Review of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) by Pj E — 12 Oct 2015

I don't know how to feel about this film. I've never seen an Andersson work before, so I have nothing to compare this to. However, as it stands, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is an interesting experiment.

A series of seemingly unrelated vignettes (save for the traveling salesman) plays out in a non-cohesive fashion. While each offers awkward chuckles, most fall flat due to the drag nature of the film techniques used.

Perhaps that's the point. The audience is to be subjected to the doldrums of life and all it's desaturated splendor. Every now and again we're permitted to laugh, but the other times we find ourselves asking 'why?' (a curse of the human condition one could fathom) I can't say I hated it and I can't say I enjoyed it.

I witnessed it, appreciated it, and moved on. I was the man at the beginning, staring at various stuffed birds in a museum. Bewildered by one, moved onto the next, and found myself yearning to return to the other exhibit.

Eventually, I was forced to move on by the nagging wife (the film) and am left with nothing more. I can't tell you much about the birds (the scenes), I can't even tell you why I enjoyed them. It just was.