movielex
movie
L
ex

Movies like Songs from the Second Floor

Key Features:
Social satire, Existentialism, Absurdity, European cinema, Modern life, Dark comedy, Human condition, Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Alienation, Despair, Melancholy
Tone:
cynical, deadpan, serious
Target Audience:
Art house cinema enthusiasts, Fans of social commentary, Those interested in existential themes, Viewers seeking thought-provoking films
Emotional Arc:
Despair → Resignation

Songs from the Second Floor

2000-10-06
Songs from the Second Floor Poster - Find Similar Movies

A monumental traffic jam serves as the backdrop for the lives of the inhabitants of a Swedish city.

Genres
Drama, Comedy
Cast
Lars Nordh, Stefan Larsson, Bengt C.W. Carlsson, Torbjörn Fahlström, Sten Andersson, Rolando Núñez, Lucio Vucina, Per Jörnelius, Peter Roth, Klas-Gösta Olsson
Crew
Roy Andersson, Roy Andersson
Rating
7(295 votes)
Songs from the Second FloorSongs from the Second Floor
Select exactly what you are looking for


A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

An absurdist, surrealistic and shocking pitch-black comedy, which moves freely from nightmare to fantasy to hilariously deadpan humour as it muses on man’s perpetual inhumanity to man.



About Endlessness
6.541

A reflection on human life in all its beauty and cruelty, its splendor and banality, guided by a Scheherazade-esque narrator. Inconsequential moments have the same significance as historical events. Simultaneously an ode and a lament, presents a kaleidoscope of all that is eternally human, an infinite story of the vulnerability of existence.



Traffic Jam
6.8

A tremendous congestion hits the Rome highway ring. The biggest traffic jam ever seen lasts more than 36 hours. At the beginning the people blocked in their cars react normally. But as more time passes, the more we witness personal dramas, hysteric reactions and other grotesque situations. All the episodes are linked as if in a single plot. Cars and their hosts are a microcosm of stories part of a larger universe: the congestion.



You, the Living
7.071

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.



Involuntary
6.5

In several unrelated stories, the consequences of putting one's foot down – or failing to do so – are explored.



World of Glory
7.049

The narrative portrays a plain man who guides the viewer through his life in a bleakly stylised world.



The Bothersome Man
7.02

Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment - even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. Andreas makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there's no way out. Andreas meets Hugo, who has found a crack in a wall in his cellar. Beautiful music streams out from the crack. Maybe it leads to "the other side"? A new plan for escape is hatched.



Next Floor
7.081

During an opulent and luxurious banquet, complete with hordes of servers and valets, eleven pampered guests participate in what appears to be a ritualistic gastronomic carnage. In this absurd and grotesque universe, an unexpected sequence of events destabilizes the endless symphony of abundance.



Dimensions of Dialogue

Three surreal depictions of failures of communication that occur on all levels of human society.



Elections Day
7.121

The employees of a radio station in Moscow are forced to organize the elections campaign for a future governor in one of Russia districts.



Sound of Noise
7.175

A tone-deaf cop works to track down a group of guerilla percussionists whose anarchic public performances are terrorizing the city.



The Square
6.75

A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.



Screwed in Tallinn: A Small Film About Loneliness

Percy Nilegaard collects Swedish single men and embarks on a bus trip to Tallinn with a so-called "highly-experienced driver".



Terrestrial Verses
7.442

A satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran, these nine vignettes illuminate the lighter side of enduring under authoritarian rule. Whether choosing a name for a newborn, graduating from grade school, getting a driver’s license, applying for a job, or seeking approval for a film script, if you live in Iran, you best come fluent in Orwellian discourse.



Heavy Traffic
6.327

An "underground" cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory characters serve as inspiration for his artwork.



Aniara
Aniara(2019)
6.1

A ship carrying settlers to a new home on Mars after Earth is rendered uninhabitable is knocked off-course, causing the passengers to consider their place in the universe.



A Man Called Ove
7.603

Despite being deposed as president of his condominium association, grumpy 59-year-old Ove continues to watch over his neighbourhood with an iron fist. When pregnant Parvaneh and her family move into the terraced house opposite Ove and she accidentally back into Ove’s mailbox, it sets off a series of unexpected changes in his life.



