You, the Living

A strong contender for the accolade of funniest film in the Festival, You, the Living follows a similar approach to Andersson's previous Songs from the Second Floor, but takes a slightly lighter tone in presenting a series of tragi-comic vignettes from modern life.

An assortment of washed out interiors provide the backdrop for a motley crew of characters: a stout depressive and her long-suffering husband; a young girl with an unrequited crush on a rock musician; an Arab barber taking sweet revenge on a racist customer; couples with too much to say, or too little; a diligent tuba player...

If none of these sounds intrinsically funny, they certainly become so when filtered through Andersson's unique world view, both specifically Nordic, but strangely universal. His skill lies in revealing the absurd details of what people around us do every day, the precision in his filmmaking giving added comic impact to the sheer randomness of much of what we see. Anyone expecting wry observation won't be disappointed; but for this viewer at least, the hilarious, laugh-out-loud moments came as a delightful surprise.

Sandra Hebron