Happy (2012)
Happy is a 2011 feature documentary film directed, written, and co-produced by Roko Belic. It explores human happiness through interviews with people from all walks of life in 14 different countries, weaving in the newest findings of positive psychology. Director Roko Belic was originally inspired to create the film after producer/director Tom Shadyac (Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty) showed him an article in the New York Times entitled "A New Measure of Well Being From a Happy Little Kingdom". The article ranks the United States as the 23rd happiest country in the world. Shadyac then suggested that Belic make a documentary about happiness. Belic spent several years interviewing over 20 people, ranging from leading happiness researchers to a rickshaw driver in Kolkatta, a family living in a "co-housing community" in Denmark, a woman who was run over by a truck, a Cajun fisherman, and more.
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Great Film overall
Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Great movie. When I watched this movie it made me feel that happiness is obtainable. Through religion, and doing the right thing. I believe this movie taught a very valuable lesson as in if you do good things, it can make you feel good. People think scientific facts would matter but science doesn't define emotions. Some things are unexplainable in life for a reason. I think this is great, and enjoyable to watch. I have seen this movie multiple times when I was upset and it always brought me out of my funk and helped me feel positive again. I showed this movie to many members of my family and it made them not only get emotional, but they felt this was a great guide to become a happy person.
Spoiler Alert. In the United States we are led to believe by advertising that materialism and having a bigger house and shiny car will lead to Happiness. We are starting to figure out this quest for more "stuff" is misleading & does not bring happiness. Happy and I Am are both wonderful documentaries that offer a alternative message, that we are out of balance with nature (cancer is the only other thing on Earth besides us that takes more then is needed in Nature), and that more and more money does not lead to a happy life. The moronic review "Biggest load of crap" by Kiernan Holland motivated me to write this review and respond to his review. "It offers no scientific data" - There is a ton of studies being done on the subject and to say there is no scientific data is a blatant lie. forbes dot /sites/learnvest/2012/04/24/the-salary-that-will-make-you-happy- hint-its-less-than-75000/ learnvest dot com/2012/01/top-1-complains-they-cant-make-ends-meet-117/ These are two quick studies showing with empirical evidence supports the claims in Happy. If all Kiernan Holland got out of this documentary is that it did not delve into sex, some confusing and stupid tangent into drugs, and that it is bias towards Buddhism, take his review with a grain of salt.
This is a movie where the subject matter is far more important than the quality of the movie itself (which is good). Had I received messages like this when I was young, I am sure I would have made fewer mistakes.Young persons understand that happiness is a life goal but they are often confused among conflicting messages on how to get there. By illustrating those who have achieved happiness as well as those who have not, the movie could potentially be very useful in helping young people make responsible and fulfilling life choices. So hopefully this little movie will be recognized as a motivational tool for the young and used in our classrooms and in other venues where teens might be receptive to its message.
An excellent, thought provoking movie that will grab your attention and your heart. This should be required viewing for everyone. It is interesting and rewarding that Hollywood would produce for us a documentary on Happiness but at the same time has been a large contributor to trying to make us believe, falsely, what makes us happy. There is a well done piece also about what doesn't make kid's happy. It seems a shame that the producers found it necessary to search around the world to find happiness. My prayer is that it will abound and be readily evident in and around each one of us.A great movie that will warm your heart, stir your soul and hopefully make you think about a practical application in your own life.