good morning ( お早よう ohayō ) is a 1959 comedy film by japanese director yasujirō ozu .

it is a loose remake of his own 1932 silent film i was born , but ... , and is ozu 's second film in color .

good morning ( film )

a compilation of the running gag from ozu ' s 1959 film , good morning .
good morning , vietnam proved that robin williams could act and be hilariously funny in the same film .
breaking bad star bryan cranston just very casually swore live on good morning britain .
media art net | paik , nam june : good morning , mr . orwell
good morning , vietnam is a 1987 american war - comedy film written by mitch markowitz and directed by barry levinson .
this week good morning britain ( and everyone at itv ) is backing the daily mile .
good morning , vietnam was one of the most successful films of the year , becoming the fourth highest - grossing film of 1987 .
good morning , 1959 , directed by yasujiro ozu , written by yasujiro ozu and kôgo noda .
good morning is part of the series back by popular demand : ozu . click here for more info .
amc named good morning , vietnam one of the 20 greatest war movies of all time . [ 12 ]
speaking on good morning britain on march 10 , she said : “the will is definitely there with everybody involved .
the good morning britain star impersonated beckham after he was shown in character with his co - star charlie hunnam .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing good morning , babylon near you .
good morning is such a fantastic surprise , and worthy of discussion among any of ozu ' s better known dramatic works .
andrew bridgen mp and lord adonis responded with vigour on today’s good morning britain to theresa may’s chequers proposal and david davis’ resignation .
criterion ' s release of good morning is a luscious , vibrant , must - own restoration of a titanic work of postwar japanese cinema .
the film won the political film society award for peace , and was nominated for a best sound bafta award . [ 10 ]
just how much of the fresh , cheeky williams brilliance was going up the chimney can now be seen in ' ' good morning , vietnam . ' '
in september , itv ' s good morning britain announced a competition for schools to produce an anti - bullying video to link into anti - bullying week .
was going on good morning britain , didn ' t realise @ piersmorgan was host . won ' t go on with him after his comments about # womensmarch
the school council worked together to come up with a really good idea and then worked with mrs bermingham and mr woodman to perform the film .
canadian actor and filmmaker connor jessup’s third short film , lira’s forest , is an official selection at the 2017 toronto international film festival .
today’s episode of good morning britain proved to be full of drama after the voice uk judge urltoken went awol on the show after he turned up late for his interview .
on good morning britain today , morgan grilled culture secretary karen bradley over and over again about whether numbers of armed officers are up or down and she refused to answer .
speaking on today’s edition of good morning britain , he told hosts susanna reid and ben shephard : “we’ve been asked to keep ourselves free for a date in the future . ”
ariel nasr ' s documentary gives voice to the complex dilemmas faced by contemporary afghanis under canadian intervention . the film introduces us to young afghan - canadians torn between a deep desire to help afghanistan and a fear that things will never change . good morning kandahar
this best way to describe this rewatch is that it’s like poorly brewed coffee . it tastes a bit weak and watery , unlike a good brew . but , like david lynch says , any coffee is good coffee . and , this is some damn good coffee .
guy ritchie directs the film , which is scheduled to begin shooting this summer .
as unpromising as all this may sound , good morning is another ozu gem , a covertly sophisticated ensemble piece scripted with the intricacy and precision of a well - constructed restoration comedy of manners .
this is a nice option for serious ozu fans - the video presentation does effect the film ' s viewing experience . good to have the choice of picking up this visually richer
since ozu didn ' t have to worry about a moving camera , each shot is very carefully composed . so good morning is full of lovely symmetries like this shot of minoru and isamu sulking :
robin williams is the heart and soul of everything this film is , finding a perfect balance between his frantic comedy and weighted dramatics . if you ' re going to watch ' good morning vietnam ' , you ' re going to watch it for robin williams and robin williams alone .
title drop : after minoru ' s dad tells him kids shouldn ' t talk too much , minoru says adults indulge in pointless chatter all the time , like saying
good morning
to each other .
this film was produced as part of the reel diversity competition for emerging filmmakers of colour . reel diversity is a national film board of canada initiative in partnership with cbc newsworld .
but the fact is , a lot of good morning isn ' t about them . the first half of the film follows a group of gossiping housewives trying to figure out what ' s happened to the dues they were supposed to pay to some neighborhood organization or other . there are enough subplots that it ' s hard to find a throughline that lends itself to plot summary . so although minoru and isamu ' s strike ties together a lot of the film ' s themes , i think it ' s more accurate to describe good morning as a portrait of a small japanese community lurching towards modernity .
i can ' t think of any other movie that looks quite like good morning ( except , apparently , all the ozu films i haven ' t seen ) . but as with wes anderson , the salient question is what the style is in service of . in the case of good morning , i think there ' s a disconnect between the style , which seems contemplative and a little sad , and the subject matter .
moro ' s quiet , grandfatherly demeanor eventually pierces chiara ' s steely resolve , even though they never speak face to face , and
good morning , night
is largely concerned with her crisis of confidence .
what you end up with in
good morning , vietnam
is a peculiar hybrid - - a robin williams concert movie welded clumsily onto the plot from an old danny kaye picture . and neither half works .
i can absolutely assure you that the original theatrical prints of ohayo ( good morning ) were not green tinged . they looked like any other color film of quality that you have seen . ( i saw the film screened at least 10 times over the life of the print that janus ( ? ) had circulating in the us . i saw it go from pretty pristine to battered and faded . )
good morning is usually promoted as the remake of ozu ' s was born , but . . . . but that could said be said about a number of ozu films . after all , they tend to contain many of the same themes and images . that said , that film certainly didn ' t contain fart jokes , which this one does . it work to a point . this is a lighter film , not as deep as ozu best but it ' s good to see ozu having some fun .
a day or two after i first saw good morning , i received an email from ozu fan and criterion contraption reader lewis saul urging me to watch any of his other films before this one . apparently , good morning isn ' t emblematic of his work , and he was afraid i would get the wrong impression about ozu if i started with this one . well , i got the email a day late . i still haven ' t seen tokyo story , or any other films ozu directed , but i certainly get the impression the bulk of his work is quite different from good morning . at the very least , the film seems a bit out of synch with his reputation . peter bradshaw , in an appreciation for the guardian , characterizes ozu ' s work as
gentle quietism and transcendental simplicity .
i suppose you could argue that good morning shares those qualities , as long as you find something gently quietistic or transcendentally simple about the film ' s opening and closing scene : a farting competition that ends in tragedy when a young boy craps his pants .
like many of ozu ' s late films , good morning is in color , but it somehow looks different from the others i ' ve seen . maybe it ' s because the film is set in a seemingly newly developed community outside of tokyo . everything looks new and fresh . i wish i could say the same about the storyline . good morning basically reworks the concept of his early silent i was born , but . . . there are differences due to the age gap between the films but the treatment of kids and adults seems familiar .
the film features a score by tony and oscar winner alan menken and tony winner david zippel .
this film is more interesting as a barometer of influence american consumerist culture has had on the japanese . the kids in the film are obsessed with having a television set . they take a vow…
alex north was awarded the ascap award for the film ' s original music . [ 10 ]
good morning , night
was shown as part of the new york film festival in 2003 . following are excerpts from a . o . scott ' s review , which appeared in the new york times on oct . 10 , 2003 ; the full text is at urltoken the unrated film , in italian with english subtitles , opens today in manhattan at the cinema village , 22 east 12th street , greenwich village .
ozu’s hilarious technicolor re - working of his silent i was born , but . . . , good morning ( ohayo ) is the story of two young boys in suburban tokyo who take a vow of silence after their parents refuse to buy them a television set . shot from the perspective of the petulant brothers , good morning is an enchantingly satirical portrait of family life that gives rise to gags about romance , gossip , and the consumerism of modern japan .
most of williams ' radio broadcasts were improvised . the film was a critical and commercial success ; for his work in the film , williams won a golden globe award for best actor – motion picture musical or comedy and was nominated for an academy award for best actor . the film is number 100 on the list of the
american film institute ' s 100 funniest american movies
.
good morning president is an abridged version of the politics and life of three different presidents . the three are : the older president kim jung - ho at the end of his term , the young . . . see full summary »
my favorite ozu film . kill your tv ! ( for terrance & phillip ' s sake . )
the inside story of how disney will bring the highest - grossing animated film in history to broadway .
the cast and creators take us inside rehearsals for disney’s anticipated stage adaptation of the blockbuster animated film .
what a hilarious film . unlike any film ozu ever made . although this film does focus on his usual themes of family , multiple generations and the evil that is associated with gossip , the film is different in that it is an all out comedy , and one of the funniest films i have ever seen . the comedy brought in by the gossiping neighbors is classic , but the two main kids really steal the film . the film effectively blends potty humor with intelligent and witty dialogue , and even as an american the japanese humor was effective enough to not be lost due to cultural confusions . great comedy .
in 2000 , the film was included in the american film institute ' s list of the 100 funniest american movies during 100 years : afi ' s 100 years . . . 100 laughs . [ 11 ]
just in time for black friday , two cinematic masters playfully pillory consumerism for our weekly double feature : yasujiro ozu’s good morning ( 1959 ) and jacques tati ' s mon oncle ( 1958 ) . but these wildly different virtuosos mount opposite attacks , o…
make no mistake about it : mr . williams ' s performance , though it ' s full of uproarious comedy , is the work of an accomplished actor . ' ' good morning , vietnam ' ' is one man ' s tour de force .
