A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) — watch online the Swedish absurdist comedy directed by Roy Andersson, the closing film of his "Living Trilogy." Two hapless novelty salesmen, Sam and Jonathan, trudge through the city with a briefcase of gag items — vampire teeth, a laughing bag, an Uncle One-Tooth mask — and wander into scenes that follow no recognizable logic.

Andersson composes each shot like a flat painting: no camera movement, washed-out colour, figures posed against institutional walls. The film drifts through time without warning — in one scene, the cavalry of King Charles XII of Sweden rides past a modern bar and nobody looks up from their drink. History and the present occupy the same frame, equally indifferent to each other.

The film took the Golden Lion at Venice, the festival's top prize. It is unhurried and deliberately strange, and it rewards the kind of watching that asks nothing in return. Stream A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) on iFILM.