Mini-review: Happiness (1998)

Philip Seymour Hoffman looking for a bit of happiness.

Happiness (1998)
Director: Todd Solondz
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jane Adams, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle


I am writing this, stupefied by the man, that is Todd Solondz, writer - director of this incredible movie. This is a movie that humanises misfits and geeks and doesn't create caricatures of them. This is a film that humanises a pedophile without exploiting his lack of normalcy as something sad or evil. This is a movie that empathizes with its characters and gives a shoulder to lean on for those quiet, lonely people whose needs are just the same as other, normal folks - to love and be loved, but cannot express it for reasons hard to describe. A film of this kind seems almost like an intense, personal project, considering how deep and objective and yet understanding Solondz is about these people (much like PTA's Boogie Nights). 


Happiness is the epitome of perfection in film. I am a picky person and quickly notice if there's anything wrong or off track with any scene (at least I think so). And here, starting from the choice of lighting (bland, minimalist, reminiscent of American Beauty) to the choice of music (happy sitcom type) to the choice of individual shots or rather moments that remain etched in your mind long after you've finished watching the film, nothing is out of balance or harmony. I would group this along with The Godfather, Seven, American Beauty and Raging Bull as films that left me satisfied both emotionally and also as an appreciator of fine cinema. 


P.S: Philip Seymour Hoffman is a force of nature. He has not more than twenty minutes of screen-time in the film (he's one of the principal characters however) and yet he lives the role like it's his second skin. Watch him take small pauses, looking uncomfortable, blinking his eyes looking for the perfect words, sighing in pathetic desperation as he acts out loneliness in all its colours - black, grey and a lot more.