A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
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A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is the third installment of Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson’s "Living" trilogy—following Songs from the Second Floor (2000) and You, the Living (2007). Like the previous pictures, this beguiling, rather hypnotic movie is comprised of a series of individual scenes loosely connected by recurring themes. Two traveling novelty salesmen (Nisse Vestblom and Holger Andersson) weave in and out of the episodes, which provides some sense of linear narrative structure to the proceedings. This is the first of Andersson’s pictures to be shot digitally.  The format works well since most scenes are exquisitely composed, single-shot, self-contained tableaus, which are well suited to the rock-solid framing of digital cinematography. Andersson’s movies are neither profound nor hilarious, and some segments of this picture succeed far better than others, but this is an unquestionably entertaining and rewarding way to spend a couple of hours.