Analyzing 'Songs from the Second Floor' Through Kierkegaard's Lens

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the film 'Songs from the Second Floor' through the philosophical lens of Soren Kierkegaard. The essay explores the film's portrayal of moral decadence and the degeneration of human beings, linking these themes to Kierkegaard's concepts of the aesthetic, ethical, and religious stages of life. It examines how the characters' pursuit of pleasure and comfort aligns with utilitarian principles, ultimately leading them to a state of existential despair, symbolized by the 'zombie' metaphor. The essay contrasts the actions of the protagonist, Karl, who chooses a path of spirituality and self-reflection, with the moral failings of others. The analysis references Kierkegaard's 'Stages on Life's Way' and provides a critical assessment of the film's message regarding human behavior and the search for meaning in a morally ambiguous world. The essay uses relevant references to support its arguments and provides a nuanced understanding of the film's philosophical underpinnings.

Running head: THOUGHTS OF A ZOMBIE
Thoughts of a Zombie
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1THOUGHTS OF A ZOMBIE
Before going into the depths of the discussion, first of all a short overview of the plot of
the film chosen for analysis, ‘Song from the Second Floor’ must be provided. The film illustrates
the tragedies of human life through certain unfortunate outcomes and incidents. Those
unfortunate incidents include the humiliating experience of a clerk who was fired from his job
and no amount of begging could move the Boss, a magician committing a professional fault by
cutting through a person’s body, a foreigner getting thrashed openly at the street and no one
coming to his rescue, women being made the scapegoat for making the acts of the corporations
successful who at the ends her life, a man throwing crucifixes at a dumpyard signifying the
uselessness of religion. The matter of concern over here is to analyze how the behaviour of the
protagonist, Karl, matches with the theorization of Soren Kierkegaard, whether he joins the lot of
the zombies, or he chooses the path of spirituality!
With regard to making an attempt to analyze the film, “Songs from the Second Floor”, it
can be said that the film portrays the moral decadence and the degeneration of human beings
which were a direct result of either the failure that they have incurred in life, or a result of their
over ambitiousness which had led them to call peril upon the lives of others, and ultimately upon
themselves (Kierkegaard, 2013). To provide a justified appropriation of the message of the film
as intended to by Anderson, the director of the film to convey has been that the sole motivation
of all human activities is to maximise the quotient of pleasure and comfort, and reduce the
quotient of pain, sufferings, hardships and all adversities. An essence of the Utilitarian
philosophy of Jeremy Bentham can be found in the film, with particular reference to this aspect
of securitizing one’s prospects of seeking better life (Mill & Bentham, 1987).
However, as the theorization of Soren Kierkegaard goes, all those activities aimed at
having a good life, fetched the characters momentary pleasures, and in the long run all of them

2THOUGHTS OF A ZOMBIE
had to face in the context of the film it would be more appropriate to define good life as a life
that is lavish and centered around the physical pleasures of life. Even if it meant at the cost of
jeopardizing the lives of others. Ultimately, as Kierkegaard has written in book, “Stages in Life’s
Way”, they had turned into zombies which befits the conventional definition, of being
expressionless creatures with no feelings or sensation, and perhaps also unaware of the fact that
they are existing. As a matter of fact, Anderson had symbolically tried to portray that human
beings with no moral qualms and spiritual decadence are no less than zombies. Hence, both the
symbolic and the literal zombies find expression in the film, which reinstates the fact that we
human beings make ourselves and mar ourselves on the basis of the course of action we
undertake (Andersson et al. 2011).
At the ending scene, the protagonist Karl is featured as coming in a car to a desolate
heath like land, where he confronts a man turning away from religion to choose a more lucrative
path in life that would fetch him the necessary money he desires for. Karl too brings crucifixes
with him, but unlike the man he confronts he does not flung them afar amidst the heap of
garbage. He wants to convince the man that things can be easier if they rectify their mistakes,
and if they get another chance. Karl seemed quite regretful, but he did not express hopelessness
despite being in utter despair. The marching zombies were scared by him who were about to take
them into their fold. This action of his signifies that he chose the path of spirituality, which
Kierkegaard has described as the second and the more profound definition of religiosity, which is
all about imbibing the essence of religious values and strive for making human lives better,
selflessly (Allon, 2016).

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References
Allon, Y. (2016). Songs from the Second Floor. Journal of Religion & Film, 5(1), 9.
Andersson, R., Nordh, L., Larsson, S., & Carlsson, B. C. (2011). Songs from the second floor.
Artificial Eye.
Kierkegaard, S. (2013). Kierkegaard's Writings, XI, Volume 11: Stages on Life's Way (Vol. 11).
Princeton University Press.
Mill, J. S., & Bentham, J. (1987). Utilitarianism and other essays. Penguin UK.