© 2014 british film institute . all rights reserved . registered charity 287780 cultural commerce by talisman innovations ltd .
cranston was on the show to discuss his latest film wakefield , which is released on dvd next month .
on the left : confessions of a fake sheik * by mazher mahmood . next to it : good morning afghanistan * * by waseem mahmood . in both , the authors are the central characters , but the stories they tell could not be more different .
for added insights on the film itself , i’m going to indulge in a bit of a shortcut here , directing you to read my more in - depth consideration of good morning that i wrote up for my blog back in 2011 . and hey , while i’m at it , here are my observations on i was born , but… , the bonus feature included in this splendid package ! for good measure , may i also share a link to my podcast discussion of that same film , way back when rob nishimura and i first rolled out the original version of the eclipse viewer podcast back in 2012 ?
good morning neatly dovetails these two plots when the boys refuse to say good morning to the neighbors . this happens after the alleged theft of dues is cleared up ( mrs . haraguchi’s mother forgot to give the money to her ) . the boys’ apparent snubbing is interpreted as an extension of their mother’s secret anger over the incident ( which is far from true ) , and mrs . haraguchi’s spreading of this gossip triggers some of the film’s cleverest dialogue . one distraught neighbor says , “our cat stole her dried fish . should i return it ? ” ozu is at his best in observing the progress of rumor into seeming certainty , and showing the viewer the endless comic complications that ensue from simple misunderstandings in a society that values good manners over truth .
good morning america
recently celebrated the start of wedding season with a 24 - hour marathon live stream featuring 100 couples getting hitched in various locations all over the world . we ' re very proud to announce that viva las vegas wedding chapel was among them !
danny dyer exclusively told good evening britain how he warned daughter dani dyer that taking part in love island would be a serious mistake .
good morning , night
reimagines the notorious kidnapping and murder of aldo moro , the former prime minister , by the red brigades in 1978 , one of the ugliest and most senseless episodes in modern italian political history and in the annals of the western european left .
in a strange , subtle way , “good morning , vietnam” is not so much about war as it is about stand - up comedy , about the need that compels people to get up in front of the room and try to make us laugh - to control us .
the remake : of ozu ' s 1932 silent film ' ' i was born , but . . .
.
six of the seven child stars in the upcoming film adaptation of the stephen king book discuss the new horror movie .
a source said :
“film bosses have requested the services of crew members and accountants to work on the picture .
) and that film contains a newly recorded score by composer ed hughes and the new music players . also included are a fully illustrated booklet features newly commissioned sleevenote essay by silent film curator bryony dixon and contemporary review by jonathan rosenbaum .
ewan mcgregor has refused to appear as booked on breakfast news show good morning britain after realising it was co - hosted by piers morgan . the actor , who is currently promoting the long - awaited trainspotting sequel , t2 , had been due to appear on tuesday morning , 24 january , but dropped out at the last minute in protest at morgan’s comments about the women’s marches which took place around the world on saturday .
the long anticipated , seemingly inevitable but frustratingly overdue upgrade of yasujiro ozu’s second color film good morning finally became a reality earlier this week . a pristine new edition of spine # 84 has just landed on the shelves , and it’s a cause for joyful celebration for ozu aficionados and newcomers alike , who now have the opportunity to rediscover one of the great director’s most enchanting films . it’s hard to overstate just how much a new transfer and a tidy array of supplemental features allow good morning ‘s virtues to shine , but i can attest without reservation that this release feels every bit as essential and fully realized as any of the other three ozu blu - rays that criterion has previously made available .
good morning is a coming together of many ozu themes and character types . after the dark turns of early spring and tokyo twilight , there was a literal brightening and flowering of color in equinox flower . that film ended with a sense of hope for change . it seems fitting , then , that good morning should include ( from what i ' ve seen so far ) one of ozu ' s most diverse casts . it contains children of many ages , grandparents , multiple families , salarymen , jobless men , salesmen , wives , sisters , and
modern women .
in a sense , character types - - and the concerns of their respective stories - - from throughout ozu appear here .
• standard definition and high definition presentations of good morning ( dvd & blu - ray ) • standard definition presentation of i was born , but . . . ( dvd only ) • newly recorded score for i was born , but . . . by composer ed hughes and the new music players • fully illustrated booklet features newly commissioned sleevenote essay by silent film curator bryony dixon and contemporary review by jonathan rosenbaum
peter andre has spoken about his love of acting ahead of his guest role in the new thomas the tank engine film .
morgan joked beckham could be the “third mitchell brother” as he mocked his east end accent in guy ritchie ’s upcoming film .
roger ebert was born on this day in 1942 , and died a little over five years ago . i owe a good part of my success…
addition : bfi region ' b ' blu - ray december 10 ' : the bfi blu - ray transfer really brings out the beauty of the film appearance . detail rises dramatically from the sd - dvd transfers and it supports the greenish tinged color scheme of the asian discs . there is a beautiful consistent sheen of grain present on the bfi and will produce the best presentation of good morning for your home theater . there are no digital extras on this disc and it is single - layered with a healthy bitrate . audio is lossless in a linear pcm track and sounds as perfect as the source allows . extras consist of an included dvd with both good morning and i was born , but . . . (
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
the sun had exclusively revealed that a project to turn the tv series into a film had been greenlit and a budget approved .
just a delightful and funny film that does a great job of telling its incredibly simple and straightforward narrative in an endearing way .
, a 1929 silent film by ozu running just under 14 - minutes . the package has an essay by critic jonathan rosenbaum .
one even begged film bosses to give morgan a cameo , tweeting : “i loved piers morgan - both hands . . . . . hilarious . however i won ' t be rushing out to watch the film , not unless piers gets a cameo ! ”
forest whitaker was awarded a san jordi award for best foreign actor for his work on this film and bird . [ 10 ]
meanwhile , ben , 42 , took aim at susanna , 46 , over her choice of outfit this morning and compared the striped number to some sweets .
the sequel to the movie ( also directed by ortega ) about disney’s baddies , descendants 2 , will air july 21 . in advance of the premiere , the cast performed two original songs from the movie musical on good morning america . watch the mashup of “ways to be wicked” and “what’s my name . ”
gma
live streamed back - to - back weddings , including behind - the - scenes peeks at the various matrimonial venues . we were thrilled to be a part of the day of weddings , which culminated in a live mass wedding on the friday , april 29th
good morning america
program .
ozu’s reputation rests largely on a series of austere , quietly wrenching shomin - geki , domestic dramas ( tokyo story , late spring ) about the lives of average working - class people . typically , these center on parent - child conflicts , which often work themselves out to the benefit of neither . good morning ( 1959 ) abandons some of the more tragic aspects of the genre for a witty and good - hearted look at a different kind of intergenerational problem .
the film received outstanding reviews from film critics . the website rotten tomatoes , which compiles critical reviews for movies , gave a rating of 89 % [ 5 ] and the consensus :
a well - calibrated blend of manic comedy and poignant drama , good morning , vietnam offers a captivating look at a wide range of robin williams ' cinematic gifts .
both roger ebert and gene siskel of the review show siskel and ebert awarded the film
two thumbs up
, with ebert giving the film a four out of four star review in the chicago sun - times . [ 6 ] richard corliss of time called the film
the best military comedy since m * a * s * h
, and named it one of the best films of the year . vincent canby of the new york times called the film a cinematic
tour de force
and compared williams ' s performance to that of
an accomplished actor
. [ 7 ] much of the acclaim went to williams ' s performance , a role that earned him an oscar nomination for best actor . [ 8 ]
@ piersmorgan gave karen bradley so many chances to give a straight answer , made herself look so silly . she would be no good in a pub quiz 🍺🍺
playing with your emotions until the very end ,
good morning , vietnam
is the type of film that will have you thinking a certain way about something until it is completey turned around into something different . beginning as a comedy about a dj who has come to vietnam to run a radio station in hopes to lighten the mood of troops in the war and to give a quirky version of the serious news to people around the country . although it is the reason he is brought in , it may also be the reason they want him to leave . one thing leads to another and the film does a total 180 , turning into an all out drama where robin williams gives one of his best performances ever . extremely well - written , well - directed , and superbly acted by everyone ,
good morning , vietnam
is easily one of the best films i ' ve ever seen robin williams in .
i haven ' t seen enough of ozu ' s to judge this among his body of work , but as funny as it is , good morning doesn ' t just want to laugh at poor folks , but instead is more of a comical view on society . with great attention to detail and very still camera work , it ' s definitely a meditative film of two boys representing a younger generation that do not want to grow up with meaningless rituals in a world of empty adult chatter . ozu ' s film is not suggesting that tv is the answer , rather talking and expressing feelings is .
the advance press has suggested that his new movie ,
good morning , vietnam ,
will change all that . and the movie does live up to part of its billing : it gives us a lot of robin williams . but it hardly delivers on the promise of giving us the pure , undiluted williams - - williams at his best . what ' s more , it ' s not even close to being his best movie . it ' s not even close to being good .
from the start , the film bowls you over with excitement and for those who can latch on , it ' s a nonstop ride .
the film is distinctive for being hollywood ' s first vietnam comedy and among the first movies to treat the vietnamese themselves as real people .
the following table lists the songs that are featured in the film , in alphabetical order ; most of these are heard as radio broadcasts .
shot in gorgeous technicolor , good morning differs from ozu’s more solemn works that have a restrained editorial pace and meditational camera work . this one is lively , is accompanied by a “funny” musical score , and features many scenes outdoors . the cast is fine , especially the two boys ( played by shitara koji and masahiko shimazu ) .
as its spliced with real news reel from the period , good morning , night , though partly fictionalised , almost has the air of a documentary , neatly complemented by the rudimentary human drama unfolding in the kidnapper ' s lair . although bellocchio shows restraint when it comes to the drama , sometime he ' s too cautious , allowing the material to drag . still , it ' s the performances where the film stands up and the delicate - looking sansa is particularly impressive .
taking to twitter , he cheekily posted to his 671 , 000 followers : “am with betty bassett this morning on @ gmb thanks @ pinkpinkgirl80 love it @ susannareid100 . ”
good morning , killer is a tv movie starring catherine bell , titus welliver , and suleka mathew . follows fbi special agent ana gray as she hunts for a kidnapper . as ana develops a rapport with the kidnapper ' s latest victim , the suspect suddenly changes his pattern . now ana must race to find him before he strikes again .
make no mistake about it : mr . williams ' s performance , though it ' s full of uproarious comedy , is the work of an accomplished actor . ' ' good morning , vietnam ' ' is one man ' s tour de force . making ( air ) waves - good morning , vietnam , directed by barry levinson ; written by mitch markowitz ; director of photography , peter sova ; edited by stu linder ; music by alex north ; production designer , roy walker ; produced by mark johnson and larry brezner ; released by touchstone pictures in association with silver screen partners iii . at loews 84th street six , at broadway ; cinema 2 , third avenue at 60th street .
good morning , it’s sunday , may 15 , the 136th day of 2016 . there are 230 days left in the year . we’ll start the day with temperatures around 60 under a mostly cloudy sky with a chance of mainly afternoon showers and thunderstorms . the temperature should rise into the upper 70s this afternoon before falling into the mid - 60s overnight .
this summer , the sun online exclusively reported downton star joanne froggatt ' s promise of a
wonderful
film script for the hit tv series .
good morning is my second ozu film after tokyo story , and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience . ozu ' s style of showing the neighborhood as this tightly constricted space with minimal privacy is used cleverly to show the boring complexities of adult life . the boys criticize adults for living only on small talk , and never being true with each other . the gossiping housewives , and the man who can ' t move beyond discussing the weather with the woman he is interested in show their failure to communicate .
colinr0380 - - in an excellent response - - said : > > > i actually think good morning is a great place to start an ozu journey . a lot of ozu ' s films are about the tiny ( to everyone else ) transitional moments that define life . one of the reasons i think tokyo story became * the * ozu film in the west is perhaps because it tackles more of the ' big issues ' of death and seems to be making much more of a statement on society as a whole shown through the indifference of the children ( i think somewhere ozu said it was his most melodramatic film ) . and of course , in tokyo story , the
children
are adult children - - which makes the message even more powerful - - they act almost exactly like the kids in good morning - - pouty and selfish ( esp . the sugimura character ! ) matt - - terrific job , esp . w / the captures - - you bring the film to life for your readers . it ' s a long wait until tokyo story . but there are plenty of great films coming up ! i can ' t wait ! lewis saul
downton abbey star jim carter has revealed that the cast have been asked to keep their diaries clear for a film version of of the itv period drama .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
former eastenders actor ross kemp joined us this morning to talk about his support for the charity help for heroes and a recent catch up with his ' tv mum ' dame barbara windsor .
other weddings during the nuptial marathon for
good morning america
took place in times square studio ; new york city’s city hall ; gretna green , scotland ; san francisco’s city hall ; las vegas’ little white chapel ( a neighbor of ours ) ; soeul , south korea ; los angeles ; detroit , michigan ; and at the fabulous disney world in orlando , florida .
for contemporary western audiences , an element of yasujirō ozu’s good morning may prove baffling : the fashion with which the women in the film tend to let themselves into one another’s houses without controversy or fanfare , weathering no accusations of trespassing or rudeness . one may initially assume that the various suburban japanese families of the narrative live together in a single and barely subdivided home—despite the interlocking pillow shots that affirm the separation of each domicile—because ozu’s prismatic images often deliberately suggest such a metaphorical association . when two housewives speak to one another from their respective doors , the shot is flattened so that one can barely discern the street that separates them , and so , from our vantage point , the women could be conversing from the opposing sides of a singular hallway . such illusions abound in good morning , as we’re given both a precise and fantastical grasp of the suburb’s geometry , rendering it all the more singular and mysterious .
wrestling royalty , triple h , joined us on this morning ' s show to give us the inside track on his participation in the historic united kingdom championship tournament at the royal albert hall .
offering only hackneyed insights into the war , the film makes for stodgy drama . but williams ' manic monologues behind the mike are worth anybody ' s money .
as ozu produced both equinox flower and good morning in agfacolor so closely together , they would both have a similar look and feel , although the elements from both films would be subject to individual storage and fading issues , which would affect colour somewhat . our hd master for good morning was transferred from the best available source material - in this case the original 35mm interpositive - and as such reflects the colour present in that element . we have not made any attempt to push this or any of our ozu titles in an overly green direction , just work to a palette we feel is the best appropriation of ozu ' s original colour scheme , which has often been brightened up , over - saturated or pushed to western standards for colour films on past dvd releases .
but while he’s assaulting the microphone , levinson is doing something fairly subtle in the movie around him . he has populated “good morning , vietnam” with a lot of character actors who are fairly complicated types , recognizably human , and with the aid of the script they set a trap for williams . his character is edged into a corner where he must have human emotions , or die .
in good morning , ozu’s attention is focused on the comedic and adorable exploits of a quartet of schoolboys , two brothers in particular . the driving force of the plot , admittedly slight , is that the kids are all caught up at an early age in a race for status based on whose household has achieved the highest level of material prosperity , as determined by who can or cannot afford to install a tv set in their modest suburban tokyo homes . oh , and there’s that other competition – who can fart on demand , when one of their peers pokes them in their third eye . flatulence is the running gag that good morning is indisputably most famous for , and the unique method in which ozu exploits that humor is quite capably analyzed on this disc in a nice short clip featuring critic david cairns , who demonstrates that while this film offers ozu’s most extended deployment of scatological gags , it’s far from being unique in his oeuvre .
it ' s gonna be hot and wet ! that ' s nice if you ' re with a lady , but it ain ' t no good if you ' re in the jungle .
it ' s ozu ' s simplest and most schematic film , a lighthearted comedy that is built around the motif of changing values from the old to the new .
the animated film , set for release in july , will see ace mischievously inspire thomas to leave sodor and travel the world without the fat controller ' s permission .
it’s a pretense of rebellion , of course , as the boys want their tv , though they inadvertently unearth a truth . minoru tells keitaro that adult conversation is little more than meaningless busy talk—“good morning , ” “how are you ? , ” and “how’s the weather ? ”—and so why should his pouting be taken any less seriously than this figurative flatulence ? this question tears a whole in the faux contentment of postwar japanese society . minoru’s comparison is unreasonable , designed to hurt his parents , yet hauntingly re - contextualizes our attitudes toward the behavior of the adult characters . much of good morning is composed of the very talk that minoru deplores , yet ozu is more curious than the boy , understanding small talk as the “lubricant” of our discourse , to borrow the word of a lonely character .
viewers seemed more impressed by morgan ' s acting than beckham ' s , with one tweeting : “ @ piersmorgan ' s impression of david beckham in king arthur made my morning ! # bowfands . ”
his most recent movies ,
my mother ' s smile
and
good morning , night ,
struggle to make sense of the painful and ambiguous legacy of those years . the hero of
my mother ' s smile
was a left - wing , secular intellectual whose youthful faith in human progress withered into cynicism and solipsism after the future he had once believed in failed to materialize .
the film is all williams ; he has a field day with this character and this country and this period in history , with all its horror - - and comedy .
the first thing you ' ll notice about ozu ' s style in good morning is also the simplest : he never , never , never moves the camera . no dolly shots . no zooms . no tracking around the room . he ' ll cut to a different angle , but every shot is static . you can ' t illustrate this with a still , obviously , but it ' s pretty striking .
rumours of a feature - length film have been circulating since the itv period drama concluded in december 2015 and it has finally been confirmed . so , what do we know ?
with the extras the criterion mark their edition as the definitive for ozu ' s film . i loved the analysis and give it our highest recommendation . it ' s a beautiful
. its very unfortunate that there doesn ' t seem to be a release of this film on dvd that is worthy of its stature . . . or of director ozu .
