World Of Glory

"The opening scene is a reconstruction of events during the Second World War and of the total brutality which marked "ethnic cleansings". That term did not exist then, it was called the "final solution", but meant the extermination of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and political dissidents. Human beings were put to death by, among other methods, gassing in diesel-driven, closed vans. The gas from the motor was piped into the storage compartment. These vans were the forerunners of the gas chamber." Roy Andersson And there you have it: the opening shot of World of Glory as explained by its director. In three agonizing minutes, the shot—which is static and meticulously detailed–describes human beings being put to death in a diesel-driven van. We see them huddling together naked before the door is closed by a lumpy little man (he kicks the loading ramp into place when it gets stuck) and the hose attached to the exhaust pipe is inserted into the compartment; we hear their screams grow frantic and then faint as the van drives away towards the back of the frame. It circles in the distance as the assembled witnesses — pale people with no discernable reason for being there — take in the atrocity with blank stares. Cut. Adam Nayman, ReverseShot.com Double feature with SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR