Geekscape at Sundance 2011 – Happy Happy Movie Review
Geekscape at Sundance 2011
Happy Happy
Sykt Lykkelig
Director: Anne Sewitsky
Screenwriter: Ragnhild Tronvoll
Norway, 2010, 84min, Color
Danish/Norwegian with English Subtitles
Principal Cast: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Joachim Rafaelsen
Director Anne Sewitsky wanted to make this movie about an insistently happy person; “her driving force becomes happiness, she’s made joy her survival strategy.” The narrative is driven by Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen), a housewife who is faced with a plethora of problems. These include a husband who pays her no attention and constantly goes on “hunting” trips, a somewhat distant and unusually cruel son, and now a gorgeous and successful couple who have rented the home next door. The perfect neighbors put extra pressure on Kaja to be better, as somehow even the snow around their home seems whiter. We see Kaja in the opening scene vouching to eat nothing but cottage cheese for a day, because the new neighbors sounded really slender and good looking on the phone! Despite all of the pressure that Kaja feels, she takes all of it in stride, and through all her challenges, is always glowing with happiness.
As an affair blossoms between Kaja and the next door neighbor Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen), their marriages begin to unravel, along with many other things. The dialogue is refreshing, with characters not afraid to speak their mind. “My husband and I have not had sex in a year” Kaja declares openly on a double date with her neighbors. While not all plot elements may be novel, they do reflect real life, and the caliber of the performances (Kittelsen gives a great performance, and so does the rest of the cast) and the strength of storytelling make it a delight to watch. This dark comedy is witty, easygoing and leaves you smiling.
Shot on wintry, snow covered plains, the Scandinavian aesthetic of this Norwegian film is certainly felt and helps with the story telling. There are awesome arctic vistas as the film is set in the dead of winter. In fact, winter becomes somewhat of a character in the movie, as the isolation of a small Norwegian town and its inhabitants (not only from the world, but also from each other) is very much felt throughout the film. At one point the escape from isolation is symbolized by an awesome scene of Kaja and Sigve running out of the house semi-nude into the snow covered plain! And ladies… expect a surprise!
Music also plays a very interesting part. Sewitsky does not only just choose background music, she actually chose to shoot these small tidbits of a performance by a four-man a capella style group, and inter-cut them when appropriate music needed to be introduced to set the tone of a particular scene. It was very unexpected and well done. This allowed Sewitsky to really set-up each next move in her tale.
While Happy Happy is a feature film debut by Sewitsky, she has previously directed Oh my god! which won an award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2009.