stand - up comedian and actor robin williams received much critical acclaim for his portrayal of adrian cronauer in the film , being nominated for and winning multiple awards for his acting .
morgan said : “i thought it was fantastic . he could be the third mitchell brother in eastenders . i thought it was a very , very good performance . honestly . oscars , wow , exciting . ”
) , is a curious , but amusing , slice - of - life portrait of a suburban neighborhood in contemporary ( circa 1959 ) japan . ozu , mostly known for the gendai - geki film genre , i . e . , modern dramas about family life and social conditions , also made a few comedies . he was a genius at depicting relationships between parents and children ( tokyo story , 1953 , is arguably his most admirable work ) , and good morning presents something of a parable about how a couple of young schoolboys influence an entire community of suspicious and gossipy housewives and lackadaisical “salary men” husbands .
this may not be one of ozu ' s most acclaimed works , yet its contemplative style and its qualities of humour , tenderness and absence of cynicism make for an absorbing film .
mystery online film
the influence
revolves around promises kept even though time has passed . to keep their values , characters are at a critical juncture to act upon their promises .
ozu becomes better the farther you get from internalizing intro film studies clichés . if you ' re 19 years old and sitting in a classroom preoccupied by pillow shots , by whether his work is
more japanese
than kurosawa ' s , it ' s hard to actually watch and enjoy the movies . you might miss , say , the pleasures of the agfacolor reds and greens dotting the middle - class households in good morning . or the visual joke of two brothers clad in the same sweater , prefiguring the lighthouse - and - sake - bottle shot that would open floating weeds later the same year . or the funny tragedy and sad comedy found through these intertwined parent and child vignettes . ( as i noted a couple years ago about ozu ' s previous film equinox flower , the storytelling may…
as in many ozu films , the dwellings are characters in themselves . ozu frames much of good morning from his famous near - floor - level perspective , showing how much more one can see when surveying something from a fresh angle . ozu’s astonishing deep - focus compositions render each home as a flat yet distinctive series of planes within planes ( and stages within stages ) , each with its function . we see a foreground , for instance , where an out - of - work translator completes freelance assignments while his sister does errands in the background , each engaged in the affirming concentration of their tasks , though the compression also emphasizes their closeness . good morning boasts a kind of x - ray hyper - tactility that’s intensified by ozu’s embrace of technicolor , which he uses for its bold emphasis , allowing objects to pop with a painterly intensity that highlights their extraordinary ordinariness .
the story , such as it is , concerns two brothers—probably about nine and six years of age—who decide to go on a speaking strike until their parents buy a new television set ( all the rage , apparently , in those days ) . the boys are also rebelling against the grown - ups’ use of meaningless greetings to fill up air space—“good morning , ” “how are you , ” “i’m fine , ” “nice day , ” etc .
a western audience will deem the comedy subtle ; cultural differences between east and west , especially when it comes to bathroom humor , decidedly determine how funny someone will think good morning really is . there are a lot of fart jokes in the film . in fact , ozu uses farting as a way that characters communicate , especially the children . the schoolboys assign status to how easily one can blow wind by pushing an imaginary button on a forehead . inability to produce a toot results in minor ostracization . it must be said that the children’s farts don’t sound like the real thing—they are high - pitched and somewhat musical in tone .
ohayo ( good morning , 1959 ) was the first ozu film criterion released on dvd , back in 2000 . the dvd format , launched in 1997 , really took off only after the matrix disc was released in september 1999 . so it’s not surprising to find the ohayo edition quite sparse . no extras , no booklet , just a brief appreciation by rick prelinger ( which can be read here ) . one note is charming : “to switch between the menus and the movie , use the menu key on your remote . use the arrow keys to cycle through menu selections . press enter / select to activate the selection . ”
perhaps more significant , though , is that criterion has chosen to include as a supplement ozu’s acclaimed silent film from 1932 , i was born , but… sound films came late to japan because of the benshi —narrators who performed during screenings of silent pictures , commenting on the film’s narrative . they had a powerful hold on the industry . criterion had previously released this title as part of an eclipse box set of early ozu titles , but here they’ve upgraded the movie as a blu - ray . also a comedy , born deals with similar social mores . in this case , the boys influence how their father deals with his boss , and also how they relate to their school mate , the boss’ son . for my money , despite being a silent picture , i was born , but… is better than good morning !
the itv period drama came to an end on christmas day in 2015 , but it was finally confirmed by the sun in may that a full length feature film edition would be made .
an experienced entertainment show host was asked to interview a kidnap at a coffee shop by the kidnapper . it ' s a threat on personal safety , but also a good chance to save the show from shutting down .
the fussbudget in me can’t resist correcting something that comes up in the promotional materials and in some reviews . ohayo wasn’t filmed in technicolor . ozu used what was called “agfa - shochikucolor . ” i believe that’s just agfa film with shochiku adding its brand name , the way “metrocolor” was mgm’s eastmancolor . why agfa ? ozu explains : “red turns out magnificently on agfa film . ”
this film relates several disparate storylines , each representing a different type of lifestyle within italian society at the time , through their common impersonal relationship to a social . . . see full summary »
with a 2008 composed score by donald sosin but it only has lossy audio . in it ozu examines japanese society through the yes of two rebellious young boys , a narrative device he would return to 27 - years later . there is a new 9 - minute interview with film scholar david bordwell who analyzes the evolution of director yasujiro ozu ' s style by comparing the 1932 silent film
he said : “i felt that i had to share this with the world” . in fact , the book - which often reads like a film script - was originally meant to be a movie .
most people list those two kids ( played by koji shitara and masahiko shimazu ) as the film ' s main characters . i suppose that ' s fair : a major plot throughline involves those two deciding not to speak until their parents buy them a television . but that doesn ' t happen until nearly halfway through the movie . people remember minoru and isamu more than the rest of the film , because after a certain point , ozu stays with them . it also doesn ' t hurt that masahiko shimazu appears to have been cast in the film after winning the most adorable kid in the world contest .
: [ movie posters ] ozu pays tribute to his cinematic influences by putting all kinds of film posters all over the wall in his films . in this movie , there are two posters , one of
the programme ' s stars have , by and large , been desperate to reprise their roles on the big screen , remaining hopeful of a film ever since the series came to an end in 2015 .
the time of ' ' good morning , vietnam ' ' is 1965 . adrian cronauer ( robin williams ) , an armed forces radio disk jockey previously stationed in crete , lands in saigon to breathe a little life into the local programming . until cronauer ' s arrival , the afr saigon station has depended largely on the music of mantovani and percy faith and helpful hints on how to withdraw books from the army ' s lending libraries , interrupted from time to time by sanitized newscasts .
the film starts with a long shot of the neighborhood , its rooftops and fence and washlines in the distance , all dominated by a tower . the film ends with a shot of wash on a line , paying off the gag of the boy who constantly shits his underwear . but the angle of the shot constitutes a reverse angle of the very first shot , since the towers are now in the distance .
this film is very much a docudrama which portrays the difficulties of italian life circa 1963 due to the absence of a divorce law . five scenarios with different actors portray realistic . . . see full summary »
the film was mostly shot in bangkok , thailand , and at the time , several hundred male students from the international ( american ) school of bangkok ( isb ) were recruited as extras to perform in the multitude of shots showing american gi ' s throughout the film . as a courtesy , robin williams actually came to isb and put on a stand up routine for all students in the 10th grade and above .
this is available only in the ozu boxset . on the dvd cover is printed an apology -
due to the original negative film condition , you may find some passages uncomfortable , we are sorry .
it isn ' t entirely clear to me why some styles of filmmaking should suit particular genres . obviously , some techniques can reliably produce particular results : cutting suddenly to a shot of the killer right behind the victim will always make an audience jump , point - of - view shots that don ' t appear to belong to any particular character give a sense of unease , and so on . shock cuts are not a learned association , they tap into the startle reaction . but the link between point - of - view shots and unease could be learned , because most times you see that technique , a shock cut is just around the corner . i ' ve never seen another film with as completely static a camera as good morning , but the closest things i ' ve seen have all been dramas . i wonder if there ' s something about ozu ' s style that is intrinsically better suited to drama than comedy , or if i could have associated ozu - like camerawork with comedy if , say , ghostbusters or airplane ! had been shot that way . but they weren ' t , and good morning didn ' t do much for me . i probably should have watched tokyo story first .


happiness is a 1998 american comedy-drama film written and directed by todd solondz , that portrays the lives of three sisters , their families and those around them .

the film was awarded the fipresci prize at the 1998 cannes film festival for " its bold tracking of controversial contemporary themes , richly-layered subtext , and remarkable fluidity of visual style , " and the cast received the national board of review award for best ensemble performance .

the film spawned the pseudo-sequel life during wartime which premiered at the 2009 venice film festival .

happiness ( 1998 film )

track 15 - the moment of happiness from the 1998 film version cats the musical . all credits to andrew lloyd webber .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing happiness ( 1998 ) near you .
was the online film & television association ' s choice for the best picture of 1998 . the film took home a total of 8 awards . below is the list of every nomination for the year 1998 along with the
for 1998 we also considered festen , testsuo , rushmore , pi , the thin red line and ringu .
twelve years after happiness , a critic’s mea culpa and an awkward , in - person encounter with the film’s director .
