I’ve been sitting here for the last twenty minutes trying to think of clever ways to write about and explain You, the Living, but I just can’t. The next few paragraphs are collected thoughts on how I feel about this film.

Roy Andersson successfully broke every mainstream rule and carefully lead his cast into a well crafted film. You, the Living doesn’t need much explaining. None of that, “you have to think outside the box” bullshit. There is no central plot, everything is completely random, with no main characters. It’s just a series of vignettes that focus on people’s everyday lives. Some are tragic, some are LOL funny! and some are quite depressing. The pasty dry colors influence the audiences’ reaction to each actor’s bad luck. Everyone can relate to this because everyone dreams big and everyone lives these types of lives.

My favorite thing about this movie is the camera work. It’s nothing spectacular, but the camera never moves so the only movement we get are the actors. With some scenes longer than others, the only cuts are the ones that introduce a new one. Each seemed right out of a play, perfectly rehearsed. One can appreciate the time and effort the director and actors put into this.

When a skinny pale man is pouring out his financial problems while having sex with a heavy set woman wearing nothing but a war helmet, your curiousity can’t help but kick in and see what the rest of this is about.

This isn’t a comedy. This isn’t a drama. This is comedic. This is dramatic. This is something you need to see.

PS It’s foreign, so it’s obviously subtitled. If you’re watching it from a small television like I did, I would recommend pulling out your rec specs.