Le Bonheur
21 Jul, 11:35 AM
In 1965, Varda spoke of a dual inspiration for Le Bonheur: Impressionist painting and amateur family snapshots. In Impressionism there was, for Varda, “a vibration of color that seems to me to correspond to a certain idea of happiness,” and in the film she consciously evokes the movement’s colors and settings. At the same time, she “wanted to share the emotions I feel when looking at amateur photos, the delicate impressions made by family photos. You see people, a group of them, sitting around a table, under a tree; they hold up their glasses and smile, looking into the camera lens. When you see the photo, you say to yourself: that’s happiness. It’s just an impression. When you look more closely, you’re suddenly troubled. All these people, it’s impossible – there are fifteen people in this photo, old people, women, children – it’s impossible that they were all happy at the same time… Or else, what is happiness, since they all look so happy? The appearance of happiness is also happiness.”