Observations on Film Art No. 43

One of the most provocative films by the great Agnès Varda, LE BONHEUR interrogates our ideals of marriage, fidelity, and happiness through the sun-dappled tale of a young husband and father (Jean-Claude Drouot) who begins an affair with an attractive postal worker. In this edition of Observations on Film Art, Professor Jeff Smith considers the way that Varda experiments with long takes and quick cutting in this film. The unpredictable rhythms of Varda’s editing choices build tension, contributing to her unsettling exploration of the contradictions hidden beneath the brightness of the film’s visual palette.