Happy Times (2000) User Reviews

The Masseuse

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 5 September 2005]

Yimau Zhang takes us along for a ride to explore how things seem to have changed in China. The country has given a step forward into the modern age as it shakes off its rigid past, adopting new ways in doing things. In fact, the country appears to have developed its own take on capitalism, as we watch a new prosperous, and aggressive China, transformed in ways we had not envisioned before. Mr. Zhang's film is an allegory about his country.

The main idea in the film is how Zhao, a factory worker, sets his eyes on a plump and attractive woman to get married. The woman, in turn, has her own ideas of what to expect from this man who lies to her and makes himself pass for a hotel manager. Thinking this is the case, the lady friend proposes he employs her stepdaughter, a blind girl that has been abandoned by her father, who has decamped to another city.

Zhao, who wants to keep the girlfriend happy, decides to take Wu Ying to work at his hotel, which in reality is a bus, that he and his buddy have converted in a lovers' motel, in a park. But before he can do anything, Zhao watches in horror as how some cleaning crews are taking his livelihood away because they are beautifying the area. Zhao is stuck with Wu Ying, so he takes her to his own humble apartment.

Zhao and his friends from the factory devise a plan to convert space in the dilapidated building a massage parlor so that the blind girl can work. The only thing, there are no clients, and only Zhao's friends are enrolled to tip the young woman using Zhao's own money.

The film is a delightful comedy about how being entrepreneurial backfires on the well intentioned man. The blind girl, Wu Ying, knows much more than what Zhao and the rest give her credit for, and unfortunately, everything ends badly, except for the blind girl, who recognizes the kindness of his mentor, who doesn't get to know first hand of her gratitude because fate intervenes.

"Happy Times" is a charming film that works thanks to the light touch by the director. Benshan Zhao, who has been seen in other Chinese films is excellent in the role of Zhao. Jie Dong plays Wu Ying with conviction and Lifan Dong, is the stepmother, who discovers the duplicity of her would be husband.

Recommended to all Yimou Zhang's fans who might have missed its commercial run.

One of Zhang Yimou's best!

[jokercard88 · 7/10 · 20 December 2002]

This film will either get to you like a death in the family, or leave no lasting impression on you whatsoever. I'm among those who fit in with the first part. Maybe family death is exaggerating but that doesn't matter, this is still A VERY POWERFUL FILM. This film proves that ZHANG YIMOU IS THE BEST DIRECTOR ALIVE (as Alferd Hitchcock and Akira Kurosawa are dead). The best actor in this film is actually the blind girl (sure, she's no River Pheonix, but who is?) who always gives you the impression that she's blind (unlike some American actors in American films). Yet she happens to know more than you think in the end (no spoilers on that). To see this film on the big screen was too much, 10 out of 10. Oh, and watch out for Hero, from the same director of this.

Contemporary Zhang

[EdgarST · 8/10 · 30 January 2004]

I am not too impressed with Zhang Yimou's sentimentality in his films with a contemporary milieu –which I've been watching lately- but I prefer these to a couple of ornate reworkings he made (two or three in a row, if I am not mistaken) about Chinese woman's social conditions in the past, as a reflection on today's improvement or lack of it. "Red Sorghum" is still a favorite of mine, but I had to wait for "To Live" to see a different angle of his moviemaking. Though livelier in spirit than those period dramas, this one is based on a literary source and it shows, the more so if compared to the similar but free story of the young teacher in "Not One Less". Zhang concentrates on an old man wanting a wife, but his better characters are still the women: the blind girl –with the open resolution of her character- is more complex than the old man and one wonders what she will do next; while her stereotypical stepmother and the only female retired friend of the old man are quite attractive and would also make good stories. A fine movie just the same.

Excellent dramatic fable!

[yossarian100 · 25 February 2003]

6 Stars! This is a must see movie but be warned....the description of this film is not what this film's about. It is not a comedy, even though parts of the story are actually funny. It is a fable about compassion and the amount of deception sometimes needed to achieve it, especially by the inept. Happy Times is directed by Yimou Zhang, who gave us the masterpiece The Road Home, and it is very moving and terribly sad and oddly funny. If you like being delighted and surprised, watch this one.

