A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Directed by	Roy Andersson
Produced by	Linn Kirkenær Pernilla Sandström Håkon Øverås
Written by	Roy Andersson
Starring	Nisse Vestblom Holger Andersson
Cinematography	István Borbás Gergely Pálos
Edited by	Alexandra Strauss
Production company	Roy Andersson Filmproduktion AB
Release dates	2 September 2014 (2014-09-02) (Venice) 14 November 2014 (2014-11-14) (Sweden)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	Sweden Norway France Germany
Language	Swedish

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Swedish: En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron) is a 2014 Swedish comedy-drama film directed by Roy Andersson. It is the third part in his "living"-trilogy, following Songs from the Second Floor and You, the Living. It premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival^[1]^[2] where it was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film.^[3]

Its title is a reference to the 1565 painting The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The painting depicts a rural wintertime scene, with some birds perched on tree branches. Andersson said he imagined that the birds in the scene are watching the people below and wonder what they are doing. He explained the title of the film as a "different way of saying 'what are we actually doing', that's what the movie is about."^[4] At the Venice Film Festival, Andersson said that the film had been inspired by the 1948 Italian film Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica.^[5]

Cast

Holger Andersson as Jonathan
Nils Westblom as Sam

References

↑ "International competition of feature films". Venice. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
↑ "Venice Film Festival Lineup Announced". Deadline. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
↑ "Roy Andersson film scoops Venice Golden Lion award". BBC News. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
↑ "Roy Andersson siktar på Guldpalmen". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 27 January 2013. Det är egentligen bara en slags omskrivning för 'vad håller vi på med egentligen', det är det som filmen handlar om.
↑ "Roy Andersson film scoops Venice Golden Lion award". BBC News. Retrieved 7 September 2014.

External links

Films directed by Roy Andersson

Feature films	A Swedish Love Story (1970) Giliap (1975) Songs from the Second Floor (2000) You, the Living (2007) A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014)

Other films	The White Game (1968) Something Happened (1987) World of Glory (1991)

Golden Lion winning films

1949–1968	Manon (1949) Justice Is Done (1950) Rashomon (1951) Forbidden Games (1952) No award (1953) Romeo and Juliet (1954) Ordet (1955) No award (1956) Aparajito (1957) Rickshaw Man (1958) General della Rovere / The Great War (1959) Tomorrow Is My Turn (1960) Last Year at Marienbad (1961) Family Diary / Ivan's Childhood (1962) Hands over the City (1963) Red Desert (1964) Sandra (1965) The Battle of Algiers (1966) Belle de Jour (1967) Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed (1968)

1980–2000	Atlantic City / Gloria (1980) Marianne and Juliane (1981) The State of Things (1982) First Name: Carmen (1983) A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984) Vagabond (1985) The Green Ray (1986) Au revoir les enfants (1987) The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988) A City of Sadness (1989) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) Urga (1991) The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) Short Cuts / Three Colors: Blue (1993) Vive L'Amour / Before the Rain (1994) Cyclo (1995) Michael Collins (1996) Fireworks (1997) The Way We Laughed (1998) Not One Less (1999) The Circle (2000)

2001–present	Monsoon Wedding (2001) The Magdalene Sisters (2002) The Return (2003) Vera Drake (2004) Brokeback Mountain (2005) Still Life (2006) Lust, Caution (2007) The Wrestler (2008) Lebanon (2009) Somewhere (2010) Faust (2011) Pietà (2012) Sacro GRA (2013) A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014)