1999 : british independent film awards ( bifa ) : best int . ind . film - english language
karel deburchgrave is the chairman of the belgian film monthly filmmagie and has worked as a film critic for various dutch and english magazines . he teaches film at the film museums of brussels , antwerp and louvain .
for organisations such as the sundance film festival , the academy of motion picture arts & sciences and the film independent spirit awards .
film analysis is the process by which a film is analysed in terms of its visuals , sound , editing and narration . analysing film will help us understand the effectiveness of the intentions and messages of filmmakers and our own interpretations of films . each session will be illustrated with film clips linked to a film programmed at lumière cinema .
' happiness ' was a sympathetic portrayal of a paedophile , an obscene caller and other assorted sociopaths .
happiness received an nc - 17 rating from the mpaa , and that caused the film to be limited in distribution ; the film also had difficulty in advertising . for that particular reason , happiness surrendered the nc - 17 rating and was instead released unrated . the poster art was done by comic book creator daniel clowes . [ citation needed ]
hansal mehta won the 2013 national film award for best direction for his film shahid ( 2012 ) . shahid had its world premier at the 2012 toronto international film festival , following which it had an extended run at various international film festivals . he then directed city lights ( 2014 ) and aligarh ( 2015 ) . aligarh premiered at the 20th busan international film festival and went to the bfi london film festival . it was also the opening film at the 17th jio mami mumbai film festival . his latest films are simran ( 2017 ) and omerta ( 2017 ) .
happiness took $ 3 . 2 million in the states , just recovering its costs . according to good machine ' s ted hope ,
we hoped happiness would surpass $ 5 million , but i think we were hurt by it being written about as an anti - suburban film .
the title track happiness was written by eytan mirsky . in the film it is sung by actress jane adams in a scene and by michael stipe and rain phoenix over the credits .
the lives of many individuals connected by the desire for happiness , often from sources usually considered dark or evil .
he gave the film four out of four stars , and rated it # 5 in his top 10 films of 1998 , saying also ,
it is not a film for most people . it is certainly for adults only . but it shows todd solondz as a filmmaker who deserves attention , who hears the unhappiness in the air and seeks its sources .
ruchika is a writer and director based in mumbai . her debut feature film island city ( 2015 ) won the fedeora award for best debut director at venice days , venice international film festival . the film travelled to over 30 international film festivals , winning several awards . she has recently written the story and screenplay of a short film , to be directed by zoya akhtar .
it was almost seven years ago . todd solondz , the director of such films as welcome to the dollhouse , storytelling , and most recently , weiner dog , had just come out with life during wartime , a sort - of - sequel to his 1998 film happiness , an acidic satire about unhappy suburbanites that cemented his reputation as a major american art - house auteur . i was one of the few new york critics who was not entirely enthused by dollhouse , his 1995 breakthrough , and i hated happiness . just hated it .
happiness is tough stuff - - quietly confrontational , genuinely haunting , and , most disturbing of all , unexpectedly moving .
award and the nora ephron prize in the 2014 tribeca film festival for her feature film zero motivation . her short films have also received multiple international awards .
acclaimed film critic roger ebert championed the film and applauded solondz for his honesty in depicting such intense issues : ‘why see the film ? happiness is about its unhappy characters , in a way that helps us see them a little more clearly , to feel sorry for them , and at the same time to see how closely tragedy and farce come together in the messiness of sexuality . [ … ] it is not a film for most people . it is certainly for adults only . but it shows todd solondz as a filmmaker who deserves attention , who hears the unhappiness in the air and seeks its sources . ’ ( ebert 1998 paras 8 – 9 ) .
solondz had made a name for himself as ‘one of the most lacerating , funny and distinctive voices in american film’ ( maslin 1998 para 3 ) – at least in the eyes of the new york times – and as such , happiness received overwhelmingly positive praise from the critics , even though its content is anything but standard fare . widely lauded as being imbued with a sense of irony , the over - arching message that the film sends is ‘that happiness is elsewhere , happening to someone ( everyone ) else’ ( murray 2011 p 230 ) and this feeling motivates all the characters as they struggle to find their place in what appears to be quite a regimented world .
in other words , universal dropped happiness solely because of its content . and while its content ( specifically pedophilia ) makes happiness an extreme case , the fact that such a well - praised film was so easily jettisoned by the parent company points to a new reality for many independent film distributors : they aren’t as independent as they used to be . while they’re enjoying the deep pockets of conglomerate owners , they also must be prepared to navigate the whims and concerns of overlords made nervous by dipping stock prices and potential boycotts . such a risk - averse environment makes happiness seem like a resonant cautionary tale . ”my sense is that it could happen with any distributor that is owned by a larger company , ” says killer film’s christine vachon , one of happiness ‘ producers .
in life during wartime , solondz revisits his greatest triumph , 1998 ' s happiness , a lacerating depiction of suburban malaise . happiness won the critics ' prize in cannes and earnt a golden globe nomination for best screenplay – remarkable when you consider its main talking - point was solondz ' s sympathetic portrait of a paedophile ( dylan baker ) . and if you ever wondered what happened to him and the film ' s roster of screwed - up characters , life during wartime catches up with them 10 years on . but don ' t expect to see baker , or jane adams , lara flynn boyle and cynthia stevenson as the dysfunctional three sisters at the heart of the story . solondz has recast the entire film , often daringly .
producer of boys don’t cry , far from heaven and happiness discussed her career at the glasgow film festival . in a wide - ranging in conversation session at the glasgow film festival , producer christine vachon revealed a surprising truth about killer films , the new york city - based company she set up in 1995 alongside pamela koffler : still alice is the first and only of their productions to return a net profit to the company . vachon had previously confirmed the same in her 2006 book a killer life : how an independent film producer survives deals and disasters in hollywood and beyond . even in the tough world of independent film , that admission raised eyebrows given killer’s role in films including boys don’t cry ( 1999 ) , which won hilary swank the best actress oscar , todd solondz ’s happiness ( 1998 ) , mark romanek ’s one hour photo ( 2002 ) and todd haynes ’ far from heaven ( 2002 ) . vachon has subsequently produced a string of critical hits , including haynes
as hyped as the film was , its takings for its run in the us were just shy of $ 3 million . given that happiness had a budget of $ 3 million to begin with , it could hardly be considered a commercial smash - hit .
clio is a celebrated filmmaker whose work has been shown in cinemas , international film festivals and galleries like the tate modern in london and the museum of modern art in new york . her debut feature , the arbor ( 2010 ) , won numerous awards , including best new documentary filmmaker at tribeca film festival . her fiction feature the selfish giant ( 2013 ) screened in the directors’ fortnight of cannes film festival and won the europa cinemas award . her new film dark river ( 2017 ) was screened at toronto international film festival .
some truly hilarious moments , but i spent most of the film with my mouth hanging open in shock .
american film producer christine vachon poses for a portrait at metrograph theater in manhattan , december 16 , 2016 .
shreyasi is 14 years old , dreams of interstellar travel and studies in grade 9 , at udayachal high school . her favourite film character is shoya ishida from a silent voice . a good film is … “relatable” .
shiv is 14 years old and a student of cp goenka international school . he wants to visit munich and his favourite film character is bane from the dark knight rises . a good film is … “inspiring . ”
these are the kinds of thoughts
happiness
inspires . it is not a film for most people . it is certainly for adults only . but it shows todd solondz as a filmmaker who deserves attention , who hears the unhappiness in the air and seeks its sources .
an interview with writer / director boots riley about his incendiary new film ,
sorry to bother you .
the sundance film festival is jan . 21 - 31 . see the full lineup here . also on huffpost :
, that portrays the lives of three sisters , their families and those around them . the film was awarded the
todd solondz ' s film , present a jaw dropping dialoge , interesting characters , great black humor together with a tense drama , that show the life , relationships and strange sexuality of ordinary people trying to find they happiness in a disturb world . happiness it ' s a bold , captivating , breathtaking and funny classic , of course solondz ' s picture it ' s not for every audience , just the people that really understand black comedy and accept contoversial themes . it ' s also the first film , in a long time ago , that make a scene being sad , funny and surprising at the same time , just like bill and billy ' s last talk conclusion . happiness is , without a doubt , one of best films from the 90 ' s .
i adore todd ,
laughs actress greta gerwig .
i have such faith in him and his weird world .
well , that ' s one way of describing the films of writer - director todd solondz . detractors have called him and his work
cruel , misanthropic and mean - spirited
, he says . but then what do you expect in movies where the weak are bullied and trampled upon ? even his titles – notably his 1998 prize - winning ensemble drama happiness – are drenched in irony .
