Happiness

Happiness (Le Bonheur), Dir. Agnès Varda, France, 1965, 80 mins, French with English subtitles

Agnès Varda’s Happiness (Le Bonheur) is a riot of colour that opens with bucolic scenes of sunflowers and family members holding hands in the sunshine. This sets the scene for what the director envisaged as ‘a beautiful summer fruit with a worm inside’. In this provocative film, a young husband and father, Francois (Jean-Claude Drouot), faces a dilemma when he finds himself falling in love with an attractive postal worker. He is married to the good-natured, beautiful Thérèse (Claire Drouot), who makes dresses from home and raises the children while her husband is at work. What follows is a detailed study of adult fidelity and happiness, with major repercussions for all those involved.