The true meaning of life

[luisguillermoc3 · 7/10 · 27 April 2010]

There is, in this world, many parents, siblings or grandparents are, but they always angry, especially when it comes to their loved ones. His "generosity" is full of contempt, anger and I think that self-frustration for failing to more fortunate children or grandchildren or more committed to themselves. This giving is worth very little, because the recipient feel humiliated, and love is hate and what does not grow in his heart, first by himself, by being forced to receive from whoever stain, and second, that which gives because he knows that, at bottom, despises him.

There is in this world, and fortunately, people who are eager to give and to serve because he feels playing the role for which he was born, then, when given the heart, there is nothing more rewarding for humans to feel that someone has released a fix or which has helped improve their quality of life. Being that really works, do not expect rewards, for the simple flow makes you feel full, and instead wanted to thank you, it is he who gives them for being in a state of abundance.The sincere and loving act of giving is an act of creation because it is spreading, confidence and hope.

It is this that comes Zhao, a man old enough and who, wishing to mate with a plump woman conflictive existence, just knowing Wu Ying, a sweet blind teenager who, motherless and abandoned by her father with his stepmother, he began to feel that, this woman is charging the resentment what she feels for his volatile father. Zhao, take time to under the beautiful Wu and begin a long quest to get her access to the happy times, while getting to make sense of their existence.

Yimou's film, soon to look at the classic Charles Chaplin "City Lights" but his personal touch and very oriental, manages the film with feel and certain charm, though - it must be said - without the immense magic and poetic warmth that has the now classic work of Charlot. However, at the end one feels that, with grace and wisdom, "Happy Times", has shown a path that gives meaning to existence, and so, well deserve our warmest applause.

The wrong things; the right reasons

[Junker-2 · 9/10 · 7 February 2004]

Zhao is a 50 year old unemployed loser making one last attempt at finding love. He courts a portly divorcee, but keeps having to lie to pass himself off as a better catch than he really is. Eventually, of course, the lies backfire. Zhao tells his sweetheart that he is the manager of a fancy hotel. She responds by foisting her blind stepdaughter off on him, confident that he can easily find her employment at his fancy hotel.

What follows is a funny, unlikely and touching relationship between Zhao and the blind girl Wu. While Zhao is terribly misguided, constructing elaborate deceptions to keep Wu "employed" at the non-existent hotel, he does these wrong things for the right reasons. Zhao does find love, but it isn't the woman or the love he expected.

This is an excellent film and there are three big reasons why: First of all, it's directed by Zhang Yimou who may well be the best director alive. This isn't a masterpiece like "Raise the Red Lantern," but seeing the phrase "Directed by Zhang Yimou" should be enough to tell you the next two hours will be well spent.

The second and third reasons are Benshan Zhao as Zhao and Jei Dong as Wu. Zhao is a respected Chinese comedian, but the role here is really a mixture of comedy and drama. Zhao gives the mixture exactly the right touch. But the real revelation is Jei Dong. I found myself wondering through the entire movie if she were really blind. She is that good. (And I still don't know the answer.)

Don't expect a laugh out loud comedy if you see this movie. It is very funny in places, but frequently that humor is very uncomfortable. And frequently happy times aren't really what they seem.

Sometimes you just gotta go with it.

[=G= · 6/10 · 8 December 2002]

"Happy Times", a small time comedy out of China, tells of a less than successful middle-aged man who is desperately seeking a wife and finds a "daughter" instead. A lilting and sweetly sentimental comedy, this flick has a quirky kind of charm which defies description. I personally became completely bewitched by the film's simple, fresh, and unique style. But I suspect I'm the exception. "Happy Times" will most likely offer some happy time for sentimental viewers into neo-Chinese cinema exports. (B-)

A beautiful little film

[dsulpy · 10/10 · 8 December 2002]

It seems that most of the negative reviews that this film has gotten are based upon people's misconception that the film should be what THEY want it to be, not what it really is. The truth is, although there's certainly humor in the film, it's not a comedy - nor does it pretend to be a fairy tale, or a social expose, or a political statement. To me, it's a film about cruelty and compassion - both by human beings and by fate. I found it both life-affirming, and heartbreaking - often at the same time, and I thought the acting was excellent on everyone's part. To me, well worth seeing, and quite unique.

