Heads Up: Songs from the Second Floor

It has been too long since I have done a "heads up."  I've been trying to think of an interesting film to talk about, and although I've been seeing some pretty cool ones lately, none of them seemed like they were the type that would warrant a heads up.  In terms of out there films you might not normally run across, "Songs from the Second Floor" is precisely the kind of movie I want to discuss on this blog.
It is a Swedish film that came out in 2000.  The structure of the film moves through a series of slowly moving, loosely connected vignettes.  It has a few running characters, and a vague running plot, but this film is one of the most absurd things I have ever had the pleasure of watching.  Now I know there are probably people who upon reading that sentence become turned off of this film.  If you are one of those people, there is nothing I can do that would make you want to watch this movie.  "Songs from the Second Floor" has a very specific type of humor, and I don't think it's for everyone.  Not everybody would dig this movie.  But if you do like absurdist humor you owe it to yourself to track down this film.
This is, namely, the most absurd film I have ever seen.  I loved it.  It is full of bizarre scene set ups, and the scenes hold just long enough for some even more bizarre turn.  You never know what to expect, and so consistently you almost come to expect to be surprised.  There are, however, running themes that cover a wide variety of very broad issues and social problems, and some of the comments made can be startlingly poignant.  The whole film has a rather post-apocalyptic feel to it, with it's utter lack of color, unexplained traffic jams, and processions of business people flagellating themselves.
Each vignette is just one shot, and each scene plays out without any cuts.  It really plays a bit like a theater production in this way.  We are very distant from the characters physically, and this translates into the emotional disconnect we feel.  One thing I found remarkable was what an undertaking the film was, and how many people are in it.  This movie just has an immense amount of extras.  As scenes play out, there are often 30, 50, or hundreds of people in the background; present, but not participating.  This presence of masses, who don't contribute to the vignettes, makes the things going on seem all the more absurd.
So if you are interested in bizarre beyond bizarre absurdist humor, I'm giving you herewith a homework assignment: find this movie, whatever the cost.  It is hilarious.  It is a well crafted film, that in its abstract format is able to really sink its teeth into some enormous, universe sized themes.  And it's just weird and funny.