The Swedish director, known for his brilliant dreamlike visions and gags, is celebrated in this documentary set around his latest film, About Endlessness
The amazing artistry of 77-year-old Swedish director Roy Andersson is illuminated in this tribute, a documentary that follows the work on his latest film, About Endlessness, which was released last year to much acclaim. Andersson himself is renowned for his brilliant tragicomic visual gags and dreamlike visions, with hints of Beckett, Fellini and Monty Python. (He acknowledges here, too, the influence of Breughel and Goya.)
Andersson emerges here as a slightly mysterious figure, smiling beatifically like the much-loved elder statesman that he is, speaking in general terms about his art addressing the frailty and vulnerability of human nature, but giving little away about himself. The documentary creates what looks like a rather artificial narrative crisis about his heavy drinking: we glimpse him furtively swigging from a bottle; his behaviour becomes erratic, he checks into rehab and quickly checks out (to everyone’s exasperation), yet there seems to be no long-term damage to his latest triumph and the subject is not seriously mentioned again.