A Sad And Heavy Movie That Leaves You With Nothing But Sympathy For The Main Characters

[sddavis63 · 7/10 · 28 August 2008]

In order to really appreciate this film, you first have to get over what will probably be some shattered expectations. The movie is described as a "comedy-drama" and I've come across at least one commentator who described it as a "lighthearted" comedy. I'm not sure what movie that commentator was talking about, but "Happy Times" certainly isn't "lighthearted" nor did it come across to me as a comedy. There are some humorous moments in it (such as Li lying down on the massage table and having his head crash through the hole because it was too big) but for a good part of the movie I was feeling somewhat angry at what I was seeing, and, in the end, the overwhelming feeling I was left with was one of sadness. None of that is meant to say that this wasn't a good movie. It was. I was actually quite taken with it. It just wasn't what I was expecting at first and it took a while for me to reconcile my expectations with what I was actually seeing.

I said the movie left me with a feeling of sadness. That's largely because it was filled with sad characters. The movie revolves around Zhao, a lonely man who desperately wants to get married and who makes up a story about himself being a hotel owner to get a woman interested in him. The woman is a heavy-set twice divorced mom to a rather obnoxious son and the epitome of the wicked stepmother to 18 year old Wu - the blind daughter of one of the men who left her. She treats Wu like a servant and desperately wants to get rid of her, finally pawning her off on to Zhao, telling him to give her a job at his hotel. Zhao - carrying on the deceit - puts together a fake massage business (a legitimate one) and "hires" Wu to massage his friends, who finally end up having to pay her with fake money because they're all broke. Jie Dong was great as Wu, and Benshan Zhao equally good as Zhao.

My initial anger stemmed from the deceit that Wu was being surrounded by. That feeling changed to sadness when I realized that - aside from the stepmother - no one was being deliberately cruel to her. Zhao and friends really did seem to care for her, and Zhao develops an obviously affectionate, almost father-like relationship with her. Watching that relationship evolve was very interesting, but it all led up to - again - what I found a very sad ending, as Wu leaves to an unknown fate, and Zhao is abandoned by his girlfriend and then seriously hurt when he's hit by a truck and we're left not even knowing whether he'll survive. So, yes, it's sad and a bit heavy rather than lighthearted, but still quite well done with very good performances from the two leads that leave you with feelings of sympathy for both because in the end you really do like both Wu and Zhao. 7/10

Small scale for Zhang Yimou, but still well made

[devil.plaything · 9/10 · 27 April 2002]

There is no doubt in my mind that Zhang Yimou is one of the world's finest film makers. He manages to straddle the bounds of both art house and commercialism with his catalogue of works that show a beauty and grandeur that often earns the description "painterly", whilst also telling a really good story. Happy Times is something of a departure from works like Raise The Lantern and Shanghai Triad, being a fairly realist comedy.

Happy Times ("Happy Times Hotel" on the print) is about a group of 'retired' (laid off) factory workers who conspire to hoax a young blind girl. Not as callous as it sounds though, as their intentions are relatively good. The main characters are a 50 year old bachelor (Zhao Benshan) and the blind girl herself, played by newcomer Dong Jie. A small crowd of interesting friends and the gargantuan love interest/stepmother of the leads pad out the cast, which mostly plays out in a couple of small locations - two cramped flats, a sprawling abandoned warehouse, and a delapidated bus.

It's very much a character piece, focussing mainly on the relationship that develops between Zhao Benshan and Dong Jie, thrust together under circumstances that neither planned. It's a tender story... a little bit happy, a little bit sad. Bittersweet I guess, but only slightly bitter.

Zhang Yimou forgoes his usual luscious cinematography for quite a naturalistic feel. Apparently he used "hidden cameras" to shoot some of it, but I've no idea what that means (maybe the street scenes?). It's quite a simple piece, a light 95 minutes long, yet still crafted with the dexterity and care that Zhang Yimou always brings to a film. Being a character piece, it is very much dependent on the performances for success - Zhang could coax an oscar winner out of a mannequin, but Dong Jie here is especially good. If I hadn't seen her walking around the theatre unattended, I would certainly have believed she was genuinely blind (this is not an easy thing to act), and her emotional expression is spot on too. You couldn't possibly not care for her character, or that of Zhao Benshan.

The movie might be quite 'slight' in Zhang Yimou's filmography - it's unlikely to win any oscars for him, but it is a nicely made movie that I think everybody can enjoy.

