Happiness

Near Paris, Francois the joiner has an orderly, happy family life with his wife Therese and two children. He also begins a relationship with Emilie, who works at the post office, and sees no difficulty in carrying both lives at once. During a picnic in the woods Therese learns what is happening. Shortly after they lie together she drowns in a lake. Francois marries Emilie, who takes over the role in the house, and the family outings continue as if nothing had happened. Agnes Varda wrote and directed. Jean-Claude Drouot plays Francois, with his real wife and children playing his family in their only film appearance. The music is Mozart. It won two prizes at the 1965 Berlin International Film Festival, including the Jury Grand Prix. The trap is in the form. The colours, the flowers and the summer light promise happiness from beginning to end, while what is being told is one woman replaced by another without friction. Current criticism describes it as a horror film wrapped up in sunflowers and an excoriating feminist diatribe. Who it is for: viewers who like films that deliberately set form against content. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for the film to take a position. Varda never comments, and that silence unsettles most viewers. Which is exactly the point.