Happy Happy

As awards season approaches, countries around the world consider their prospects in the foreign language category. For the Academy Awards, each nation is asked to select one film to compete for glory, with over 60 entries whittled down to a nine-strong shortlist, five nominees and one winner. Amongst the offerings submitted for the impending 84th iteration, Norway’s Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) stands out from the crowd. Although the wry comedy-drama may have missed out on the country’s first nomination in a decade, it is certain to amuse audiences with its apt portrait of married life.

Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest) embodies the emotion of the film’s title, with few things in her daily life receiving a less than enthusiastic response. The arrival of new neighbours Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens, TV’s The Killing) and Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen, Limbo) is met with her usual excitement, although her dour husband Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen, Fallen Angels) is incapable of sharing her interest. As the couples come together, an awkward friendship forms out of proximity rather than shared experience. A romantic bond between Kaja and Sigve follows, masking their respective relationship issues.

Winning the grand jury prize for world cinema at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Happy, Happy is an offbeat affair. From the slightly odd characters to the strange situations they find themselves in, the entire production – including first-time writer Ragnhild Tronvoll’s screenplay based on Mette M. Bølstad’s (King of Devil’s Island) dramaturge – is amiably off centre, resulting in a quirky yet quaint snapshot of human follies.

Even Anne Sewitsky’s (shorts Heartcut and Oh, My God!) debut feature direction relishes the unusual, particularly her decision to splice scenes of a choral group singing in English into the finished film. Yet whilst individual elements may seem anomalous, their integration into an ironic whole is unexpectedly affecting, mirroring the balance of subversiveness and sentimentality championed throughout the charming effort.

Of course, the success of the character-centric offering stems from the cast, especially Kittelson as the film’s engaging core. As long as her against-all-odds eagerness fills the frame, the feature perfects its smart and saccharine portrait of marital disharmony, projecting warmth amidst the cold winter setting. Indeed, much of the movie’s effectiveness radiates from her aptly judged reactions to the surrounding absurdity. Eliciting laughs as well as moments of genuine emotion, Happy, Happy remains a bittersweet combination of the serious and the silly.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Happy, Happy
Director: Anne Sewitsky
Norway, 2010, 85 min

Unclassified 18+
Screening at ACMI
9 February–12 February

Bookings: www.acmi.net.au