Simple story with social/political allegory

[chmilar · 9/10 · 15 June 2004]

The simple story of Happy Times overlays an interesting commentary on China's government, society, and future.

The first act of film creates the characters, their relationships, and the overall situation, to set up the political allegory that plays out in the final two acts. The story unfolds that retired/laid-off Old Zhao must take care of the young blind girl, Wu Ying. Through a series of lies, Zhao has put himself in a situation where, although he is retired and poor, Wu Ying believes he owns a successful hotel. He offers to give her a job in the hotel's massage room. (This is not a front for prostitution. In China, "blind man massage" is available in most cities.)

He uses the factory where he worked - which is shut down but not yet abandoned - and the help of his former workmates, to create a fake massage room and fake customers. Zhao also provides the money to pay Ying for massages, until the crew hits upon the idea of using fake money.

In the old China, the state guaranteed jobs for everyone. The patriarchal and authoritarian government wanted to show off their glorious communist system, and how well it worked (compared to the decadent capitalists, with their unemployment problems). The government could always print more money, to pay these workers.

The allegory is clear: Zhao represents the "state" - and its well-intentioned "make work" projects. The pride of Zhao (and his chances with his fiancee) is at stake, and he struggles to maintain the charade. As well, he finds that he cares for and is concerned about his charge, Ying.

In the end, two things happen independently: Zhao finds that he cannot sustain the masquerade - he is running out of money and resources (and gets into a situation where it is impossible for him to continue, and, indeed, might put Ying in desperate jeopardy); and Ying, who cottoned on to the charade long ago, decides to take responsibility for herself, and seek her own fortune.

In the same way, China's government realized it could not continue along its Maoist path, and its citizens (or at least some of them) were eager to be responsible for themselves, rather than relying on their government. A new path for China's people has opened, with greater responsibility and greater opportunity.

The film's ending brings mixed emotions: we are concerned for Ying, who must begin coping with the world with no help (at her own choice, although circumstances would force this choice, anyhow); at the same time, we are optimistic for her future possibilities; and we are sad that the relationship of Zhao and Ying has ended.

It is a tribute to director Zhang Yimou, Zhao Benshao (Zhao), and Dong Jie (Wu Ying) that the story and characters are touching, regardless of the underlying allegory. The movie plays well as the delicate and simple story of two people brought together by funny circumstances and human nature.

It was indeed happy times...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 2 April 2012]

Being a fan of Asian cinema, I decided to give this movie a go, so I purchased it from Amazon, and having just seen it, I can honestly say that I think something is missing from this movie. It is a great movie, but there is just something missing to make it that one notch more memorable. And I must admit that I had expected the movie to be more of a comedy than a drama about life.

**Warning! The following part here contains spoiler to the ending of the movie.**

Perhaps it was the semi-lousy ending to the movie. After all of Zhao's (played by Benshan Zhao) effort to give Wu Ying (played by Jie Dong) a purpose in life and make her life meaningful, he ends up in a hospital, and we don't get to know his fate? That was not very satisfactory to me. However, I will say that seeing Wu Ying on the street alone walking off at the end was just beautiful. It was nice to see that she was determined to make an effort and try on her own.

The story itself was nice, Zhao is courting a woman (played by Qibin Leng) and ends up having to take care of her blind girl. But with little means and nothing real to offer, Zhao is put to the test. A test of the heart, so to speak.

I found the acting in "Happy Times Hotel" to be quite good, and most memorable was Jie Dong. She portrayed the blind girl, Wu Ying, so nicely and so believable.

"Happy Times Hotel" is a great movie, a beautiful movie, just a shame that it started to fall apart towards the end. The movie could have been so much more if the director (Yimou Zhang) had opted to go a different direction. I felt that us viewers were left with so many unanswered questions to the story, and that was a shame, because it made the movie feel incomplete. But still, given the great story, then this movie is well worth checking out.

Can't Zhang Yimou Make a Happy Film?????

[zumajay · 4/10 · 12 April 2003]

OK... this was supposed to be a comedy. NOPE!!! NADA!!! STAY AWAY IF YOU NEED A LAUGH. This movie was really rather sad and depressing... if there was any humor in it, it was beyond me. This movie angered me and depressed me at the same time...

Excellent, must see, unique.

