subtly beautiful dimensions. It is packed with existential questions: what is the point of living? As we strive for the things we want in life (happiness, stability, status, meaning), what do we do to each other? What harm do we inflict, what joys do we share? The film’s carefully crafted image of the human condition, as well as deadpan, tragicomic undertone, makes You, the Living a must-see for fans of absurdist cinema/theatre and European cinema.
You, the Living explores the universally human, the things that all (living) humans have in common. Yet, it also repeatedly refers to Sweden and Europe in particular. The film seems to be set in Sweden, and some scenes refer to the World War II and Nazism, as seen during a dream sequence in which a swastika appears at a fancy party in a Swedish home. These allusions to Swedish and European history, including the ambiguous final scene in the film, illustrate Andersson’s propensity to highlight humanity’s violent history. For while human life consists of largely trivial events for some, those who live under the threat of war or political persecution see less and less of the trivial – for them, the trivial is brutally replaced by with the tragic and traumatic. This is a fact You, the Living reminds us not to forget.
*Audio description (Cantonese), accessible captions and sign language interpretation are provided. Should you request these services, please contact one of the staff members on screening venue.
Guest Speaker: Chan Ka Keong
Macao film director, designer and artist.