to say that happiness had a tumultuous time getting distributed would be an understatement . originally slated to be distributed by october films , the film was later dropped because its content was seen as too ‘morally dubious’ ( schamus 2000 p 257 ) for october’s parent company , universal , to put their name to . in a piece producer james schamus wrote for nation , reflecting on the distribution of the film , he says :
prabhat is 16 and a student of aditya birla world academy . on top of his travel plans is a trip to scotland . his favourite film character is achilles , from troy . a good film is … “something that makes me think . ”
the dark - as - a - black - hole comedy — director todd solondz’s follow - up to his 1996 teen - angst hit welcome to the dollhouse — was completed for less than $ 3 million . happiness had critics cheering at cannes last may , but the honeymoon between october and universal was about to come to an end . execs at universal , including president and coo ron meyer , soon got a look at the film and , according to reports , were horrified by solondz’s sympathetic portrayal of happiness ‘ pedophile ( played by dylan baker ) , a loving father who nevertheless drugs his 11 - year - old son’s classmates and sodomizes them . happiness ‘ stateside release was quashed .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
abbas is 11 and studies in grade seven at billabong high school . his favourite film character is ron weasley and he hopes to go to hogwarts someday . a good film is . . . “a picture which you could visualise in your perspective . ”
giving a film a title like happiness somehow suggests that there ' s going to be precious little on display , and solondz ' s follow - up to his indie hit welcome to the dollhouse indeed presents a cross - section of modern american agonies as an interlocked selection of characters strive for happiness in all manner of doomed ways . it ' s a vision of hell , but it has a truthfulness and a humanity that renders it as moving ( and , in a weird way , entertaining ) as it is horrific .
i , for one , would be thrilled to see solondz ' s heart open in his future work . but it would be a mistake to flinch from the greatness of happiness in the meantime .
with this in mind , along with the decision made by solondz to have the film be released as unrated , it’s hardly surprising that happiness had a difficult time securing distribution . bingam ray , one of october’s founders , is alleged to have said in response to the dropping of happiness from universal : ‘my attitude to universal was , buyer beware . tough shit , sherlock , fuck you , you read the script , you knew the kind of company we were , this was the kind of film that you should celebrate not censor . you should be embracing us , you shouldn’t be kicking us in the ass’ . ( biskind 2005 p 334 ) in getting the film released , many toes were trodden on and promises broken . ultimately , a deal was done between universal and a company called good machine , which was founded by three of the film’s producers , james schamus , david linde and ted hope . the company didn’t have the money to buy the film for distribution and it’s reported that universal even helped them with the bank loan necessary to make the payment . interesting that a film october had been so supportive of from the beginning ended up being a liability to them .
still , there ' s something about solondz and his work that suggests that , like his characters , he will always suffer . even his debut feature film was calamitous – so much so , he doesn ' t like to include it on his official cv . made in 1989 , fear , anxiety & depression – in which he starred – still evokes the title ' s emotions in him . the film was poorly received , and solondz quit film - making for a time , taking a job teaching english to russian immigrants ( an experience repeated by the jane adams character in happiness ) .
krisha is 10 and studies at akshara high school . she wants to go to paris and has two favourite film characters : sunny gill from sniff and kaaka muttai from kaaka muttai . a good film is … “one that gives some moral and is also entertaining . ”
the film didn’t stay on the shelf long enough to collect dust , however . october quickly sold it back to two of its producers , ted hope and james schamus of good machine , a new york production company that is now releasing the unrated happiness on its own . ”i guess october thought they had more internal freedom than they did , ” says bob berney , one of the execs distributing the film for good machine . neither universal nor october will comment on the decision to drop the film . ”they’ve been silent , ” says vachon . ”i think they just wish this would all go away . ”
the dark dementia lurking beneath placid everyday life bubbles to the surface in todd solondz ' s
happiness ,
a disturbing black comedy that , at bottom , is about all the trouble sex causes people .
konkona sensharma is an award - winning actress and film director . beginning her career as a child artist in bengali films at the age of 4 , she has now acted in over 40 films in hindi , bengali and english . her performance in mr . and mrs . iyer ( 2002 ) earned her a national film award for best actress along with widespread critical acclaim . she won her second national film award
it ' s no surprise , given solondz ' s past experiences . when he made happiness , outraged executives at parent company universal studios forced their specialist arm october films , who owned solondz ' s film , to drop it from release ( it was released by another company ) . he fared little better at new line when he made 2001 ' s portmanteau storytelling . after the furore around happiness , he was contractually obliged to deliver a more palatable r - rated film . cutting one explicit gay sex scene ( featuring dawson ' s creek ' s james van der beek ) , he was also forced to place a red box over the genital areas in a graphic multi - racial heterosexual sex scene .
here is my take on todd solondz ' s darkly comical masterpiece known as ' happiness ' - a film that deserves and requires attention . obviously , this analysis contains a handful of spoilers , as well as two clips with slight audio synchronisation issues . . . for which i completely blame sony vegas . anyway , i hope you enjoy my monotone voice !
srishti arya was to the film industry born . daughter of producer ramesh behl and sister of filmmaker goldie behl , srishti made her production debut with angaaray ( 1998 ) . following this , sristhi produced goldie’s directorial debut , bas itna sa khwaab hai ( 2001 ) , which she also co - wrote . apart from bollywood , srishti for herself on the small screen . her shows have been described as bold and new - age . currently rose has the mega scale show , aarambh , on air on star plus , and more shows in the pipeline .
rona murray deconstructs the fine line that the film needed to walk when it came to the visual display of the film : ‘posters , generally , will target audiences through the suggestions of genre , narrative or star value . solondz’s audience was less definable than that of a mainstream film and many arthouse movies’ ( murray 2011 p 228 ) . the poster , a cartoon re - imagining of the main characters , shows everyone looking on edge , as if they’re worried someone will discover their secrets . incidentally , in the film their secrets are laid out for us to see .
after his successful 1996 film welcome to the dollhouse , todd solondz’s follow - up film , happiness , takes a turn towards the darker side of the human condition . the film loosely follows the stories of three middle - class sisters from new jersey ( and their parents ) and their pursuit of happiness in what can be a harsh world without much understanding . trish ( cynthia stevenson ) , the first sister , lives in the suburbs and is married to a paedophile ( dylan baker ) , whose raping of a young boy brought the film under much fire from critics and the mpaa alike . another sister , helen , ( lara flynn boyle ) is a writer whose neighbour ( philip seymour hoffman ) begins an obsessive love affair from the other side of her apartment wall , while he himself is being chased romantically by a woman from down the hall ( camryn manheim ) . jane adams plays joy , the unlucky - in - love third sister , struggling to find stability and acceptance in new york city .
i’d seen most , though not all , of solondz’s films and the only one that made me almost violently reject it was happiness . maybe i couldn’t figure it out , or maybe i just didn’t want to go there .
biskind , p 2004 , down and dirty pictures : miramax , sundance and the rise of independent film , simon and schuster paperbacks , new york .
aviva is nine . she studies in chatrabhuj narsee school , in grade five . her favourite film character is harry potter and she wants to go travelling through france . a good film is… “something that attracts the interest of the audience and for me , it is more about communicating through storytelling . ”
john philip madden is an english director of film , television , theatre , and radio . an alumnus of the university of cambridge with a b . a . in english literature , he began his career with theatre , before moving on to the bbc and entering the world of radio and television . with several prominent television titles to his credit , including prime suspect 4 and episodes of sherlock holmes , madden turned his focus to feature films in the early nineties . his film shakespeare in love won the oscar for best picture in 1998 as well as the silver bear at the 49th annual berlin international film festival . his recent successes include much - loved the best exotic marigold hotel series and miss sloane ( 2016 ) . along with his work as a director , madden serves as a jury member for the digital studio filmaka , a platform for undiscovered filmmakers to showcase their work to industry professionals .
renuka is an actress , director and writer . she has been an actress in indian theatre , television and film for the last 30 years . her first directorial feature film rita ( 2009 ) was screened at several festivals . it was critically acclaimed , and won her awards for her direction and screenplay .
sloppy , heavy - breathing phone - sex fetishist with coke - bottle glasses . a grossly overweight young tenant who calmly dismembers then refrigerates her building superintendent . a horny manhattan cab driver from russia who serenades a shy new jersey misfit with you light up my life . these are just some of the socially maladroit , sexually frustrated loners who populate todd solondz ' s film , happiness .
why see the film ?
happiness
is about its unhappy characters , in a way that helps us see them a little more clearly , to feel sorry for them , and at the same time to see how closely tragedy and farce come together in the messiness of sexuality . does
happiness
exploit its controversial subjects ? finally , no : it sees them as symptoms of desperation and sadness . it is more exploitative to create a child molester as a convenient villain , as many movies do ; by disregarding his humanity and seeing him as an object , such movies do the same thing that a molester does .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
nitya mehra studied literature in delhi university and filmmaking at new york university . after working on a spike lee production as a production assistant , she returned to india to pursue her dream of making films . in 2016 , she released her first feature film , baar baar dekho . the film was produced by excel entertainment ( farhan akhtar & ritesh sidhwani ) & co – produced by dharma productions ( karan johar ) . she is now working on her next film script .
for her performance in omkara in 2006 , which was also the year she debuted as director with her short film naamkoron . in 2016 , she established herself as a director with her debut feature film a death in the gunj , while continuing her work as an acclaimed actress with alankrita shrivastava’s lipstick under my burkha .
