A Pigeon Sits on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Sam and Jonathan are two luckless and somewhat sorrowful representatives for joke items. As travelling salesmen, they are on the road on an important mission: they want to help others to have fun. Since the world is full of disappointments and is a strangely lonely matter, they specialise in the classics among the curiosities: vampire fangs, Lachsack (“laugh bag”) and a grotesque monster’s mask. Since selling is such a ghastly affair, Sam and Jonathan often find it hard to shift the goods with the requisite verve, and are extremely divided on which presentation strategy is the right one. After all, it’s difficult to spread joy in an otherwise pale world. The 2014 winner of the Golden Lion at Venice takes us on a fairytale-like odyssey through human and all-too-human life. With humour somewhere between Loriot and Samuel Beckett, the great Swedish filmmaker Roy Anderson presents to us a truly unique cinematic experience, as never seen before.