The Complexity of Happiness

The story may be not deep as it could be but script seems centered on the chracters and the dynamics of their relationships. These fairly interesting characters, especially the protagonist, their feelings, actions and quirkiness ultimately make this movie a pleasant experience.

Whilst the business aspects of the film are dealt with lightly, that seems to be the nature of the film, in that it places visual moments in front of the viewer and leaves the detail and interpretation to them. This is what is so refreshing about this film for me, the lack of expositional dialogue; in fact much of the dialogue is peripheral to the story, but still contributes to the journey of the protagonist. There are long periods of imagery without any dialogue at all, which leave the viewer to think about what is happening and how this fits in. Essentially I think this is about exactly what the English title says; The Complexity of Happiness. What makes one person happy does not make another happy; what a person thinks makes them happy can be exposed in the negative with a different perspective and finally; there is an inherent moral and ethical core to most people, which, if ignored, will always prevent the acquisition of true happiness and freedom.

Enrico works for a consulting firm and his expertise is convincing low performing executives to leave their companies/shares. Or at least this is how he would describe his job to bear the most morally questionable consequences of his actions. In fact his company is hired in order to have someone in charge (owners, heirs) removed from their position.

The topic is original, interesting and very actual, especially in some countries where a lot of family businesses face a generational change and get sold or see a management replacement. However the execution is honestly superficial when dealing with these core topics.

The world of business gets oversimplified in the black of greed, incompetence, will to fire family guys, and the white of people who studied and care for their employees. If only studying and goodwill were enough to grant success to a company... or is it just the easy way to look at things that Enrico uses to "sleep at night"? Anyway the writers' previous efforts should explain well their naive perspective on business and their focus on the more intimate struggles of the protagonist. Here, it's where they deliver. The nearly 2 hours are pleasing and a lot of interesting characters animate Enrico's days during his discovery of something more authentic in life.

Actors' performances are not remarkable but work - except for the young heir/male actor which is not convincing. 6.5

The direction of this movie is really poor and pretentious. The story could potentially be interesting however is so badly and boringly dragged for what it feels forever. The acting is good and so is the location.

The film is a total waste of time. A feeble script that does not go entender.