[afarr000 · 9/10 · 19 June 2005]

This is one of the most touching films I've ever seen. I actually don't think I can find the words in English to describe how wonderfully director Zhang Yimou seems to understand the finer points of human emotions. I was absolutely touched with Happy Times, and consequently sought out his work, "The Road Home", which I found was equally excellent.

I wanted to wait to write a review of this film until I felt I could compose something fitting, but realized for me, the comments must come from the heart. In short, I'd rather skip any attempt to summarize the film or intellectually categorize it into some literal form that doesn't really fit. It is slowly immersing into unselfish love for another, while relating a sense of light comedy. My recommendation is that you try to see it on IFC or one of the other Independent film channels when it's available.

On Golden Pond is the only American film I can think of that evokes the same level of emotion provoked by Zhang Yimou.

short and simple

[SunnyBoi · 9/10 · 30 October 2003]

About a retired factory worker who plans to marry an overweight, unattractive lady, only to wind up taking care of her unwanted, blind but beautiful daughter. Zhao Benshao's performance as the cheapskate, retired bachelor is outstanding, while newcomer Jie Dong (WuYing) plays the blind girl to perfection.

Another unhappy ending by Zhang Yimou, but don't let that faze you by this funny, touching and inspiring movie. Hard to find another movie like this one. 8 out of 10.

Touching, Well-Acted, Working Class Urban China with Haagen Daz

[lawprof · 7 August 2002]

No longer partnered, artistically or domestically, with the stunning Gong Li, director Zhang Yimou has probably redeemed himself with Party satraps through his engaging serio-comic "Happy Days." (He's been in and out of hot water with past films.) Destined to reach a miniscule audience in theaters, this touching film ought to be widely viewed when released for sale or rental.

Set in an unnamed Chinese city (definitely not Beijing), the story revolves around retired factory worker Zhau, just over fifty, and a blind teenager, Wu Ying, stepdaughter of the corpulent and avaricious woman the impecunious Zhau seeks as a wife. Wu Ying, blind since early childhood from a tumor, has to deal not only with her witch of a stepmom (dad fled from her and is supposedly in a far off city working to send money to bring his daughter to him) but with her stepbrother, a bulbous slobus amoebus training to match his mother's nastiness.

Zhau has a covey of good friends. His first get rich scheme, hatched up with his closest friend, is to "restore" a derelict bus in a park to its pristine state so it can be rented for quick, hot sheet assignations ("Happy Times Hotel"). Americans will find the Chinese take on non-marital, catch-as-catch-can sex naive but it reflects tension balanced by humor in a country where the citified young seek freedoms their elders never enjoyed.

The core of the story is Zhau's attempts to take care of Yu Wing after the evil stepmom throws her at Zhau and tells him to get her out of the house and keep her out. With his friends, all equally hovering near or under the poverty line, Zhau sets Yu Wing up as a masseuse in a fake massage parlor in a decrepit abandoned factory, the legitimate kind of parlor, not the type I heard about when an Army officer in severalAsian countries (Yu Wing was trained to give massages).

I won't reveal the lengths Zhau and his gang go to in their effort to sustain Yu Wing and make her happy. Some of their scheming is very funny. The ending reflects, hardly for the first time, Zhang Yimou's skill not only as a top director but also as a talented storyteller.

I've never seen the actor and actress who play the leads before. They simply blend their performances convincingly into a seamless story that says more about the possibilities and rewards of empathy and the joys of caring than it does about modern China. The locales here range from an affluent downtown to a condemned, empty factory. There's hardly any politics. It's sad, though, that a decent, retired factory worker can't spring for a 25 yuan Haagen Daz small cone offered in a shop that could have been imported from Main Street.

Put this one on your to-rent list!!

Perfect.

[flyingchimpanzee · 10/10 · 3 April 2002]

Another winner from director Zhang Yimou. This scaled down production follows a blind, headstrong young woman and the one kind person in her life, (a penniless stranger with grand, idealistic schemes to improve her life). Charming and very funny with the usual outstanding performances. Highly recommended.

A Masterpiece of Chinese Cinema

[devilsmercy03 · 9/10 · 24 July 2005]

I wish my films could capture the mellowness of Zhang's "Happy Times." The film follows a 50 year-old single man looking for love in all the wrong places. As old as that sound, "Happy Tims" makes it new again. Finally, he finds, what he thinks will be, his future wife. This very large woman as a son and a blind girl left with her, from her former boyfriend's former relationship. The girls father fled away looking for money. The woman wants the girl out of her home, so the bachelor takes her in as a worker in his fake massage parlor. This sounds horrible, taking advantage of a blind girl, but you realize it's mostly for good reason.

