In a minor town the morose manager is primarily responsible for the bad atmosphere of a restaurant. But central for the plot are three persons: a male waiter who is never named (here called W), the female waiter Anna, and "the count", a self-invented nickname by a man cleaning plates. The count is skilled in making others do what he wants. Half a dozen of the personnel assist in a poorly planned and failed attempt to liberate a man whom the police move from one arrest to another. The event involves stealing a motorcycle and threatening policemen with a gun. Anna strongly tries to make contact with W. Finally it turns out that she need his help to break her sexual relation to the count, a relation that from her part is not motivated by positive feelings. W rejects her attempts. And then Anna has suddenly gone. She has got a pleasant job in another town. And then W's feelings awaken.
Direction
Andersson's static tableaux—every frame a funeral for hope.
Acting
Berggren's W: a walking shrug that somehow breaks your heart.
Production
The restaurant as purgatory, perfectly designed despair.
Director
Roy Andersson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Andersson's second film, famously bankrupted his production company and took 25 years to make another.
The title 'Giliap' is nonsense—suggesting identity itself is arbitrary in Andersson's universe.
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