Le Bonheur (1965)
"Le bonheur" (original title)

Francois is a young carpenter married with Therese. They have two little children. All goes well, life is beautiful, the sun shines and the birds sing. One day, Francois meets Emilie, they ... See full summary »

Director:

Agnès Varda

Writer:

Agnès Varda

Stars:

Jean-Claude Drouot, Claire Drouot, Olivier Drouot

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean-Claude Drouot	...	François Chevalier
Claire Drouot	...	Thérèse Chevalier
Olivier Drouot	...	Pierrot Chevalier
Sandrine Drouot	...	Gisou Chevalier
Marie-France Boyer	...	Émilie Savignard
Marcelle Faure-Bertin	...	(as Marcelle Favre-Bertin)
Manon Lanclos
Sylvia Saurel	...	(as Sylvie Saurel)
Marc Eyraud	...	Le frère de François
Christian Riehl
Paul Vecchiali	...	Paul

Storyline

Francois is a young carpenter married with Therese. They have two little children. All goes well, life is beautiful, the sun shines and the birds sing. One day, Francois meets Emilie, they fall in love and become lovers. He still loves his wife and wants to share his new greater happiness with her.

---

Plot Keywords:

love | children | carpentry | death | french countryside | 

---

Taglines:

Seule, une femme pouvait oser faire ce film

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Happiness

Filming Locations:

Fontenay-aux-Roses, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Parc Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie François and Therese are going to see starring Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau is Viva Maria!

---

Connections

Features Picnic on the Grass (1959)

---

Soundtracks

"Clarinet Quintet in A - KV 581"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

Are these real people or images in a magazine, or are they vampires?

This movie is rich! One of the richest out of the thousands I've seen. I had to pause it after every scene just to catch my breath and to digest the images and emotions that came from the screen. It is less like watching a movie and more like going to a painting exhibit of newly discovered Renoirs and Monets. The beauty and the music simply got my heart thumping, and then, all I can say is that the plot seems to emerge out of the art direction. Genius!

It is impossible for me to free my mind now from the images, which are startlingly fresh, in the way that "Letyat zhuravli" (The Cranes are Flying) was in 1957, or the opening shot of "Cleo de 5 a 7" was in 1962. The composition of every shot is immaculately precise in the manner of Jacques Tati's "Monsieur Hulot" movies, or Godard's "Une femme mariee" (1964) or the magazine industry, but Agnes Varda's movie is greater than all of these, because whereas those are static, motionless, almost feeling-less projects, hers has somehow managed to come across fluidly, effortlessly, vividly as anything before or after until the works of Kieslowski. It felt like I was watching a scene out of some family's life in heaven, and then, one of the children looks at the camera and offers some fruit, as if Varda is winking at us and saying, "Enjoy, come in. Be a part of our wonderful time." Can life really be so wonderful as it is in this movie? The movie goes on to probe that very question. And I am better for it.