The cinematography is excellent. From the beautiful country-side to the big city, Zhang knows a thing or two about cinematography. If feels like a classic Asian film. I think most people will enjoy this more than "Hero" or "House of Flying Daggers." It has this mellowness and freedom that other films don't capture. You feel the connections between the characters, and the Ending will rock your world.

I only docked it because it's not for everyone. It's an artsy film. It's not Hero. It's not House of Flying Daggers. No fights. No swordplay. Just a raw bittersweet heart-warmer (NO! not a chick Flick!)

Creepy and Bizarre

[rkarpel · 1/10 · 17 August 2002]

This is a comedy that tries to draws laughs from a scenario in which a group of nitwit retirees construct an elaborate fiction in order to deceive a blind woman. (The retirees, who are dropped into the plot without introduction about halfway through the film, are played by severely limited actors. ) Maybe the only movie I've ever seen that can be described as both cloyingly sentimental and unconscionably cruel.

Bittersweet

[twob_ornot · 31 March 2002]

This one's up to Zhang Yimou's usual standard, and like his other movies, revolves around an unfortunate female, in this case a young blind woman. Set in modern urban China, this movie often has a lighter touch than most of his others. Although the movie credits cite a story by Mo Yan, "Shifu, You'll do Anything for a Laugh" as the basis of the movie, the connection is highly tenuous, borrowing little more than the main character from that short story; namely, a middle-aged, laid-off factory worker, played by Zhao Benshan (best known to Chinese audiences as a comedic actor). The economic changes in modern China form the background to his relationship with the blind girl he finds himself thrown together with as he tries to court her step-mother.

I'd like to see someone pick this one up for distribution and given a better English title.

Great Movie

[herb2000 · 9/10 · 22 November 2003]

Being brief, I found this to be a wonderful movie and story line. It is subtle throughout and has a simple but uplifting story. Some parts are funny, some just walk through the story and some are touching. It does have an unexpected ending that at first blush may appear to not be very positive but it is truly enriching.

Moving and uplifting

[david_k · 10/10 · 19 April 2006]

The story starts with a 50-year-old laid-off Chinese factory worker dating an enormous, twice divorced tubby. Between the fact that there just aren't enough women to go around in China, and the dearth of women that are attracted to shiftless factory workers anywhere, this nasty looking, nasty tempered women seems a good matrimonial prospect to him. To win her affections he claims to be the owner/manager of the Happy Times Hotel, which is in fact, an abandoned bus he rents to adolescents seeking privacy for trysts. The girlfriend's latest husband saddled her with a blind stepdaughter, whom she palms off on our protagonist as masseuse who can work in his hotel.

The story becomes endearing when our man takes the 18-year old, it really brings out the best in him. He tells her that she is in a hotel and gets his friends to pretend to be massage customers, giving them his own money to tip her. At first he is clearly being kind so the girl will put in a good word with her stepmother, but very soon we can see his actions are selfless. He gives her his room and tells her it is hotel employees' quarters. He sells his television to get money for tips. When he runs out of money he and his friends give her blank paper, thinking she won't know the difference. All the while, the girl knows what the old man is doing, and plays along so he won't be disappointed. Through the picture, the girl expects her father to return with money to pay for surgery to cure her blindness, but in fact her father has bilked his ex out of money and left them. The old man hopes to raise the girl's spirits by fabricating a letter from her estranged father, but is hospitalized and never has a chance to read it to her. Before knowing that he is hurt, the girl ventures out on her own, leaving a tape recording thanking the man for his kindness. The transformation that the girl goes through is uplifting. When she first left her stepmother's house, she runs into the street, half hoping a car would hit her. At the end, she seeks her fortune on her own, determined to make it. I was pretty afraid for her at the end, venturing out, but freedom is scary sometimes. I really admire her for going.

