A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence: Roy Andersson presents a film that is an spectacle of precision. The sense of humor is dry and mostly dark, but delivered always at the exact moment for maximum impact. The overall style is rather unique: light on dialogue, the camera always set static for the whole vignette, essentially no cuts; it suggests a rigor in the observation, but the action itself is always borderline (sometimes over the line) absurd. Every shot is beautifully framed by István Borbás and Gergely Pálos (and the color pallete, always consistent), allowing some action to happen in the whole space (the precision in the blocking here is paramount). Of course, this would be irrelevant if the sad stories didn’t resonate, in their very particular way. Wonderfully peculiar, peculiarly wonderful.