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A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
An absurdist, surrealistic and shocking pitch-black comedy, which moves freely from nightmare to fantasy to hilariously deadpan humour as it muses on man's perpetual inhumanity to man. (tmdb.com)
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A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

2014
Comedy
Drama
1h 41m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 59.19% from 748 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(748)
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Rated 19 Nov 2014
65
42nd
As much as Andersson's style is unique and intriguing, a third film in the span of 14 years rehashing the exact same format and themes strikes me a sign of stagnation. "En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron" seems to be packed with less neat surrealistic twists than the previous two and, although it's still an odd, thought-provoking creature, I feel that Andersson fails to communicate anything truly original.
Rated 16 Jul 2016
70
57th
too much take it back [if roy andersson were a delicious gourmet seasoning]
Rated 13 Jun 2015
80
67th
Can be a little slow at times, but the awkward acting is great. People look and act bored because that's the point. The use of static camera won't appeal to all but that's Andersson's trademark. Clever tragicomedy on display here, with the King being the highlight of the film. One of the final scenes is pretty depressing as well. It shifts tones whenever it feels like it.
Rated 14 Mar 2016
70
17th
I think one Roy Andersson film is my limit - even if I watched it years ago. This latest one is a step too far for me. As soon as it starts, you know exactly what you're in for: deliberately drab, static scenes; pallid, moronic characters in surreal arguments; loose connecting threads and repetitions here and there but nothing you can get your teeth into. It's akin to watching paint dry. Is there supposed to be social commentary here or is it just the rambling delusions of an old lost mind?
Rated 04 Mar 2020
84
89th
Tati-esque in its absolute commitment to visual gags.
Rated 21 Jan 2016
30
14th
Mmm, that is one dry pigeon.
Rated 12 Nov 2015
88
84th
The art department, sound design, makeup, acting, pacing, and ambition makes Andersson consistently valuable to cinema. He's as iconic and aesthetically unique as Wes Anderson or Jim Jarmusch. And there's so many moments of magic-like, spontaneous beauty on display. Perfect balance of the comically repetitive (and monotone) absurdist scenes. Beauty and suffering. Andersson can't show one without the other.
Rated 12 Dec 2017
68
31st
I feel like giving this a bad score exposes me as some kind of idiot, but as much as I wanted to enjoy it, I just couldn't find a meaning in anything that was going on. So it was absurdity for the sake of absurdity, which is fine, but tiring over the course of an entire film. It looks great, though, and I found myself praying for each scene to end (because it was boring), but also so that I could see the next stage.
Rated 12 Oct 2014
70
57th
İletişimsizlik,yanlızlık,umursamazlık,ruhen ölmüş insanlar ve absürd olaylar.
Rated 30 Jan 2019
80
80th
A huge step down, I think he has lost it!
Rated 24 Dec 2015
70
62nd
Highly beautiful as always, but this one seemed a bit long-winded (perhaps because after the other two, it is getting a bit old).
Rated 03 Feb 2016
78
69th
Somewhat thematically unfocused, but also frequently at its best when it just runs wild with some absurd or haunting vignette. Those moments make it more than worth it to sit through a few lesser scenes. Andersson's comically dry vision of life is still enticing.
Rated 21 Jun 2015
6
34th
Aside from a rather brilliant penultimate scene, Andersson continues his slippery downward spiral into mediocrity. In fact, that scene feels so out of tune with the rest of the film, it makes you wonder why everything else doesn't share its impact and vision.
Rated 27 Jul 2015
45
16th
bir yorum değil, gözlem filmi olması kendisini belli anlatım gerekliliklerinden kurtarmıyor. durağanlık bir şey anlattığı sürece problem değildir, gözlemi kuru bir sinematografiyle aktarmaya çalışmayla böylesine ancak böylesine kopuk bir film ortaya çıkıyor. bağırmanın zıttı belki susmak gibi geliyor olabilir, tartışılır; ama bağırmanın doğrusu susmak değil.
Rated 31 Dec 2015
83
73rd
My first Roy Andersson film, and I had a really unpleasant, upsetting, and uncomfortable time with it-- I like! It plays out like a nightmarish parody of Europe's slow cinema, with a series of very loosely connected segments that add up to form a twisted (though maybe entirely accurate) worldview.
Rated 18 Dec 2015
90
80th
A hypnotic exploration of life as a series of small absurdities, viewed from a distance, as these things were always meant to be. A film about surroundings, and boundaries, and how maybe these are more or less the same exact thing. It's either very funny, or very grim, but it handles both situations with masterful finesse. There's great comfort in misery, I think, and that's what's so appealing about this film. I hope that when I die, someone gets a free beer out of it.
Rated 04 Jul 2019
85
50th
Komedi nerede geçiyodu lan?
Rated 13 Nov 2016
35
23rd
Dead Horse: The Movie
Rated 03 May 2023
60
44th
Doubtlessly Roy Andersson has an eye for creating wonderful shots, and there is no shortage of those in "En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron". At its best, the film displays the relatable slices of life and thought-provoking musings on the human condition that he knows to deliver so well. Nevertheless, it is marred by several pointless vignettes, occasional sluggishness and the permeating feeling that he is going over the same ground once again - and with the exact same approach.
