Fri, Jan 14 / 7pm
Sun, Jan 16 / 3:30pm
Sun, Jan 23 / 2:30pm
Tue, Jan 25 / 9:45pm
Sat, Jan 29 / 7pm
Directed by Roy Andersson
2019, Sweden/Germany/Norway/France, 74 min
Swedish w/ English subtitles
The “Living Trilogy” films were mainly built around one or two central stories. About Endlessness, Andersson’s most recent work (rumoured to be his last), also has a single through line: a priest who has lost his faith. But the film has less of a conventional narrative than its predecessors — and is, in a weird way, more peaceful at times. The central conceit is our inability to understand scale, how the insignificant is perceived as monumental (and vice versa), and the moments of horror that result from this conflation. From the Chagall-influenced opening image of a couple floating elegantly over the ruins of Cologne, there’s a sense of resignation that verges on transcendence and even moments of genuine, uncomplicated joy. In earlier films, Andersson would ratchet up the absurdity by slowing down the pace of his scenes; this time he slows things down to take in the small pleasures. He’s like the driver at the end of the film who, after his car breaks down, keeps looking at the stretch of barren road behind and before him as if there was some sort of benediction coming.
Songs from the Second Floor: The Films of Roy Andersson was made possible as part of Nordic Bridges 2022 in collaboration with Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, and TIFF. About Endlessness is presented in partnership with the Gimli Film Festival.
