Challenge the Monotony! See This Film August 4, 2015

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Attention film fanatics and cinephiles! I invite you to join us for A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, screening on August 14, 15, and 16.

• Houston Premiere
Do you enjoy the whims of Terry Gilliam, but prefer the aesthetics of Wes Anderson? Are you bored with Hollywood’s dogmatic formula? Have you ever questioned your position relative to your fellow human beings—nay—relative to all things that exist? For those who dare to challenge the monotony of studio-driven blockbusters, the Museum presents the Houston premiere of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.

  A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

• Vienna Connection
The title of the latest release by Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson is adapted from Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 16th-century painting Hunters in the Snow, in the collection of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence symbolizes Andersson’s most realized attempt to capture the essence of humanity: love, pain, death, happiness, cruelty, defeat, depression, communication, capitalism, war, humor, tragedy. Each scene is unmistakably Andersson, a perfect balance between the mundane and the absurd, a thin line between the generic and the horrifying.

  Hunters in the Snow

• Sweden Set
On paper, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is a feature film shot over four years entirely on a Swedish movie set. In reality, A Pigeon more closely resembles a composition of short film narratives, woven together through long takes, an emotionally distant camera, a pallid palette, and musical transitions. This film is a genuine triumph of the imagination with incredible precision, passion, and pity.

  Roy Andersson

• Venice Winner
Andersson (born 1943) has directed more than 400 commercials, but he has made only five feature films in the last five decades. A Pigeon was released to equal parts anticipation and acclaim, most notably at the 2014 Venice Film Festival where it received the Golden Lion. Andersson’s directing style is the result of more than 25 years of revision and refinement, meticulous detail, and a muted swatch of colors that was forged in a self-sustained studio financed by those commercial commissions.

► Watch the Trailer and Get Tickets
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence is here for one weekend only, August 14–16, with screenings at 7 p.m. Friday & Saturday, and 5 p.m. Sunday. Info & Tickets