Songs from the Second Floor
User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 3 out of 15

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  1. ChrisG.
    Mar 12, 2003
    10
    Fantastic, but don't go and see it wasted ha.
  2. LittleCrow
    Apr 9, 2004
    6
    Interesting movie, delicious subtle humor, fabulously satirical, and I would say that I liked it, but even so I felt like I had to force myself to finish watching it. It felt much longer than it really was.
  3. FerdyD.
    Nov 14, 2002
    10
    This is cinema. as good as any of Kubrick's best. an immediate masterpiece, this will age spendidly. see this and talk about it to your friends, your colleagues, and that guy on the street and that lady on the bus, and...
  4. JoeT
    Jan 16, 2010
    10
    Spookily brilliant. An odd, sad satire composed of several surreal vignettes, shot with a static camera. Roy Andersson, the director, imbues the film with a ludicrous, unique sense of dark humor. His early career was spent directing TV commercials, and here he lampoons consumerism with a bleak vengeance. I read somewhere (wish I could remember) a description of his lastest film, You, The Living, as a combination of the Far Side and a Luis Bunuel film. That's a perfect description for a perfect film.… Expand
  5. Carl
    Jun 29, 2003
    0
    This is probably the most pretentious and overrated movie of all time. It's so boring it's almost unwatchable, and there's not one good actor in the movie and all the dialogue is stupid. Avoid this movie at all costs.
  6. Jack
    Jan 14, 2004
    9
    If you have patience, it's a very odd and fantastic experience.
  7. JohnC.
    Oct 24, 2004
    1
    Occasionally absurdly humorous. There was probablyan underlying message, but there was very little effort to show how the many disconnected scenes related to the message. Too uninvolving to make a deeper exploration worthwhile. A gem for fans of aesthetic weirdness ala Eraserhead.
  8. KevinC.
    Jun 26, 2005
    9
    Pays off if you put some effort into it. Explore, think, dream - every scene becomes more alive the more energy you invest into it. If you're having trouble getting started, skim through the director's commentary to start getting a grasp on some of the metaphors and symbolic imagery. The film is amusing, interesting and baffling on the surface - very rewarding if you did deeper.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 2 out of 14
  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    In place of a conventional plot, this utterly unique Swedish movie offers a series of related episodes -- Some are funny, some are tragic, all are dreamlike and unpredictable, suggesting that the 21st century will be a lot weirder and wackier than we expect.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    30
    Rapidly wears out its welcome after the first few reels to finish up as a perplexing objet d'art.
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  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    80
    Often seems more old-fashioned than modern.
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