342. Le Bonheur; movie review

LE BONHEUR
Cert 15
76 mins

BBFC advice: Contains sexualised nudity

A semi-regular point of conversation in our household is over the time in history when we would have most wanted to be at our peak.
I plump for the 1960s because although I was a small child then, I did not fully experience the cultural vibrancy or recognise the full employment.
In our home city, which was the centre of car building in Britain, people could literally walk out of one job in the morning and start another one in the afternoon.
Mrs W vehemently disagrees. She says it was a decade when men could do what they wanted and women had to stay at home and support them.
Agnès Varda makes the point with verve and style in Le Bonheur.
Here, a joiner (Jean-Claude Drouot) is a picture of happiness with a beautiful devoted wife (his real-life spouse, Claire Drouot).

The couple's two real-life children add up to a quartet who are often surrounded by friends and family who appear to be equally content.
And when the joiner falls for a post office clerk (Marie-France Boyer) he simply believes that this another sign that he is blessed.
Varda's film is a not-so-veiled attack on the complacency of men in the 1960s and the way in which they wanted their cake and eat it.
The joiner is not painted as a bad person just someone who fulfils what is expected of him on every level - good job, satisfied family and a pretty mistress.
In addition, Varda makes certain that the women are not seen as stupid but are simply following the route which has been mapped out for them.
Indeed, even when the plan is derailed, adjustments are quickly made and people carry on the same sweet way.
Interestingly, the film was made before the Paris uprisings of the late 60s when women, including Varda, were on the frontline.
Their discontent would have been smouldering for a long time but Le Bonheur would have been oil on the fire.

Reasons to watch: Ironic reflection on men vs women in the 1960s
Reasons to avoid: Its subtleties might escape some

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Director interview - Agnès Varda: "Women have become upset and asked, ‘How could you replace a woman with another woman?’ That’s what life is about. A man is replaced by another man in war. A woman is replaced by another woman in life."

The big question - Have men really changed since the 1960s?

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