Happiness [DVD]

At first I was a bit worried about watching Happiness. To be completely honest I only got it because Dylan Baker is in it. However my fear didn't stop me yanking the DVD from the box and shoving it into the DVD player. You're thrown into the story. There probably wasn't much of a choice because of the amount of characters and all their individual little hidden away problems. There's our main character Joy, whose ex-boyfriend curses her and her family with terrible unhappiness. She's a failing musician yet she quits her job and becomes a teacher for refugees. There's her two sisters, one a writer unfulfilled, the other oblivious to the fact that her Mr Average therapist husband is really a closet paedophile who takes a strange interest in his son's friends. There are other characters too that play important parts but I'll leave it there. Despite the awkwardness throughout the film, it's a very good film that you have to remember is a black comedy. As for the viewing, it's not something to watch with friends, never mind family. And the acting is so sincere and believable. Dylan Baker is extremely impressive as the predatory paedophile father. He is an incredible actor and no other actor could have been as truly creepy yet beg for sympathy from the audience in quite the way he does. (Of course, you never really do get on his side, it's just not possible) You need guts for a role like that, and you need to have exceptional acting skill to still be getting work(!) (Remember Dylan in Along Came A Spider, and now the Spider-Man movies as Dr Curt Connors). Overall, the movie, while a little overpacked with nuts, is essentially a giant poisoned cookie. Watch and let it intoxicate you with uneasiness, horror and most of all, laughter.

Happiness is a work of art. In the truest sense of the word. The best art is there to provide a response to life, to deal with human existence. The arts reach us on a very deep level - they speak to the emotional, feeling part of you, the part which logic and reason cannot affect. The best pieces of art always express something, give a message. This is why I do not particularly care for many highly acclaimed films, such as The Godfather and The Dark Knight. I feel that, no matter how good the acting is, no matter how good the directing is, no matter how good the script is, films like The Godfather and The Dark Knight can ultimately be nothing more than entertainment. They give us complex, interesting narratives, but these do not deal with the problems of life, rather they take us away from the problems of life. They are escapist. While of course there is a need and a role for escapist films, the true cream of the crop are films which immerse us in reality, which examine human existence in all of its emotional intensity, and which perhaps help us deal with human existence. The Seventh Seal, by Ingmar Bergman, is a film such as this. Another film such as this is Happiness, by Todd Solondz. I won't go into the plot in detail, because that would be going over what you already know for those who have seen it, and spoiling it for those who haven't. Let's just say it follows the three Jordan sisters of New Jersey; Trish, whose psychiatrist husband Bill is secretly a paedophile and budding child rapist; Helen, who is being stalked by the lonely, sex-obsessed Allen; and Joy, who gets a job teaching newly arrived immigrants in NYC, and starts an affair with one of them, only for him to emerge as a thief who is only after her money. There's also the sisters' parents, Lenny and Mona, who have retired to Florida and are now splitting up after decades of marriage. Happiness strips reality bare. It shows us how the world really is, shocking us out of any cosy, bigoted notions about life and people which we might have. The theme of Happiness ostensibly appears to be the idea that middle-class, suburban society is not what it seems; there is perversion lurking behind every door, and the perfect family man living next door to you could in fact be a paedophile and a rapist. As Bill says to Joe Grasso at one point in the film, "appearances can be deceptive." This is doubtless a genuine theme which Solondz wanted to express, but I feel that it goes deeper than this. I think what Solondz was really trying to do in Happiness was to tear down our ideas about morality. In Happiness, people are shown as they really are, not divided off into the black and white realms of good and evil, as bigots tend to see people. Happiness twists normal ideas of good and bad beyond recognition. The most obvious example would be the character of Bill - he is a paedophile, but is shown not to be a monster but a caring father who is deeply tormented by his own urges. But the character of Allen is another good example - he may immediately strike us as a pervert, but he turns out to have a caring side, as shown when he gives Kristina a tissue and offers to take her out. Kristina is obsessed with Allen and is stalking him, just as Allen is himself stalking Helen - by showing a stalker WITH a stalker, Solondz shows us the relativity of morality, and one woman's stalker is another woman's stalking victim. The real world is not a black and white one of evil stalkers and good victims - it is much more complex, composed of subtle shades of grey. Kristina goes on to reveal to Allen that she killed Pedro, the doorman who raped her. When she asks Allen if they can still be friends, Allen says "I guess, yeah, I mean everyone has their, you know, their plusses and minuses." This reiterates the same theme of moral relativism - the world is not neatly divided into camps of good and evil, we're all on the same scale, and the most evil person in the world has good in them, just as the most good person in the world has evil in them. A final illustration: at one point Joy is on the phone to a man she thinks is a potential suitor, and she says "God you're just like me." At that moment, the screen splits to reveal that she is in fact talking to Allen, who is masturbating over their conversation. Joy has acknowledged that Allen is just like her. "Perverts" are not evil monsters who have nothing in common with "normal" people; they are, in fact, just the same when you get down to it. Another theme in Happiness is that of determinism - the idea that people do not choose their actions, and they cannot therefore be held morally responsible for them. Confessing his paedophilia to his son Billy, Bill explains his actions by saying "I couldn't help myself", a line that has already be spoken by Kristina. And is it me, or does Billy look like a young Allen? Billy and Allen are also both obsessed with masturbating. Is Solondz saying that Billy has been turned into a pervert like Allen by the trauma of discovering his father's paedophilia? Whether determinism is right or wrong, it is undeniable that people are often forced into unpleasant situations by prior circumstances - so it is hard to impose judgement on them. In Happiness, it in fact becomes IMPOSSIBLE to impose judgement on ANYONE. What Happiness ultimately presents to us is a total moral nihilism - good and bad do not exist, there is only happiness and (more often) suffering. It's not that there is perversion lurking behind every door, it's that there ARE no perverts. "Normality" and "perversion", "good" and "bad", do not refer to anything at all. Whether Solondz is correct about that or not, it is certainly a view of the world to which I can relate. Now, it may be possible to criticise Happiness as being too pessimistic, as offering no solutions to the problems of life which it highlights, but the fact is that there often ARE no solutions. Happiness is a film which, above all, remains true to reality, and in reality, there are often no solutions to the great deal of suffering in life. So why watch it? I have already said that films about the problems of human existence are superior to escapist ones, and while that may be true of, say, The Seventh Seal, which ultimately gives a very optimistic message, why is it true of such a downbeat and depressing film as Happiness? The answer is that Happiness is, against all the odds, NOT depressing. Despite the unpleasant events with which it deals, Solondz makes it a very funny and humane film. I actually find it quite a therapeutic film to watch when I am down, in that it lays bare the problems of life and changes my perspective on them, helps me take a more philosophical attitude to things and a less judgemental attitude to other people. By dealing with the problems of life so candidly, the film Happiness is actually one of the few things that has come out of a human mind which actually transcends those problems. It is like an island of humour and wisdom in a world full of suffering and madness. Solondz said the following about his film Welcome to the Dollhouse, but it could apply equally well to Happiness: "The film is a comedy because that is the only way I know how to deal with excruciating torment, and I find something both funny and poignant in the struggle to endure humiliation."

