After completing his “Living” trilogy back in 2014 with A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Roy Andersson has now returned for his next feature About Endlessness, which clocks in at a rather brief 76 minutes but will no doubt feel as insightful and imaginative as his other films. Ahead of a Venice and TIFF premiere, the first trailer has now arrived for the follow-up to his Golden Lion winner.
“The main theme of my work is the vulnerability of human beings,” Andersson said. “And I think it is a hopeful act to create something showing vulnerability. Because if you are aware of the vulnerability of existence, you can become respectful and careful of what you have. I wanted to emphasize the beauty of existence, of being alive. But of course, to get that, you need to have a contrast. You need to show the bad side, the cruel side of existence”
See the trailer and new images below for the film still seeking U.S. distribution and is one of our most-anticipated of the fall festivals.
A reflection on human life in all its beauty and cruelty, its splendor and banality. We wander, dreamlike, gently guided by our Scheherazade-esque narrator. Inconsequential moments take on the same significance as historical events: a couple floats over a war-torn Cologne; on the way to a birthday party, a father stops to tie his daughter’s shoelaces in the pouring rain; teenage girls dance outside a cafe; a defeated army marches to a prisoner-of-war camp. Simultaneously an ode and a lament, ABOUT ENDLESSNESS presents a kaleidoscope of all that is eternally human, an infinite story of the vulnerability of existence.
About Endlessness plays at Venice and TIFF.