Viewed in
2012
Formats
DVD
Premise
A couple rents a house in the middle of nowhere in Norway, when one of the spouses has an affair with the other.
Liked
Black humor, performances, characters.
Disliked
Subplots that lead nowhere, bad DVD subtitles.
Hated
Jerky cinematography.
Thoughts
It was interesting.
I enjoyed the acting and the well-drawn characters. The film had its moments of brilliance, either with trippy visuals, or intriguing dark comedy about slavery and adultery.
People who hate jerky handheld camerawork (like me), beware, the entire film is shot that way and it was an absolute distraction. This might be forgiven if there weren't plenty more flaws. The two kids subplot was completely unresolved. The random singers between chapters felt arbitrary.
The DVD makers for the American version also made a mistake for subtitles. Primarily spoken in Norwegian and Danish, it also contained English German. The subtitles translated the first two in English, but somehow translated the German into... German.
Lastly, I disagree with Netflix's categorizing it as dark comedy. While it had its moments, it's more a straight up drama.
There was a lot to like about Happy, Happy. Unfortunately, there was a lot to dislike. For moviegoers who like films that take risks, even if they don't succeed, this was worthy checking out.