I honestly never write reviews, although I feel like sharing my opinion about this movie. First of all, the dvd arrived within 2 days and everything was great. As this movie was a suggestion and as I am a great fan of Philipp Seymour Hoffman, I ordered it without having a further look at the synopsis. It starts off in a quite deliberating and comical mood, although right from the start one can figure that it is not just another independent movie... I won't spoil the ending, although it was really really hard to watch for me... Do you know that feeling when you see something disgusting or horrible although you actually can't stop staring? Well that's how I felt during the whole 2 1/2 hours... I was torn between yelling at the screen, feeling pity and the most deepest disgust I have ever felt for any movie figure. (I'm talking about the dear father) I believe the striking part about this film is simply that it harshly directs the bitter truth we are all aware off, although we try to ignore and ban it from our society. ( pedophilia) I think it is a very great movie, although I would never watch it again. I must admit that I react very sensitive to harsh movies, however I am also a film student, so I kind of have seen any kinds of "cruel" movies. Well I thought I did... This movie definitely set new limits to direct, tactile and provocative movies, portraying the brutal reality of different characters, failing the American dream. I was depressed for 2 days after watching this, so please have a drink right beside you when you watch it, you'll need it! Apart from that, one should definitely see the movie, as the actors are breathtakingly convincing and extravagant. A must-see, but for me personally only once, I never want to feel again, like I did after this movie! But it definitely opens up your eyes. I can totally understand the very different approaches and meaning to the film, as it is not an easy one to digest... Just watch it and decide for yourself!

Il suo è un cinema difficile, complesso, articolato. Spesso "fa male", perché osa, perché racconta l'oscurità che l'umano ha dentro di sé. Mai banale.

At first you don't know what to expect. You know the cast is good. Philip Seymour Hoffman. Jon Lovitz. Lara Flynn-Boyle. Ben Gazzara. Anybody who has seen 'Welcome to the Dollhouse' knows filmmaker Todd Solondz likes to explore the social boredom of alienated suburbanites and expose their darkest perversions hidden under a false outer shell. In this regard, 'Happiness' is no exception and definitely the pinnacle of Solondz' "suburban pervert" vision. The movie starts off with an argument in a restaurant between a man and a woman (Lovitz and Jane Adams) and takes a left down a fork in the road to the weird. It's like a train-wreck playing on repeat that you cannot stop watching. Controversial themes such as pedophilia, child-rape, voyeurism, loneliness, sexual harassment-via-phone, yadda ya...it's all here for you to feast your eyes on. Most of it is ugly. But let's be real here --- this film is brilliant! From the writing, acting, screenplay, musical score, its utterly magnificent. Yup, Solondz struck a lot of nerves with people on this one. What do we make of it? I'm not too sure. Maybe it's not a social commentary after all. Maybe it's just Solondz making one sick little flick that turned out to be superb. Who knows anymore. Whatever it is, he should just keep doing it.

J'ai vu ce film de TODD SOLONDZ au cinéma lors de sa sortie en 1998. Vingt ans plus tard, j'ai revu ce film en dvd. Le film n'a pas pris une ride et pourrait encore parfaitement s'appliquer à la société américaine actuelle. Cette société américaine qui est considérée à travers le prisme d'une famille américaine cristallisée autour des trois filles (le père est joué par le génial BEN GAZZARA, maintes fois vu dans les films de CASSAVETTES) et dont l'une est mariée à un homme amateur de petits garçons ( ce qui donne lieu à des scènes que l'on ne pourrait même plus envisager au cinéma de nos jours). On retrouve aussi le grand PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN à l'aube de sa carrière et qui nous a quitté tragiquement il y a quelques mois. Le film est uniquement proposé en audio anglais sans le moindre sous titre et donc, il faut avoir quelques connaissances en anglais pour apprécier toutes les subtilités du travail de SOLONDZ. Un film toujours surprenant, un véritable OVNI dans le cinéma américain.

Eine weitere Milieustudie die hinter die Fassade der amerikanischen Gesellschaft schaut. Der Regisseur hat sich mal wieder selbst übertroffen. Dennoch muss man sagen, dass dies kein Film für jedermann/jederfrau ist.

Another movie only on dvs so far- Todd Solendez- a jaded and somewhat accurate of broken home life. Messed up world, but will strike chords