Happiness (1998)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Happiness |
| Original title | Happiness |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| length | 134 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Todd Solondz |
| script | Todd Solondz |
| production |
Ted Hope Christine Vachon |
| music | Robbie Condor |
| camera | Maryse Alberti |
| cut | Alan Oxman |
| occupation | |
| |
Happiness is a film directed by Todd Solondz and shot in the USA in 1998 .
action
There are three sisters living somewhere in New Jersey, all in their mid-thirties, but with different traits and life situations. What they have in common, however, is deep dissatisfaction and strong self-doubt. The dreamy Joy is looking for her Prince Charming and has a rather hopeless relationship with a tutor. The married Trish is unhappy in her - also sexually largely unfulfilled - marriage to a psychiatrist who, in the course of the film, also, unexpectedly, turns out to be a pedophile criminal who abuses the playmates of his prepubescent son. Helen, the third of the sisters, is a successful writer who writes bestsellers about childhood trauma, actual or fictional. In any case, her low artistic self-esteem and fears are real, which she confronts with exaggerated self-confidence and emphasized extravagance. The latter also includes her interest in a man, initially unknown to her, who harasses her with obscene phone calls. It's about a neglected neighbor ( Philip Seymour Hoffman ) who fails at the crucial moment when Helen gives him his chance.
The promoted among other things by the gradual unmasking of Trish husband as sexual criminal action culminates in a Familieneklat, the absurd, in the final scene of the movie with the first orgasm of Trish son coincide .
Reviews
In the United States, the film was very controversial because of its sexual themes, especially the portrayal of pedophilia met with great opposition. So the Sundance Film Festival refused to accept the film.
Stefan Jung from critic.de writes about this film: “Todd Solondz's follow-up film to his much-praised Willkommen im Tollhaus (Welcome to the Dollhouse, 1996) aims to wake up, shock and unsettle you. In detail, he portrays the image of a white American middle class that couldn't be more typical. The film gains its special charm in the casualness with which it stages the violence [...], with its winding stories, violent emotional reactions in the audience. 'Happiness' is both depressing and extremely entertaining. The images juxtapose the conventional schemes of the 'ideal world' with an aggressive irony full of deep despair. "
For the magazine for media pedagogy medien practical , Miriam Hollstein judges: “The structure of Happiness corresponds to that of a soap opera and is reminiscent of Arthur Schnitzler's round dance: the film is divided into individual episodes that are loosely linked to one another. [...] In contrast to the artificial, inflated world of TV soap operas, in Happiness the camera moves very close to the characters and relentlessly exposes their weaknesses. Additional intimacy is created by the almost consistently applied method of only showing two people in the shot and reverse shot technique. "
Awards
- 1998: FIPRESCI Prize (Critics ' Prize ) in Cannes
- 1998: National Board of Review, USA
- 1998: São Paulo International Film Festival - International Jury Award
- 1998: Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival - Critic Choice Award for "Best Actor" (Dylan Baker), "Best Picture"
- 1998: Toronto International Film Festival - Subway Media Award
- 1999: Nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay
- 1999: Independent Spirit Awards - for "Best Director" (Todd Solondz)
- 1999: British Independent Film Award - "Best Foreign Film"
- 1999: Fantas - Directors Week Award (Todd Solondz)
Web links
- Happiness in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Happiness atrotten tomatoes(English)