Old Men in New Cars: In China They Eat Dogs II

The last wish of the dying "Monk" is for his foster child, Harald, to find his real son, Ludvig. But the latter is currently in a Swedish prison cell...



The Silence
7.5

Traveling through an unnamed European country on the brink of war, sickly, intellectual Ester, her sister Anna and Anna's young son, Johan, check into a near-empty hotel. A basic inability to communicate among the three seems only to worsen during their stay. Anna provokes her sister by enjoying a dalliance with a local man, while the boy, left to himself, has a series of enigmatic encounters that heighten the growing air of isolation.



Weekend
Weekend(1967)
6.884

A supposedly idyllic weekend trip to the countryside turns into a never-ending nightmare of traffic jams, revolution, cannibalism and murder as French bourgeois society starts to collapse under the weight of its own consumer preoccupations.



Some Time Later
6.2

Planet Earth, 9177. The remains of humankind live in a post-apocalyptic environment divided into only two social classes: the ruling king and the oligarchs who inhabit the Representative Building and the poor of the world who hardly survive in the slums built around it.



Storytelling
6.5

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.



Kin-dza-dza!
7.7

Two Soviet humans previously unknown to each other are transported to the planet Pluke in the Kin-dza-da galaxy due to a chance encounter with an alien teleportation device. They must come to grips with a language barrier and Plukian social norms (not to mention the laws of space and time) if they ever hope to return to Earth.



The People Upstairs
6.305

Julio and Ana have been together for more than fifteen years. They have become a couple who no longer look at nor touch one another, and who have made daily fighting the essence of their relationship. This evening, Ana has invited their upstairs neighbors to come round, Salva and Laura, a couple younger than them, pleasant and friendly, but whose noises are now an annoyance for Julio and Ana... or perhaps a stimulus? The upstairs neighbors will make them an unusual and surprising proposal which will turn the evening into an exaggerated and cathartic experience for all four.



Persona
Persona(1966)
8.1

A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer.



Kontroll
Kontroll(2003)
7.181

A tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, and the fellow ticket inspectors on his team who work aboard the subterranean Budapest Metro. A tale about racing along the tracks, and about a mysterious serial killer. And a tale about love.



Ears
Ears(2016)
7.1

A man wakes up one morning with an annoying ringing sound in his ears. A note on the fridge says: "Your friend Luigi has died. P.S. I took the car". The problem is that he does not even remember who this guy Luigi is. This is just the beginning of a tragicomic day during which he will be plunged into the folly of the world. One of those days that changes your life forever.



Nothing
Nothing(2003)
5.806

The film tells the story of two good friends who live together, Andrew, an agoraphobic travel agent who works from his home, and Dave, a loser who works in an office where he is treated with contempt. Just when it seems things can't get any worse for the two, the entire world outside of their house disappears and is replaced with an endless white void.



Comidark Films 2: Insane

Güven, a taxi driver is desperately in love with Meral, but he’s too shy to open up to her. One day he picks up a customer, gets accused of a crime he didn’t commit and his world is turned upside down.



Two Men and a Wardrobe

The film features two men who emerge from the sea carrying a large wardrobe, which they proceed to carry into a town.



The Idiots
6.5

A group of people gather at a Copenhagen suburban home to break all the limitations and to bring out the 'inner idiot' in themselves.



Tales of Ordinary Madness

Poet/lecturer Charles Serking awakens from his alcoholic haze long enough to take a bus back to L.A. and plunge into an orgy of drink and sexual depravity.



In Paris
In Paris(2006)
6

After a love affair ends badly, a young Parisian named Paul sinks into the same kind of deep depression that led his sister to kill herself. He moves back home with his father and aimless brother Jonathan but refuses to get out of bed.



Incoherence
7

Over three episodes, three respectable middle-aged men find themselves behaving badly. A teacher hides his pornographic magazine from a female student. A jogger steals milk and blames it on a newspaper delivery boy. A drunk man desperately searches for a public toilet late at night.



Tango
Tango(1985)
7.4

A static camera observes a room as it slowly fills with thirty-six characters from different stages of life, looping further through an absurd dance of social disconnection as each character moves in.



Brazil
Brazil(1985)
7.7

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.



Finsterworld
6.325

The film tells different stories in a kind of parallel Germany about love, affection and hatred.