helly is 15 and studies at lodha world school ( palava ) . on top of her list of places to visit is spain . her favourite film character is the black widow from the avengers series . a good film is… “one that makes you laugh , cry , experience everything and leaves a deep impression on you forever . ”
beware , films of sundance :
wiener - dog
already has our vote for the festival ' s most charming movie , sight - unseen . it chronicles a dachshund that inspires the lives of several individuals , including dawn wiener , the ridiculed protagonist of todd solondz ' s grand jury prize winner
welcome to the dollhouse .
greta gerwig , who is joined by an all - star cast , plays adult dawn . solondz has a rich history with sundance , with
dollhouse
jump - starting his career before festival rejected his second feature , 1998 ' s
happiness ,
because of its tough depiction of pedophilia . we expect
wiener - dog
will skip the controversy in favor of joyful tears . - -
what surprises him , however , is that
people took a studio seriously when they said they found the film ' morally objectionable ' . the idea of attaching any morality to a studio is naive ,
he says . he complains that , contrary to the negative buzz that happiness generated , daytime talk shows are able to address subjects like paedophilia :
they offer entertainment under the guise of a serious discussion .
the film was offered up to the major indie festivals , riding on the coat tails of its success at cannes : ‘the strategy was to release it to film festivals , thus capitalising on its critical success and gaining free exposure’ ( murray 2011 pp 228 - 229 ) . interestingly , the film was not accepted to sundance ; a festival which had well and truly made a name for itself as the place for independent cinema to thrive , especially when it contained subject matter that might struggle to thrive in any other public forum .
the film was highly controversial for its heavy sexual themes , especially its portrayal of bill , a pedophile and rapist , as a three - dimensional human being with redeeming qualities .
happiness is about the people that movies usually banish to the far corners : the lonely and the depraved , the ”losers” trapped in neurotic , even sick dreams of pleasure and transcendence . at times , the film’s intimacy is almost too lurid , too much , to bear , yet solondz , a scampish showman , has a gift for tweaking our curiosity , so that , like children waiting for a monster to leap from the shadows , we’re left giddy with anticipation at whatever seamy private horror is coming next . for all its taboo - smashing bravado ( graphic ejaculations , a sex offender portrayed with something close to sympathy ) , the film’s true shock is one of recognition . these characters are really us ; one way or another , we’re all slaves to the siren song of sexual craving . solondz’s last film , welcome to the dollhouse ( 1996 ) , was also a comedy of desperation , but an elegantly small - scale one . happiness breaks through to haunted levels of erotic compulsion that place it closer to the hypnotic artistry of blue velvet . it marks the emergence of a major american filmmaker .
the individual sessions 1 . the hollywood model : strangers on a train , 1951 , alfred hitchcock / case study : diarios de motocicleta ( the motorcycle diaries ) , 2004 , walter salles ( 18 jan ) 2 . the linear plot , european versus american : spoorloos , 1988 , george sluizer / case study : the vanishing , 1993 , george sluizer ( 25 jan ) 3 . the nonlinear plot : reservoir dogs , 1992 , quentin tarantino / case study : happiness , 1998 , todd solondz ( 8 feb ) 4 . the literary adaptation : wuthering heights , 1939 , william wyler / case study : the great gatsby , 2013 , baz luhrmann ( 15 feb ) 5 . the dream structure : belle de jour , 1967 , luis buñuel / case study : dans la maison , 2012 , françois ozon ( 22 feb )
‘october [ … ] was readying the film for a fall release when executives of october’s parent company , universal studios ( which is itself owned by the montreal - based seagram company ) , asked to screen the film in los angeles . while universal - executives were pleased with the overwhelmingly positive response to happiness at cannes , word of the film’s potentially controversial subject matter was causing concern . seagram is a publicly traded corporation whose primary business at the time of the screening was in the “consumer goods” sector - in this case , the tricky alcoholic beverage market . with significant regulatory legislation pending in the united states [ … ] executives were feeling vulnerable to the possibility that right - wing and christian organizations might target the company’s products for a consumer boycott should the film incite much controversy . the negative publicity generated by such a situation could have far - reaching consequences for many of seagram’s core businesses ; companies such as disney had come under fire in recent years for art - house films produced by its subsidiaries . ’ ( schamus 1999 p 35 )
happiness
occupies the emerging genre of the new geek cinema , films that occupy the shadowland between tragedy and irony . todd solondz also made
welcome to the dollhouse
( 1996 ) , about an unpopular 11 - year - old girl who defiantly improvises survival tactics .
happiness
is harder to take , and yet equally attentive to the suffering of characters who see themselves outside the mainstream - - geeks , if you will , whose self - image is formed by the conviction that the more people know about them , the less they ' ll like them .
“you hated happiness , ” he said . he wasn’t sticking the shiv in me . he seemed genuinely bewildered and perhaps a bit hurt , still , after all this time . and curious . “you said it was adolescent . i think you said something about it having a high - school mentality ? ”
in his review of the film , roger ebert wrote ,
. . . the depraved are only seeking what we all seek , but with a lack of ordinary moral vision . . . in a film that looks into the abyss of human despair , there is the horrifying suggestion that these characters may not be grotesque exceptions , but may in fact be part of the mainstream of humanity .
if the film is less overtly controversial than happiness , solondz reckons this is because the past decade has seen a considerable shift in attitudes to the material – in particular the issues surrounding paedophilia .
i suppose when i made happiness , 10 years ago , the subject matter was more shocking . i don ' t think there ' s anything shocking about it today . it ' s shocking when you don ' t read about this stuff . it ' s in all the media and so forth . i went to the park recently back home . there ' s a little sign and it says : ' no adults may enter unless accompanied by a minor . ' that kind of thing never existed when i was growing up , and i don ' t even know if it existed 10 years ago .
rajendra is the chief curator of film at the museum of modern art . he is also a member of the selection committee for new directors / new films and has served on numerous juries and selection committees
solondz’s deliberate pacing and tendency to run all his scenes at length make the film seem every bit as long as it is ; at two hours , 20 minutes , pic feels a bit indulgent and overextended .
dulquer made his acting debut in 2012 , with second show and won the filmfare award for best male debut . he has since garnered a following for his performances in award - winning films like kammatipaadam ( 2016 ) and charlie ( 2015 ) . over the past five years , he has acted in over 30 malayalam and tamil films , and is set to enter the hindi film industry with the upcoming film , kaarwaan .
by far solondz ' s best film , an original exploration of american suburban angst , with three chekhovian sisters at the center and a gallery of
deviant
characters that are presented with humor in non - judgmental way .
new york – last november , students at reed college in oregon were invited to a public screening of kimberly peirce’s 1999 film “boys don’t cry” in the presence of the director , an event intended to mark the . . .
perhaps solondz ' s most daring film , it ' s also his most gimicky , as eight different actors , of differing race , weight and sex , all take turns playing the same 12 - year - old girl . jm
the dark dementia lurking beneath placid everyday life bubbles to the surface in todd solondz’s “happiness , ” a disturbing black comedy that , at bottom , is about all the trouble sex causes people . a skillfully made examination of the problems a host of intercon - nected characters face even approaching the ideal represented by the title , overlong pic sees [ … ]
with its stylistic emphasis upon the facades that enforce “normalcy” and the codes of civilized behavior , combined with its urge to ex - pose the decidedly impolite , often warped impulses that variously stew or erupt in human beings , “happiness” often brings to mind “blue velvet . ” david lynch’s film may have drawn more directly upon an unmediated descent into its maker’s subconscious , and also served up more striking visual images , but solondz’s picture is unsettling for the similar reason that it explores taboo territory with moral ambiguity , acknowledging its forbidden nature while stressing a common , and undeniable , fascination with it .
i ' m telling you , you get it all in
happiness
- - masturbating adults , masturbating children , ejaculations splashing on bedroom walls , sexual predators getting chopped up and stuck in baggies , obscene phone calls , adultery , betrayal , and ( as a special bonus ) a pedophile father who drugs his young playmates and rapes them during sleep - overs .
based on brad land ' s 2005 memoir ,
goat
offers a portrait of
brotherhood
gone wrong in its depiction of a 19 - year - old college student who pledges his brother ' s fraternity and is brutally hazed . sundance touts the film as “part neorealism , part horror film , ” which is a description we can get behind , especially when it involves nick jonas in a key role . to top it off , james franco produced the movie . - -
little wonder he ' s shocked by the fact he has a new film to promote , life during wartime .
it ' s such an anomaly , particularly in these economic times . things are so grim for the non - studio film - maker . i ' m just lucky . it ' s just weird that this movie got financed , finished and so forth . i can ' t account for it .
admittedly , the financing failed several times before the film finally got off the ground . but given solondz ' s reputation and the
difficult
material contained within , that ' s hardly surprising .
if i had wanted to do something that would be more marketable , i think i wouldn ' t have had the same struggle .
