Le Bonheur (1965) Le bonheur (original title)

Director:

Agnès Varda

Writer:

Agnès Varda

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Seule, une femme pouvait oser faire ce film

Plot:

Francois is a young carpenter married with Therese. They have two little children. All goes well, life is beautiful...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Children | Carpentry | Death | French Countryside

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yvonne Dany	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Agnès Varda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Agnès Varda

Produced by
Mag Bodard	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean-Michel Defaye

Cinematography by
Claude Beausoleil
Jean Rabier

Film Editing by
Janine Verneau

Production Design by
Hubert Monloup

Costume Design by
Claude François

Makeup Department
Serge Groffe	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Pascal Bazart	....	assistant production manager
Michel Choquet	....	unit production manager
Philippe Dussart	....	production manager
Jeanne Marie Olivier	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean-Paul Savignac	....	assistant director

Art Department
Joseph Gerhard	....	set designer
Charles Merangel	....	set designer

Sound Department
Antoine Bonfanti	....	sound assistant
Robert Cambourakis	....	sound assistant
Louis Hochet	....	sound
Alex Pront	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Yves Agostini	....	assistant camera: to Claude Beausoleil
Paul Bonis	....	assistant camera: to Jean Rabier
Marcel Dindault	....	gaffer
Bernard Largemain	....	key grip
Jean-Louis Malige	....	assistant camera: to Claude Beausoleil
Helga Romanoff	....	still photographer
Claude Zidi	....	assistant camera: to Jean Rabier

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laurence Clairval	....	wardrobe
Agnès Soulet	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Daniele Grimberg	....	assistant editor (as Danielle Grimberg)
Martha Lourdes Osorio	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	....	music (as W.A. Mozart)

Other crew
Francine Corteggiani	....	continuity
Annie Maurel	....	assistant script
Ursule Molinaro	....	english subtitles: US release version
Catherine Savignac	....	assistant script

Production Companies

• Parc Film

Distributors

• Columbia (1965) (France) (theatrical)
• Ciné Tamaris (1996) (France) (theatrical) (restored version)
• Ciné Tamaris (2005) (France) (DVD) (restoration version)
• Columbia Films (1966) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Excelsior (????) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Clover Films (1966) (USA) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Cult Classic (2009) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Cult Classic (????) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Hortensia  music edition (as Éditions Hortensia)
• Carita  hair styling
• Idylle  wedding dress by (as Idyl)
• Éclair  laboratory
• S.I.M.O.  sound re-recording (as SIMO)

Also Known As:

"Le bonheur" - France (original title)
"Happiness" - International (English title) (informal literal English title), USA (informal literal English title)

Runtime:

France:79 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Italy:VM18 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Parc Film

Trivia:

The movie François and Therese are going to see starring Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau is Viva Maria! (1965)

Movie Connections:

Features Picnic on the Grass (1959)

Soundtrack:

Adagio and Fugue in C minor - KV 546

The pursuit of happiness

François leads an idyllic life full of happiness. He loves his wife and their young children; he enjoys his work as a carpenter; and the country town where he lives is awash with sunshine and smiling faces. So when he meets a pretty girl working at the post office, what could be more natural and right than to take a further sip from the bowl of happiness?

Le Bonheur is a delicious sugar-coated bonbon with a bitter centre. What disturbs the viewer most is the cool unjudging gaze of Varda's camera: the characters are naive but not cruel, and when tragedy strikes it comes about from a childlike pursuit of happiness. Then the seasons change, and life continues with no-one wiser than before...

The emphatic pastel colour palette of the film, and the music of Mozart that plays insistently throughout, are beautiful and cloyingly seductive. They entice us into the innocent fantasy world of François, where all it takes to do the right thing is to follow your desires. What could possibly go wrong?

Le Bonheur is an exquisite, delicate, ambiguous masterpiece of the type that Hollywood was, is and always will be incapable of producing.