Rated 26 Oct 2023
84
83rd
Not the easiest of movies, but certainly rewards the patient viewer. Hilarious at times.
Rated 24 Mar 2017
73
78th
Nobody makes films quite like Roy Andersson, but his signature style perhaps isn't as effectively 'repeatable' and diminishing returns have begun to set in. The move to digital is dubious: it brings greater clarity but lends an antiseptic quality to the visual design, highlighting its mechanical contrivance. The vignettes seem more disconnected and the scenarios are less imaginative, with few exceptions. Those exceptions make it worthwhile though, and his droll humour remains firmly intact.
Rated 22 Jun 2022
86
80th
The most fantastical and political of the trilogy and a wonderful end.
Rated 09 Jun 2017
75
60th
Funny in its very absurd and deadpan style. Some parts are better than others, highlights to me are the flashback to the bar in 1943 and Karel XII's legion suddenly dropping in at a bar. But it is too artificial for me to really love this.
Rated 18 Feb 2016
15
81st
Star Rating: ★★★★
Rated 27 Jan 2024
32
25th
clever but hard to stomach
Rated 12 Dec 2015
75
32nd
Zamanin mekanin ve eylemlerin ayrilamaz ve silsilesiz devamliliği gibi bir deneme.. Filmin sonundaki adam da haydegere benziyordu..
Rated 22 May 2022
77
70th
Everyone looks like they're on the cusp of death but you'll be happy to hear they're doing fine. Or, they're not fine, but at least it's Wednesday again.
Rated 31 Mar 2015
58
21st
It's well made and it has some surrealistic and smart moments. But it's 2 hours of static shots and strange things that happen in front of the camera. Andersson said that the film had been inspired by "Bicycle Thieves", but here there isn't the simplicity and the emotional hammer of the De Sica's masterpiece. Ok, another style, and there is a similar message, but the message seem "artificially" forced in the film, with forced metaphors. You cannot put "message" above the film. Pretentious.
Rated 06 Aug 2021
70
45th
????????????????????????????????????????????/???1943?????????kiss, just for a glass of beer. ??????????????"????"???????????
Rated 23 Apr 2015
67
52nd
Static shots that bring an anticipation to take in every detail of each new shot make for an interesting viewing. I was also anticipating the final beautifully staged shot for a good half hour. Little long. Some amazing single takes involving the King almost make you stand up out of your chair. It's the most three dimensional 2D movie I've ever seen thanks to phenomenal set design. Introduced two phrases into my lexicon: "I'm happy to hear you're doing fine," and, "Then it's Wednesday again."
Rated 19 Oct 2014
70
42nd
Filmekimi 2014 & R. Andersson'in diger filmleri dusunuldugunda bir hayal kirikligiydi.
Rated 31 Dec 2014
79
71st
Başka Sinema - Moda Sahnesi: Nedense (neredeyse) herkesin en "gerçekçi" filmi yapmak için uğraştığı bir dönemde, bünyemde can simidi etkisi yaptı Roy Andersson'ın absürt ve gerçeküstücü mizahı.
Rated 08 May 2016
5
18th
Intriguing, sometimes humourous, often unfathomable and even slightly dull but worth reflecting on.
Rated 13 Mar 2022
79
61st
01.18 Tuğba
Rated 24 Nov 2015
63
61st
I should probably rewatch the other two in the trilogy, because this is a lot more my sort of thing now than it once was. That said, there's something a little disconcertingly antiseptic and almost too perfectly-calibrated about Andersson's deadpan whimsey (perhaps rooted in his advertising background?) compared to similar stuff like, say, Aki Kaurismaki. Also, the ending of this gets sort of uncharacteristically heavy-handed.
Rated 26 Jul 2022
40
36th
watchable
Rated 18 Jun 2018
85
91st
A movie inspired by the paintings by Peter Bruegel, a realistic representation of a nordic society. This films might get awkward but only to provide a scene for the dialog which explores in depth topics.
Rated 04 Feb 2016
80
58th
Love Andersson's wry style, the stillness of the frame only serving to enhance the humor and/or the drama of the moment. This generally fits in well with his earlier work, if not rising to the great heights of *Songs*. That said, I have no idea what to do with the dream sequence, which seems to be much more pointed/less ironic than anything else in the trilogy, as if the anger over contemporary society just boiled over uncontrollably.
Rated 14 Apr 2015
74
81st
Not as fresh as 'Songs from the Second Floor', but still a rewarding and often quite funny experience.
Rated 12 Nov 2015
76
88th
The very idea of deadpan. Loses steam towards the end.
Rated 05 Aug 2015
65
48th
Unique in style it starts great and very promising, but once you've seen a couple of scenes, most that follows is quite similar and repetitive. Still worth watching for some very surreal moments.

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