The Rite
The Rite(1969)
6.833

Called to court on obscenity charges, a theatre troupe are forced to expose their neuroses and inner psychological torments.



Kokowääh 2
5.992

Who said a patchwork family is without problems? Two years after the turbulence of Kokowääh, everyday life turns to everyday chaos…



The Second Tragic Fantozzi

The frustrating adventures of a humble employee who all the time has to fullfill the wishes and desires of his bosses.



Escape
Escape(2024)
5.4

A young man becomes convinced that the solution to all his problems is to live in jail, and he will do whatever it takes to get it.



JJ+E
JJ+E(2021)
5.799

Elisabeth and John John are raised in the same city, yet they live light years apart, separated economically, socially and culturally. That is until the day they start in the same high school class.



Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?

The life of a married Munich technical draftsman with a son.



The Incident
6.889

Two parallel stories about people trapped in illogical endless spaces: two brothers and a detective locked on an infinite staircase, and a family locked on an infinite road... for over 35 years.



The Clink of Ice
5.9

An alcoholic writer is visited by an incarnation of his cancer.



Park Benches
5.3

As she does every morning, Lucie takes advantage of her journey to work to lose herself for a while in the pages of a good book. And as she does every morning, she joins her colleagues at the office with a smile. It's a working day just like any other. Then suddenly all activity in the office stops. All attention is turned towards the window of the opposite building opposite and abanner reading: Man Alone. Is it a hoax? A cry for help? Everyone has his own interpretation, and will try, by any means possible, to discover what lies behind this mysterious message.



The Traffic Policeman
7.354

An unemployed man gets a job as traffic policeman but the traffic in the big city creates innumerous problems for the poor guy.



Winter Light
7.9

A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.



The Phantom of Liberty

This Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based on the life of director Luis Buñuel. Presented as chance encounters, these loosely related, intersecting situations, all without a consistent protagonist, reach from the 19th century to the 1970s. Touching briefly on subjects such as execution, pedophilia, incest, and sex, the film features an array of characters, including a sick father and incompetent police officers.



The Trial
The Trial(1962)
7.4

The surreal tale of an unassuming man who is accused of a never-specified crime and shambles through bizarre encounters to escape this nightmare.



Damnation
Damnation(1988)
7.6

Karrer plods his way through life in quiet desperation. His environment is drab and rainy and muddy. Eaten up with solitude, his hopelessness would be incurable but for the existence of the Titanik Bar and its beautiful, haunting singer. But the lady is married and Karrer is determined to keep her husband away...



Enforcement
6.341

The exact details of what took place while Talib Ben Hassi was in police custody remain unclear. Police officers Jens and Mike are on routine patrol in Svalegården's ghetto when news of Talib's death comes in over the radio, igniting uncontrollable, pent-up rage in the ghetto's youth, who lust for revenge. Suddenly, the two officers find themselves fair game and must fight tooth and claw to find a way out.



Calamari Union
6.9

A group of men all called Frank—except for one named Pekka—have had enough of life in their working-class neighborhood, so they set off for a better existence in the magical seaside district of Eira. But the way is long, and the group face many hurdles including stray dogs and defunct streetlights.



The House
The House(2022)
7

Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.



El patrullero 777
7.78

Follows Diogenes as he goes about his day as a police officer. He's prone to do things the right way, surrounded by a pretty much corrupt & citizen distant police department, & always resolves his duties with a personal method.



Epidemic
Epidemic(1987)
5.7

A director and screenwriter pen a script and, in the process, blur the line between fiction and reality.



Werckmeister Harmonies

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.



Border
Border(2018)
6.688

When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.



The Comics 2
5.693

A poster worker must remove the poster of the original movie, when the figures of Renato and Paolo suddenly moves and leaves the poster driving an ambulance dressed as nurses.



Man on the Roof
7.1

Detective Martin Beck investigates the grisly murder of a police Lieutenant in his hospital room, he soon realises the urgency of the case when it turns out the killer may hold a hatred for all policemen.



Why
Why(1971)
7.244

Giuseppe Di Noi, an Italian surveyor living in Swiden, gets arrested at the border while going back to Italy with his family for a vacation. But can someone tell the man why?



Stranded
Stranded(2015)
4.846

The last train travel of the year from Barcelona to Madrid, suddenly stops by a voltage drop in the middle of nowhere during a fierce snowstorm. Because of the peculiarity of its passengers, will begin to emerge hilarious conflicts between them.



