Filming Guilt about the Past through Anachronistic Aesthetics: Roy Andersson’s A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

According to Andersson himself, the references to Charles XII were an attempt to de-pedestalize the king, to challenge the idea of Charles XII "som machoideal" [as a macho ideal], which "vi svensker er oppvokst med" (quoted in Bhar 2014) [we Swedes have grown up with]. [...]it foreshadows the organ sequence and its depiction of torture, albeit torture of human beings, not animals. The dialogue consists mainly of orders being shouted in British English, and the soldiers wear pith helmets and khaki uniforms that evoke associations to the uniforms worn by the British during the Boer War in South Africa in the nineteenth century.22 The scene thus contains various connotations to the British Empire. [...]there is the overall representation of race in the scene, namely, the image of White soldiers punishing and torturing Black slaves, which brings to mind British colonialism (but perhaps also European colonialism in general). Later in the same scene, we see the king looking longingly at the bartender, while carefully sliding his hand across the bar to touch the young man's hand. Besides hinting at the king's sexual orientation, these moments can also be said to humanize Charles XII by showing his vulnerability and his need for love. 18.