Review of Songs from the Second Floor (2000) by Tony U — 12 Jun 2007

Where "Brazil" fails in surreality, this movie succeeds.

This is an excellent movie that may require you to revisit it a second time. It uses surreal exaggeration to make us understand the entropy of a world that is overly based on economic outcome.

It is filled with satire, humor, depressing ideas, and a sort of visual depictions of many metaphorical ideas that make you think about life.

There are philsophical discussions and even disturbing images which all seem to poke fun at various flaws of authoritarian rule.

The movie increases the perception of the effects of escalating problems such as 8 hour traffic jams, governmental collapse and extreme family dysfunctionalism.

The movie reminds me of a "Brazil" in it's addressing of bureaucracy; it also reminds me of the movie "Magnolia" in it's simultaneous flow of stories. But there are many facets and layers of ideas in this movie that stimulates and inspires.

I loved many scenes in this movie such as:

1. The scene where the two characters are fleeing the city at the airport with tons of luggage and golf clubs..the heaviness of that scene, I really felt how greed really isn't as powerful as it seems.

2. The humorous scene where the man asks for a taxi ride (he's in a hurry to give a beach to the commander who is having his 100th birthday) and the cab driver is stuck in traffic. The "rush of getting things done" in the constipated thick of traffic really symbolized a lot.

3. The seen where the character is being chased by ghosts was a powerful expression of schizophrenia caused by the guilt and exploitation of past friends.

There are many disturbingly humorous scenes reminiscent of Kubrick's Clockwork Orange..mainly the scene where the guy gets stabbed in the back.

4. Of course, the scene where a young girl is sacrificed as a means of trying to find a solution for stabilizing the economy is a testament to how societal fears escalate problems by fleeing back to primative solutions to problems. It is a wonderful metaphor to describe how the Bush Administration is using fear.."blacklisting" and "media control" to use fear as a mode for finding economic solutiions to terror crises.

All and all, an excellent, compelling movie surreal yet highly sensitive.

My favorite line in the movie was when the guy was tossing crucifixes at a dumpsite and said something like: "How can you make money from crucified losers?".

Great movie, one I highly recommend.