Du levande (2007)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Roy Andersson

Writer:

Roy Andersson (writer)

Release Date:

21 September 2007 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Plot:

You, the Living is a film about humankind, its greatness and its baseness, joy and sorrow, its self-confidence and anxiety, its desire to love and be loved. |

Plot Keywords:

Bathtub | Train | Loneliness | Absurdism | Song

Awards:

9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Jessika Lundberg	...	Anna
Elisabeth Helander	...	Mia (as Elisabet Helander)
Björn Englund	...	Tubaplayer
Leif Larsson	...	Carpenter
Olle Olson	...	Consultant (as Ollie Olson)
Birgitta Persson	...	Tubaspelarens fru
Kemal Sener	...	The barber
Håkan Angser	...	The psychiatrist
Rolf Engström	...	Trumslagaren
Gunnar Ivarsson	...	The buisnessman
Eric Bäckman	...	Micke Larsson
Patrik Anders Edgren	...	Professor (as Patrik Edgren)
Lennart Eriksson	...	Man on the balcony
Pär Fredriksson	...	The carpet dealer
Jessica Nilsson	...	The teacher
Jörgen Nohall	...	Uffe
Waldemar Nowak	...	The pick-pocket
Jan Wikbladh	...	The fan
Bengt C.W. Carlsson	...	CEO
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Anderson	...	Guest at banquet

Directed by
Roy Andersson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Roy Andersson		writer

Produced by
Philippe Bober	....	co-producer
Håkon Øverås	....	co-producer
Pernilla Sandström	....	producer
Tom Winther	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Benny Andersson

Cinematography by
Gustav Danielsson

Film Editing by
Anna Märta Waern

Production Design by
Magnus Renfors
Elin Segerstedt

Art Department
Magne Pettersen	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Jan Alvemark	....	sound
Robert Hefter	....	sound recordist
Robert Sörling	....	sound

Special Effects by
Christian Niklasson	....	rain

Camera and Electrical Department
Fredrik Borg	....	first assistant camera
Christian Haag	....	first assistant camera

Casting Department
Magne Pettersen	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sofia Frykstam	....	costumer

Music Department
Johan Ahlin	....	music arranger
Robert Hefter	....	music editor
Robert Hefter	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Lena Hansson	....	film consultant: Swedish Film Institute (as Lena Hansson-Varhegyi)

Production Companies

• 4 1/2 Film (co-production)
• Canal+
• Det Danske Filminstitut
• Eurimages Council of Europe
• Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
• Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond
• Norsk Filmfond
• Posthus Teatret
• Roy Andersson Filmproduktion AB
• Société Parisienne de Production
• Spillefilmkompaniet 4 1/2 (co-production)
• Studio 24
• StyleJam
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI)
• Sveriges Television (SVT)
• Thermidor Filmproduktion
• WDR/Arte
• arte France Cinéma

Distributors

• Filmes da Mostra (2009) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Look Now! (2007-2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sponge (2008) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Zeta Films (2008) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Gativideo (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)
• Video Film Express (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• good movies! (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

You, the Living (France) (festival title) (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Das jüngste Gewitter (Germany)
Du levende (Denmark)
Nous, les vivants (France)

Runtime:

Argentina:95 min | Canada:95 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:95 min

Country:

Sweden | Germany | France | Denmark | Norway | Japan

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Certification:

Sweden:Btl | Finland:K-11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Japan:R-15 | Germany:6 | Singapore:R21 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:18 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

4 1/2 Film

Trivia:

Sweden's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

Life as we don't know it

I laughed out loud several times during this film though give it a cursory glance and you would think it was something else altogether. I adore the pace and the way it slowly burns into you as you are presented these gobsmackingly beautiful tableaux. Andersson gives us something else here. Shows us something I had not seen since his last film. He is compositionally exceptional and via his method of fixing the camera and allowing action to take place before us, he opens the door on humanity and we peer into a place that reflects our own lives, our little lives. It is powerful stuff. It is the simplicity with which he allows the events to take place that creates the opposite feeling of complexity. Everything in front of the camera is anything but simple. Andersson's attention to detail is extraordinary. I believe most scenes, if not all, are sets built from scratch according to his designs. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. For me it took me to a place and I came out of it having witnessed a world frayed and beautiful, starched and pained, barren and splendid. At once alien and familiar. This film is brilliant and life affirming. I know because I came out smiling feeling wonderful. It has taken him seven years to make this. If he only made this one film he would still be up there with the greats.