H is for happiness

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Movie
Original title H is for happiness
Country of production Australia
original language English
Publishing year 2019
length 103 minutes
Rod
Director John Sheedy
script Lisa Hoppe
production Lisa Hoppe,
Tenille Kennedy ,
Julie Ryan
music Nerida Tyson-Chew
camera Bonnie Elliott
cut Johanna Scott
occupation

H Is for Happiness (German title The bubbling of happiness ) is an Australian children's film under the direction of John Sheedy from the year 2019 . The film celebrated its world premiere on August 11, 2019 at the Melbourne International Film Festival. It was released in Australian cinemas on February 6, 2020. The film celebrated its international premiere in February 2020 at the 70th Berlinale , where it opened the Generation Kplus section .

content

Candice Phee is 12 years old and lives with her parents in Albright, a sleepy town in Queensland . Her family consists of her mother, her father and his brother, the "Rich Uncle Brian". The two brothers have been falling out for years - only Candice is still in contact with Brian.

Candice is a model student and attaches great importance to order. Her favorite book is a dictionary, which she reads every day. She therefore speaks with an unusually large vocabulary for her age, but sometimes finds it difficult to communicate with others. Her mother has suffered since the death of her youngest daughter, who died as a baby, and rarely leaves her bedroom. Candice, on the other hand, wants to remember her sister's life with joy and live her own life. In the face of these differences, Candice's father retreats to his shed where he writes computer programs.

Candice is marginalized at school. She is called by the nickname "I.Le.", an abbreviation for "individual learning support". Candice does not take this as an insult and only remarks that every person is ultimately an individual and should be encouraged. When asked if she was autistic , she replied: “I am me.” Candice's friend becomes a new classmate named Douglas, whom she consistently calls “Douglas Benson from another dimension”. Since Douglas sustained a head injury in a fall from a tree, he has believed he came from another dimension. He is convinced that there are an infinite number of universes whose only certain common feature is gravity. From this he concludes that only one more jump from a tree can bring him back into his own dimension. According to his calculations, this must happen at exactly six thirty. Candice accepts Douglas and his idiosyncrasies, but watches with concern that he is looking to jump heights. She gets used to making sure Douglas doesn't get injured at 6:30 a.m.

Candice suffers from a stressful family life and makes plans to bring her family back together. In doing so, she takes unusual measures. For example, in the presence of her father and her wealthy uncle Brian, she jumps into the sea in the hope that a joint rescue operation will reconcile the two brothers. However, the two are clumsy, injure each other and have to be rescued for their part. They blame each other for it and are more divided than ever.

Towards the end of the film, the tide turns and Candice's endeavors finally succeed: Candice's father takes inspiration from Douglas' theories about life in parallel dimensions. He came up with the idea of developing a social network in which every person can interact with different versions of himself in hypothetical parallel universes. Candice tells her uncle Brian about the idea and forces him and her father to meet. The uncle suggests that his brother invest in his project and enable him to do his job. Candice's father reluctantly accepts the offer. Working together improves the relationship between the brothers.

Douglas believes that he has calculated the ideal time for his return to his original dimension, and to do this he jumps off a tree again. When he has recovered from his injuries, he tells Candice that he has been in his dimension for a few days but has returned to be with her. Perhaps one day they would travel different dimensions together.

background

Directed by John Sheedy, the script is by Lisa Hoppe. The film is based on the book The bubbling of happiness by Barry Jonsberg .

Awards

At the Australian CinefestOZ Film Festival, the film won the main prize in 2019.

The children's jury in the Generation Kplus competition awarded the film an honorable mention in 2020.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ H is for Happiness. In: imdb.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020 .
  2. ^ H Is for Happiness. The bubbling of happiness. In: berlinale.de. Retrieved March 9, 2020 .
  3. ↑ generation. In: berlinale.de. Retrieved March 9, 2020 .
  4. ↑ WINNER! H is for Happiness: MIFF @ CinefestOZ - CinefestOZ Film Festival. Retrieved March 29, 2020 (Australian English).
  5. ↑ Awards and juries in the Generation section. Retrieved March 9, 2020 .