Happiness (1998)

hyped garbage

good back-story, and good acting

Expected more

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

And I argue it is one of the top five films of the 1990s. Others have said what needs to be said.

I liked Happiness in some weird way. This movie is really interesting to watch despite all those disturbing scenes it has. You just cant stop watching until it's done, you wanna see what's gonna happen next. For that alone I give it 9, but because of some nasty things in the movie, gotta lower the grade by 1.8+

I've always enjoyed 'Happiness,' despite asking myself WHY I ever bothered to watch it after every single viewing. Yes, the title is deliberately ironic as there is barely a trace of anything vaguely happy in the entire mover, but then it knows that. It's safe to say that 'Happiness' is definitely not a 'feel-good' film and you really do need to know what you're in for before you sit down to invest over two hours with this manic depressive beast of a movie.I suppose you could call it an 'ensemble' piece as there are numerous characters all woven together around the three central characters who are sisters all at various stages of adulthood and doing their best to either live with what's become their lot in life, or desperately try to change it. It's basically a family drama, but with a few – very – dark helpings of black humour. However, the overriding thing to say about 'Happiness' is that it deals with the worst themes you can probably think of and presents them in a way that forces you to think about those who it's easy to despise without a second thought. Therefore, you don't just have to be in the mood for something depressing, but also something that really goes into areas of human nature that you would probably not like to dwell on, most notably child abuse.'Happiness' is a film that will certainly leave an impact on you, even if it's just you swearing you will never watch something like that again. However, for all the darkness and realism it presents, I have watched it about three times and I think it's a worthy film. The performances are all excellent. You'd be hard put to it to find a weak link among the cast. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is naturally excellent, but perhaps the hardest role falls to Dylan Baker who plays possibly one of the most (bizarrely!) relatable child molesters you've ever met. It must have been a horrible role for him and he plays it to perfection.Like I say, don't expect feel-good and get ready for a rough ride. But, if you're in the mood for something as deep as this it will certainly make you wonder who's sitting opposite you and what goes on behind the façade of family-friendly life.

I've always stated that I don't like nihilistic films. I don't enjoy films that show the world as something ugly, depressing or mean- spirited. Usually this applies to thrillers where everyone is coloured an ugly shade of grey, where every victory is Pyrrhic in nature or everyone is a villain to some degree. But this film showed me that there's something I hate even more in a film. This film shows the world as something heinous, something perverted, something rotten. It's not depressing per se, except in that it will remove your will to live. Rather it's disgusting.Happiness tells about a group of sisters and the people they interact with in their day to day life. Their families, their relatives, their acquaintances, their neighbours. The film talks about the struggle of upper middle-class, or at least what it perceives to be the struggle of upper middle-class. It positions that these people are without a place, their lives hollow and empty, their purpose non-existent. It positions that to fill this gaping void in their souls, these people turn to perversion. Pretty much every single character in the film is a deviant of some sort. There's masturbation, paedophilia, rape, mutilation of sexual organs and of course dirty phone calls. Everything under the sun.And yet the film is amazingly grey in tone. It sounds like a trashy B-movie, but it's not. The whole film is like an awkward date with a complete stranger where neither says anything beyond the most placid of banalities and you're both happy to leave after the main course.The worst thing is that I cannot deny this film the right to exist. Art, any kind of art, is meant to help us understand the world. You can condemn the phenomena discussed themselves, but you cannot condemn the discussion that must take place about the phenomenon. Even disgusting films like this one are a viewpoint into life.But that doesn't mean I have to like it or agree with its message. This is a horrid film. Is it worth seeing? In a sick way, yes. But proceed with caution.