Some people's comments said that they had hoped for a different ending, perhaps with the two ending up in love. That would have been horrible, to think that this girl could aspire to something better than him. He's nice enough, but he really doesn't have much to offer. Another commenter said the movie is a symbol of the Chinese people living under the communist regime. The blind girl symbolizes the supposed blindness of the Chinese people, who know full well what the old man, who symbolized the regime, are doing. The play money supposedly symbolized the false promise of riches by the regime. The girl's going off by herself in the end symbolizes the Chinese people's eventual cut of the regime's cord. I don't buy this interpretation, mainly because the final scene is a real key to this interpretation, and this ending was one that was reshot when early audiences disliked the original ending. Anyway, I'm not sure "Happy Times" is the way I would characterize the relationship of the Chinese people under Communist rule. I usually take movies at face value and don't hunt for symbols, but I thought the girl's blindness symbolized the blind spots that we all grow up with. She refuses to see her father's faults, but in the end she realizes that malefactor that he really is. Finally seeing this is why she can go out on her own, the kind old man played a big part in making her see it. Very uplifting.

Blindness,deception, and a wonderful friendship.

[ayu1990 · 8/10 · 23 January 2006]

I have seen four films by Zhang Yimou and this one was quite impressing to me. What impressed me was that the old man kept on lying to the blind girl called Wu Ying (Jie Dong) and they still kept a great friendship even when she had finally found out that he had been lying from the very beginning.

The old man was intent on marrying the blind girl's evil stepmother and didn't get a chance to in the end because she had found out about his deception. I felt sorry for the old man that time because of the way he took it and ended up getting injured by being hit by a large truck.

Despite the sad ending, what I enjoyed mostly was the friendship and the fact that the old man and his friends were working hard to please her in the difficult times she had and that she was even pleased to find that fact out as she hadn't gotten much attention before.

the BS Master

[Meganeguard · 9/10 · 25 December 2006]

After China opened itself to the world in 1980, and especially after Tiananmen, it began a huge process of modernization to fuel the potential for its economic growth; however, everyone was not involved in this whirlwind of development. While many younger entrepreneurs were able to take advantage of the massive changes, many older individuals who were steeped within the system of government subsidized businesses and depended on the "iron rice bowl" for housing and food were left out in the cold. A group of these individuals make up the core characters of Zhang Yimou's 2000 film Happy Times.

Noted for films such as The Road Home and Red Sorghum which show off the beauties of the Chinese countryside, Zhang Yimou also created films such as Not One Less and The Story of Qiu Ju which display the clash between the urban and the rural. However, Happy Times is different because it focuses entirely on the urban and the displacement some individuals can feel when their homes go through rapid changes.

Old Zhao seems like a decent enough fellow. He is friendly and humorous, but has yet to get married. However, with the appearance of Chunky Mama in his life it seems that maybe he will finally get married, it is the 18th time that he has attempted to do so. The problem is that Chunky Mama desires an expensive wedding that would cost Zhao 50,000 Yuan or so: an amount of money that is quite out of his reach. However, determined to marry Chunky Mama he goes to his friend Fu for help and they establish the Happy Times Hut which is nothing more than a broken down bus where young couples can make out. Being a chronic liar, Zhao tells Chunky Mama that he is in the hotel business and that he is making lots of money. Believing him, Chunky Mama dumps her unwanted blind stepdaughter Wu Ying onto him. Having no true place for the girl to work, Zhao and his friends build a "massage parlor" for the girl to work at so Zhao can keep his promise to Chunky Mama that he will look after the girl, but for how long can he keep up such a subterfuge? While it was panned by many critics, in my opinion, Happy Times is quite a delightful film. Zhao Benshan is absolutely hilarious and Dong Jie as the blind Wu Ying is magnificent. Full of humor and sadness Happy Times contains some extraordinarily touching moments. A great film for those who enjoy Zhang Yimou's films or Chinese film in general.

"Happy Times" does not have a happy ending

[sdblosom · 1/10 · 20 May 2006]

We watch two lonely people meet and struggle and in the end, the worst possible events occur and I felt like I watched what felt like 3 hours for naught.

Two sad, lonely people meet by chance, try to make each other happy but do the wrong things for all of the right reasons. In the end, they part out of misunderstanding and the audience is left at a cliffhanger not knowing what will happen next.

Now I feel depressed.

I don't know about you, but if I watch 3 hours of people struggling and then have it all end with a simple misunderstanding, it makes me angry and I feel as thought I wasted my time. Don't watch if you like happy endings! This is not a "happy" movie at all!