Underground
7.7

A group of Serbian socialists prepares for the war in a surreal underground filled by parties, tragedies, love and hate.



Toto and the Kings of Rome

An aging, down-and-out public employee must face the primary school examination.



Stromberg – The Movie

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of “Capitol-Insurance” is due – that's what the bosses thought. All employees are invited to join the party in a hotel. However, rumors say the company's not doing very well. To avoid unemployment due to the possible shutdown of the smaller branch office the only option is to move to the headquarters. Now that's the ultimate challange for Stromberg, who is notoriously trying to be the example of a department manager, gathering all of his employees behind him.



The Bar
The Bar(2017)
6.33

In downtown Madrid, a series of mysterious gunshots trap a motley assortment of people in a decrepit bar.



Yuppies 2
Yuppies 2(1986)
5.2

The adventures of the Milanese yuppies continue, always polished, "at home" in via Montenapoleone or at Nepentha, impeccable in dressing and "winning" at work, a little less in private life.



Koko-di Koko-da
5.8

As a couple goes on a trip to find their way back to each other, a sideshow artist and his shady entourage emerge from the woods, terrorizing them, luring them deeper into a maelstrom of psychological terror and humiliating slapstick.



From the Life of the Marionettes

An account of the events before and after a murder committed by a disturbed businessman in a strained marriage, and what led him to perform such a shocking act.



Sawdust and Tinsel
7.3

A number of complicated relationships develop between a circus ringmaster, his estranged wife and his lover.



A Short Film About Killing

Jacek climbs into the taxi driven by Waldemar, tells him to drive to a remote location, then brutally strangles him, seemingly without motive.



Anplagghed al Cinema

A queue at the ATM machine, a displaced family after a seismic shock that has half-washed their home, a tour within an art gallery, moments of everyday life that become the cues for the emergence of comic, farce, paradoxical situations – trademarks of one of the most successful Italian comic groups.



Sitcom
Sitcom(1998)
6.38

The adventures of an upper-class suburban family abruptly confronted with the younger brother's discovery of his homosexuality, the elder sister's suicide attempt and sadomasochist tendencies, and the intrusion of a very free-spirited maid and her husband. And it all started with the arrival in the family of an innocent looking rat.



The Five Obstructions

In 1967, experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth created a striking short film, The Perfect Human, starring a man and women sitting in a box while a narrator poses questions about their relationship and humanity. Years later, Danish director Lars von Trier made a deal with Leth to remake his film five times, each under a different set of circumstances and with von Trier's strictly prescribed rules. As Leth completes each challenge, von Trier creates increasingly further elaborate stipulations.



Short Stories
6.009

A young writer brings a collection of short stories to a big Moscow publishing house. The manuscript stays at the office and mysteriously influences the lives of anyone who opens it and reads at least one page. There are four stories in the manuscript, and four readers whose lives are changed after reading them. The situations range from realistic to absurd to thrilling to create a rich portrait of life in contemporary Russia and showcase the thoughts, feelings and ambitions of people who live there.



Another Round
7.6

Four stagnant high school teachers decide to test out a theory that maintaining a constant level of intoxication will improve their overall lives.



$9.99
$9.99(2009)
5.9

Have you ever wondered "What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist?" The answer to this vexing question is now within your reach! You'll find it in a small yet amazing booklet, which will explain, in easy to follow, simple terms your reason for being! The booklet, printed on the finest paper, contains illuminating, exquisite colour pictures, and could be yours for a mere $9.99.



The Man Next Door
6.6

When two neighbours clash, their argument becomes less about proposed building alterations and more about the wider battle between class and social status. The hugely impressive building in question is the only example of a Le Corbusier residential home in all of Latin America, adding to the poignancy of their argument.



The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Mel Edison has just lost his job after many years and now has to cope with being unemployed at middle age during an intense NYC heat wave.



Toc Toc
Toc Toc(2017)
7.103

A group of patients meet at a prestigious psychologist's office. Apart from the day and time of the appointment, something else unites them all: all six suffer from OCD. But the plane bringing the doctor is unexpectedly delayed, which forces them to spend an endless wait until the doctor shows up. Will they be able to keep their manias, impulses, convulsions, obsessions and rituals at bay during the wait?



