FILMS 53/12
PRODUCTIONS
HAPPINESS IS A SAD SONG
Imagine it is summer
and that, for the last several days, Montreal has been swimming in sweltering
heat and smog.
Then imagine that you are in the city’s downtown core and a woman
holding a small video camera approaches you. She asks you to participate
in a one-question survey. Although you are slightly wary of this proposal,
you stop to listen. She asks you: “What does happiness mean to you?”
and awaits your answer.
Go on! What are you waiting for? Answer!
"Happiness is a Sad Song" tells the disjointed story of Anne-Marie,
an unemployed publicist pounding the pavement in Montreal with her mini-cam,
collecting testimonials on the subject of happiness. It is happiness that
she appears to seek, or understand to the point of being obsessed by her
quest. Guided by serendipity and a series of surprising and varied encounters,
Anne-Marie dives head-first into her project. She meets a medley of characters
whom she engages in engrossing, thought-provoking discussions about happiness.
Anne-Marie moves from one character to the next, from one idea to the
next in her survey, gathering reactions and challenging viewpoints that
give her a chance to reflect upon her own life.
How can her obsession be explained? Why the survey? And why the video
camera?
Best canadian feature at the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie.
Nomination for the prize AQCC (best Québec feature of the year).
“Best
Québec film of 2004.”
Le Devoir
"Pic could
be remade as an English-lingo star vehicule, but that approach would lose
the pic's essential quality - of anonymity striving for something more
- that makes this such a fest-ready charmer."
Variety
“Here
happiness comes in a variety of shapes and forms, mainly of the private
kind, thanks to Anne-Marie Cadieux’s luminous presence and supporting
actors who manage within a single scene to move us to the verge of tears.”
Cinébulles
“In this
sense it bears no resemblance to mainstream Québec cinema. Surrendering
utterly, Anne-Marie Cadieux fuses with her character, laying herself bare
to the camera, sweat, tears, fatigue and all.”
Radio-Canada
"Cool urban
film language counterbalances emotional tour-de-force acting by local
treasure Anne-Marie Cadieux in "Le Bonheur c’est Une Chanson
Triste", a powerful new story of loneliness by multi-talented Quebecois
director Francois Delisle."
The Gazette
“Delisle,
who appeared in "Deux Actrices" by Micheline Lanctôt (here
lending her luminous smile to the proceedings), is a terrific director
of actors. Anne-Marie Cadieux, on camera in every scene, gives a sensitive
and nuanced performance…”
Voir
“Anne-Marie
Cadieux is outstanding as a publicist who abandons her career to wander
the streets of Montréal asking people she meets the same question:
“What does happiness mean to you?”
La Presse
With: Anne-Marie
Cadieux, Boucar Diouf, Miro, Marie Brassard, Denis Trudel, Luc Proulx,
Frédérick De Grandpré, Micheline Lanctôt
Directed, written and produced by: François Delisle
DOP: Édith Labbé
Camera: François Delisle
Sound: Marcel Chouinard
Production designer: Éric Bernard
Editing: Pascale Paroissien
Music: Ève Cournoyer
Line Producer: Joceline Genest
DVD, 35 mm, color, 84 min.
Year: 2004
Distribution in Canada: Les Films du 3 Mars
DVD distribution in Canada: Christal Films
Buy the movie online: Renaud-Bray.com