Product Details

• Actors: Jessika Lundberg, Elisabeth Helander, Björn Englund, Leif Larsson, Olle Olson
• Directors: Roy Andersson
• Writers: Roy Andersson
• Producers: Håkon Øverås, Pernilla Sandström, Philippe Bober, Tom Winther
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Swedish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Tartan Video
• DVD Release Date: January 12, 2010
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002VWNIFE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,594 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "You the Living" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

YOU THE LIVING - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 50 Tableaux About Kitchens and Sousaphones, January 14, 2010

By 

Liam Wilshire (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You the Living (DVD)

This film is made up of 55 shots, most of which represent a discrete narrative element. Connections do occur, the most evident of which is the dream recounted by the man in the first scene, which connects to the final five shots of the film.

But there are stories, here, too--if the axiom that "character is story" holds true. There is Mia, who considers the withholding of alcohol a form a sadism, and who complains that nobody understands her; she recurs in four vignettes. Similarly, the film checks in occasionally with Anna, a groupie of a musician for "The Black Devils"; she extrapolates a single instance of kindness from the musician into an agony of unrequited love. There are other characters, in agonies of their own.

A psychiatrist addresses the camera: "People demand...to be happy, at the same time they are egocentric, selfish and ungenerous. They are quite simply mean, most of them." Vignette after vignette, that is what we see, the meanness of people. That is what unifies these diverse pieces of film. Whatever kindness we see is superficial.

But there is one other thing: there is the occasional sing-along. That is ordinary life, the film says. A stream of human meanness interrupted from time-to-time by a bit of music. All of this moves with dark humor toward a man-made apocalypse.

In Ancient Greece, Lethe was one of the rivers of Hades, the river of forgetfulness. YOU, THE LIVING opens with a quote from Goethe: "Be pleased then, you living one, in your delightfully warmed bed, before Lethe's ice-cold wave will lick your escaping foot." It puts us on notice that the dreariness we are about to witness is all there is: "be pleased". Maybe, as the psychiatrist suggests, we should just stop whining, try to be a little kinder, join in the sing-alongs and enjoy the simple things.

YOU, THE LIVING and Andersson's earlier SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR coalesce styles of filmmaking suggested by earlier directors, but is a thing all its own. It deserves viewing, it deserves study. It deserves imitation.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a comedic symphony of human misery -- Andersson's latest deadpan surrealist dark comedy takes a lighthearted look at depression, November 9, 2009

By 

Nathan Andersen "film lover, philosophy profe... (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You the Living (DVD)

why do they look up? is it fear of destruction, or hope of salvation? or just another distraction? do we have to choose? what difference does it make to us, the living?

a woman sits on a park bench, railing at her boyfriend to leave her alone, to take the dog with him, existence is too painful, there's no point of it all. when he mentions the roast that his mother may be cooking, she says she may stop by later, and breaks into a sad but upbeat song about the motorcycle she wishes she could afford.

a young woman narrates a dream in a bar. in her dream, she marries the local rockstar; as he plays and she opens wedding presents, their apartment building pulls into the local trainstation, where they are greeted warmly and congratulated by a crowd. the crowd bursts into a cheerful song, and the young groom accompanies them with his crooning electric guitar as the building moves on down the line to unknown destinations.

music, rather than a continuous storyline, is what holds together this delightfully dark and downbeat hilarious existential comedy. a series of moments, minor tragedies, the boring or mundane or obnoxious components of everyday life, the nightmares and dreams, all loosely connected by location and the occasional recurrence of overlapping elements. but there is a rhythm. tension builds and subsides. one story plays against another. a sound in one scene provides the clue to the next. when someone tells a story, all turn to look, all move in unison. a kind of dance. a symphony of human misery that happens also to be quite funny.

for those stuck on the lack of a story, think of this like an album, whose continuity is in rhythms and harmonies and atmosphere rather than a conventional narrative arc. check it out if you like inventive cinema; this looks great, a muted tone beauty, is thoughtful and inventive throughout, and unpredictably funny. nearly as good as it gets.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We adored this dead pan film, October 5, 2008

By 

H. Carey "domestic explorer" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Due levande [Region 2] (DVD)

The absurd look at everyday life in this beautifully crafted film is so heartwarming and gleeful we are eagerly awaiting a US DVD release! I hope it becomes available. I would love to own his movie in order to show it to all of my friends and family. It is just stunning and delightful.