Slideshow
LE BONHEUR
France, 1965
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Jean-Claude Drouot, Claire Drouot, Marie-France Boyer
In French with English subtitles
80 min.
Perhaps ahead of its time in the way its lush imagery contrasted with its underlying complexity, LE BONHEUR now stands as one of Varda’s essential films. François (Jean-Claude Drouot) has it all—a beautiful home in the Paris burbs with a wonderful wife (Claire Drouot) and kids (the actor's own)—so when he falls for the post office girl (Marie-France Boyer), it’s only natural she become part of the family too—right? Shot in Impressionistic colors to the strains of Mozart, Varda said of LE BONHEUR “I imagined a summer peach with its perfect colors, and inside there is a worm.”
Preceded by
Elsa la Rose
France, 1966
Directed by Agnès Varda
In French with English subtitles
Approx. 16 mins.
Made as part of an intended series of films about couples, this short about famed surrealist poet Louis Aragon and his wife Elsa Triolet, award-winning writer in her own right, focuses on Elsa and punctures the romanticized vision of her as mere muse.
Presented with support from The George Fasel Memorial Fund for Classic French Cinema and The Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film
Reviews
“A beautiful and disturbing 1965 feature by Agnès Varda about family happiness, full of lingering and creepy ambiguities... Provocative and lovely to look at, this is one of Varda’s best and most interesting features.”
– Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader
“Agnès Varda has constructed an unusual tour de force bound to thrust moviegoers into opposing camps! I found the film refreshing, provocative, and exquisite to behold! Warning to men: this film may upset either wife or mistress. Above all, don’t go see it as a threesome.”
– Cue Magazine
“What gives [Varda’s] film its special boldness, its melting but noncloying lyricism, is the fact that it presents a conventional triangle as two over-lapping idylls... Mlle Varda measure the necessity of seeking happiness against the risk of inflicting pain... Every shot is a tender glorification of the physical world.”
– The Observer
“The idea is extraordinary: one love is worth the same as another, a person can be replaced by another. For me, LE BONHEUR is the most anti-romantic film there is.”
– Chantal Akerman