The Happy Film
2/5
I understand that wealth doesn’t necessarily make a person happy, and I know that being successful, accepted, and respected in a field they love doesn’t guarantee it either, but did we really need a two-hour documentary about a guy who is and has all these things? Were we meant to enjoy the self-indulgent exploits of a man whose life, to a lowly audience member, might seem actually pretty great? Were we meant to cheer along at all his fussy self-improvement art projects as he jets around the world trying to find out what makes him happy?
Now, someone that has everything that The Happy Film (2017) graphic designer/writer/director/star Stefan Sagmeister has may not be completely happy, but to the audience, presumably treating themselves to a night at the movies at the end of a long week, Sagmeister’s life must seem rather extravagant, and most importantly, regardless of factuality, his life must seem fairly devoid of the hardship that he seeks to be rid of.
But apparently he is unhappy. Why? It’s unclear—it seems to simply be a general unhappiness that no one can pin down. When Sagmeister flies off to a meditation retreat in the middle of a jungle, replete with plentiful meditation pagodas perched on the edge of the sea, is the audience supposed to be able to relate with it?
Most galling of all is that Sagmeister never even acknowledges everything he appears to have, and he is never apologetic of his excess.
Perhaps as a graphic-design project The Happy Film might be considered a success, but as a film—which is what it actually is—it is over-wrought and vaguely alienating, all of which can be attributed to Sagmeister’s inexperience as a filmmaker. Orson Welles and Woody Allen, to name only two, have tackled this subject (unhappy man with everything) and made films (Citizen Kane [1941], Annie Hall [1977]) that, in their own way, are intimately relatable.
Unfortunately, The Happy Film is far, far too concerned with its cutesy set pieces, and spends little productive time getting to the bottom of the unhappiness issue. The film starts with the shocking revelation that “this film will not make you happy”—sadly, it doesn’t realize how right it is.