Neighboring Sounds
7.1

An independent private security firm arrives at a middle-class neighborhood in Recife, Brazil.



Tokyo!
Tokyo!(2008)
6.9

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde, a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.



Testosteron
5.39

The wedding of Kornel, a young, well known TV scientist, to the famous singer, Alicja, is to be the social event of the year. In the suburban reception hall, the final preperations are being made. The waiter, Tytus, who is somewhat touchy having just found out he is to become a father, lays out the cutlery on the tables.



The Milky Way
7

Two men, part tramp, part pilgrim, are on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. On their way they meet a whole assortment of people—some truculent, some violent, and some bizarre; they experience many adventures—some mysterious, some erotic, some even supernatural.



Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Two minor characters from the play "Hamlet" stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them.



The Seventh Continent

Chronicles three years of a middle-class family seemingly caught up in their daily routines, troubled only by minor incidents. Behind their apparent calm and repetitive existence, however, they're planning something much more sinister.



Yrrol: An Enormously Well Thought Out Movie

Sketch comedy. Look forward to an evening of satire, smut, and contemporary issues in an unholy mix. What more could you want? In these gloomy times? How many times has it been said about a film: "You've never seen anything like it"? This time, it's actually true. This film features, among other things, a bartender with a naked lower body, a double coffin with a built-in pie, a violent flight attendant, five screaming Salvation Army soldiers, a blind TV salesman, a dirty tennis ball and, of course, Uncle Bosse – dirtier than ever.



Dreams
Dreams(1955)
7

Two different women – a young photo model and her boss – dream about a happy life with beloved men. Their dreams are as different as they are.



The Boss of It All
6.6

The owner of an Information Technology firm wants to sell his business for profit. The trouble is that when he started his firm he invented a nonexistent company president to hide behind when unpopular steps needed to be taken. When potential purchasers insist on negotiating with the "Boss" face to face the owner has to hire a failed actor to play the part.



Nothing Funny
6.8

One day, hospital orderlies, watching corpse in the morgue, recognize film director. Man, even though he died, he begins to remember his life. He made a career making movies, had numerous mistresses, but never realized their dreams. His life was interspersed with many setbacks that enfeebled him from the inside. Although he made a career in film, he was not happy with his life.



Film, Film, Film
7.6

The trials and tribulations of putting a feature film together.



The Simple-Minded Murderer

The feeble-minded Sven's mother dies and he gets work as a farm-hand at the rich, affluent Höglund's farm. He has to work without pay and sleeps together with the cows. He meets the disabled Anna who is the first one to treat him as an adult. One day he has had enough of Höglund's maltreatment and moves in with Anna's family. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.



Strapped
Strapped(2010)
6.02

A routine trick propels a tall, dark, cynical hustler into a series of life-changing encounters in this drama. But this amicable and sexually efficient rent boy begins to look at himself differently when he finds himself lost in a maze-like apartment building. As he wanders through the building, he tricks with a variety of johns; sex is the commonality, but out of that commodity comes raw, unguarded emotions for all.



The Palace
5.319

A comedy set on New Year’s Eve 1999 in a luxurious hotel in the Swiss Alps where the lives of various guests and those who work for them intersect.



Swedes at Sea
5.7

The landlubber Stig-Helmer and his Norwegian friend Ole get on a barge by mistake. They arrive at an archipelago and have to spend Midsummer among the fancy rich boat people, their yachts and summer houses.



Dead Pigs
Dead Pigs(2018)
6.8

A pig farmer, a busboy, a salon owner, an expat architect and a jaded rich girl cross paths as thousands of dead pigs float down the Yangtze River toward Shanghai.



King of the Doormen

Seyit, a resourceful doorman of a middle class apartment in Istanbul, finds himself in a struggle for power when the new superintendent decides to crack down on his slack attitude.



Korkusuz Korkak
7.6

He is a civil servant in the bland state office. His whole life changes when his reports get mixed up in the hospital and he gets news that he's going to die very soon.



Empties
Empties(2007)
6.739

Czech literature teacher Josef Tkaloun, who is past retirement age, realises one day that he no longer understands his pupils, and so he quits… dramatically. What he does not predict is that in doing this he will lose his sense of place in society.

AboutPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact Us