with : joy jordan - jane adams bill maplewood - dylan baker helen jordan - lara flynn boyle lenny jordan - ben gazzara vlad - jared harris allen - philip seymour hoffman andy kornbluth - jon lovitz ann chambeau - marla maples trish maplewood - cynthia stevenson diane freed - elizabeth ashley mona jordan - louise lasser kristina - camryn manheim billy maplewood - rufus read rhonda - anne bobby joe grasso - dan moran johnny grasso - evan silverbergcamera ( duart color ) , maryse alberti ; editor , alan oxman ; music , robbie kondor ; music supervisor , susan jacobs ; production designer , therese deprez ; art director , john bruce ; set decorator , nick evans ; costume designer , kathryn nixon ; sound ( dolby ) , neil danziger ; sound designer , damien volpe ; assistant director , jude gorjanc ; second unit director , oxman ; second unit camera , storn peterson ; casting , ann goulder . reviewed at cannes film festival ( directors fortnight ) , may 15 , 1998 . running time : 139 min .
aviva is thirteen , awkward and sensitive . her mother joyce is warm and loving , as is her father , steve , a regular guy who does have a fierce temper from time to time . the film revolves around her family , friends and neighbors .
alankrita shrivastava is an award - winning film director and screenwriter with a penchant for telling women’s stories . she read journalism at lady shri ram college in delhi university and has worked with prakash jha productions on several films . she was the executive producer on khoya khoya chand ( 2007 ) . she is best known for being the director of the ‘lady - oriented’ film , lipstick under my burkha ( 2016 ) , which has been widely appreciated both commercially and on the festival circuit , having won 13 international awards .
elsaesser , t 2001 , the blockbuster : everything connects , but not everything goes , in j . lewis ( ed . ) the end of cinema as we know it : american film in the nineties , new york university press , new york & london .
it was a shock to the system . raised in a jewish household and sent to a series of private schools before he went to yale to study english , solondz was an academic high achiever . even his entry into the film industry was covered in glory .
born in slovakia and working in hungary since she was 18 , alexandra is a hungarian theatre , television and film actress . she played the role of maria in ildikó enyedi’s on body and soul ( 2017 ) , which won the golden bear at the berlinale .
strange thing , though : life during wartime floored me . it was one of my favorite films of its year , 2010 , and so profoundly affecting that it forced me to go back through my reactions to all of solondz’s films and second - guess them . this was especially vexing for me because wartime was essentially chapter two of happiness , albeit with new characters and an almost entirely new cast reprising roles from the original . and he was employing many of the same techniques , alternating a kind of sorrowful empathy with a satirical mercilessness that brushed up against outright cruelty . okay , cruelty is too strong , though i might have accused solondz of that in my happiness review ; you could certainly call him unsparing in the way that he showed people’s deluded self - images in order to puncture them .
todd solondz ' s
happiness
is a film that perplexes its viewers , even those who admire it , because it challenges the ways we attempt to respond to it . is it a portrait of desperate human sadness ? then why are we laughing ? is it an ironic comedy ? then why its tenderness with these lonely people ? is it about depravity ? yes , but why does it make us suspect , uneasily , that the depraved are only seeking what we all seek , but with a lack of ordinary moral vision ? in a film that looks into the abyss of human despair , there is the horrifying suggestion that these characters may not be grotesque exceptions , but may in fact be part of the mainstream of humanity . whenever a serial killer or a sex predator is arrested , we turn to the paper to find his neighbors saying that the monster
seemed just like anyone else .
happiness
is a movie about closed doors - - apartment doors , bedroom doors and the doors of the unconscious . it moves back and forth between several stories , which often link up . it shows us people who want to be loved and who never will be - - because of their emotional incompetence and arrested development . there are lots of people who do find love and fulfillment , but they are not in this movie .
this is a terribly difficult film to review because i think a lot of it works beautifully as a character study while remaining wholly distasteful when you consider that there are actual people being victimized in the real world while you ' re sitting there watching it . and they aren ' t snickering . everybody ' s talking about the pedophilia subplot , of course ( and it ' s certainly the most troublesome part of the film ) , but that ' s just the most obvious of solondz ' s over - the - top indulgences .
few enter the world of independent film expecting to get rich , but it doesn’t hurt to do well . in a screen daily interview , longtime producer and indie stalwart christine vachon says that “ still alice ” is the biggest success story in the company’s history . read more : metrograph & indiecollect announce world premiere of ‘gems unseen , ’ featuring early films from todd haynes & christine vachon “‘ still alice ’ is the movie that is sending my daughter to college , ” vachon tells screen daily from the glasgow film festival . “it was a big success and an honest company . it’s done very , very well for us . ” vachon co - founded killer films with pamela koffler in 1995 and has worked extensively with todd haynes , among many others . among her productions to receive critical praise but little in the way of financial success are “boys don’t cry , ” “ happiness ” and “ carol . ” read more : kickstarter campaign hopes to find lost
mainland china ’s film market might be volatile and unpredictable for many hong kong filmmakers , but that does not stop andy lo from trying . the long - time scriptwriter and director of “happiness” says he wants the best of both worlds , and he’s determined to achieve that . “i do want my films to succeed in both hong kong and mainland china , but the harder and more obvious you are , the more likely you will lose , ” says lo . “i think we should separate the two markets : you either make a film that is very hong kong , or one that targets mainland local culture . ” lo began as a scriptwriter for “ gorgeous ” ( 1999 ) , which starred jackie chan . he went on to co - write many titles including quirky crime drama “crazy ’n the city” ( 2005 ) , which won the screenplay prize at hong kong’s golden bauhinia awards in 2006 ; comedy “my name is fame” ( 2006 ) ; and last year’s blockbuster “ the adventurers . ” he made his
solondz has no illusions about universal ' s decision .
it was just about money . i don ' t think it was as insidious as ' we have a moral plan of what americans should or shouldn ' t see . ' quite the contrary . they are trying to get as large an audience as possible . happiness is just a little movie . there was a lot of controversy and flak that they weren ' t anticipating .
whether solondz admits it our not , part of his films’ disturbing appeal springs from their transgressive nature . they are , at times , like psychological horror films : one is scared by the sheer inappropriateness of what’s on screen . happiness is probably still his best picture . it was followed over a decade later by a very interesting , but flawed , semi - sequel called life during wartime . todd is still out there . sleep uneasy in your beds .
set mostly in suburban new jersey , the film takes its time revealing the ways its dozen or so characters are related , and that’s part of solondz’s design ; we seem to be discovering how their personalities complete each other . the nerd’s next - door - neighbor goddess is a trendy writer of transgressive poetry ( lara flynn boyle ) who lords it over her two sisters : melancholy joy ( jane adams ) , a guitar - strumming waif who suffers from pathological niceness , and trish ( cynthia stevenson ) , a chirpy , passive - aggressive housewife . their parents ( ben gazzara and louise lasser ) are ending a loveless 40 - year marriage , and happiness , indeed , views domestic life as a snake pit of secrets . in the film’s astonishing dramatic centerpiece , trish’s blandly unsmiling husband , bill ( dylan baker ) , turns out to be a feverish gay pedophile . between weirdly kinky fatherly chats with his preteen son ( rufus read ) , he uses sleep - over nights to drug his family into unconsciousness and do unspeakable things to the boy’s friends .
last month’s hong kong film awards was on a special mission . in addition to the usual star - studded glamour , the event was literally a stage for newcomers . lesser - known young actors were given the opportunity to present awards as well as giving speeches to introduce the best film contenders to the audience . the event , with 37 years of history behind it , has never felt so young and refreshing . the special treatment given to the young actors was seen as a response to a crisis of the hong kong film industry . as established stars ranging from chow yun - fat and andy lau to international action heroes jackie chan and donnie yen age well into their 50s and 60s , there’s no new generation of local younger stars to follow in their footsteps . “hong kong has a lot of great young talents but times have changed and they have less exposure and opportunities to practice their crafts in bigger ,
a few of the characters aren’t as richly imagined . boyle’s author vixen is a vindictive caricature , and there are winking throwaways like the deadbeat russian cabbie ( jared harris ) who offers joy a fleeting moment of amorous hope . yet all of the actors are inspired , and you’d hardly want everyone to be as painful to watch as allen , the masturbating phone perv ( played by hoffman with fearless lived - in wonkishness ) . darting from the tragic to the farcical to the scarily salacious , happiness stares at its characters with a voyeuristic candor so unflinching it becomes a kind of twisted benediction . the film is really inviting us to meditate on the chasm between our public and private selves ( a notion that may have special resonance in the age of monicagate ) .
perplexed , i watched happiness again 12 years after first reviewing it and thought it was amazing . not just the scene with dylan baker trying to drug and molest that kid — maybe one of the most notorious examples of how a filmmaker can twist an audience’s identification since the heyday of alfred hitchcock — but the entire movie . it was funny , sad , sincere , ugly , tough , weird , occasionally horrifying . you could not watch it and feel nothing .
bingham ray ( one of the founders of october films ) articulated the niche market that films such as happiness inhabit : ‘”i always wanted to be able to try things that were not necessarily commercially viable . i’m not some avant - gardist , i know the difference between something that’s truly experimental and something that’s wholly mainstream , but i’d like to think that somewhere in the middle is a comfort zone where there’s an audience . it might not be the largest , or the most lucrative , but for me the rewards there are the greatest ' ” ( murray 2011 p 234 ) . for him , at least , it’s not necessarily the monetary return that a film earns , but more about bringing issues of societal importance up for debate and into the consciousness of the audience .