A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence (2014)

Surrealist episodes loosely following two salesmen peddling novelty gag gifts

In this Kafkaesque exercise, Swedish director Roy Andersson strings together dozens of vignettes that combine surrealistic humor and banal horror (or is it surrealistic horror and banal humor?). Some scenes observe daily trivialities as mundane as a woman taking a pebble out of her shoe and a man at a bus stop inquiring what day it is. Others, rather unforgettably, depict a scientist talking casually on the phone while watching a monkey receive electric shocks, an army storming a local bar and making bizarre demands, and soldiers forcing slaves into a gigantic brass drum outfitted with horns (when the drum is lit on fire, the horns convert their screams to elegant music while rich elderly people look on and drink champagne). It’s as odd as it sounds, and Andersson captures it via single takes on minimalist, creepy sets with a cast of pallid, paunchy non-actors. It’s hard to identify an overarching theme other than that the human struggle is bleak in a way that is both darkly funny and wildly despairing, but Pigeon certainly stays with you.