{"product_id":"9780295806648","title":"Roy Andersson: Contemplating the Art of Existence","description":"\u003cp\u003eSwedish filmmaker Roy Andersson s celebrated and enigmatic film Songs from the Second Floor, his first feature film in twenty-five years, won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000. The  songs  of the film s title refer to Andersson s artistic ruminations on the state of mankind from his office on the second floor of Studio 24 in Stockholm. The film presents a series of forty-six tableaux long, deep-focus shots with a still camera, mostly in studio settings, using older visual tricks such as trompe l oeil. The tableaux showcase seemingly trivial tragicomic situations designed to provoke thoughts about existential guilt, broken relationships, and the failure of social institutions to treat people as human beings. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLindqvist draws from interviews with Andersson and his team that provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the film was made and investigates its philosophical and artistic influences, providing a nuanced reading of a film that has both befuddled and entranced its viewers. This first book-length study in English of Andersson s work considers his aesthetic agenda and the unique methods that have become hallmarks of his filmmaking, as well as his firm belief in film s revolutionary function as social critique.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Washington Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47120592994544,"sku":"9780295806648","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780295806648_p0.jpg?v=1763683089","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780295806648","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}