Le bonheur

Le bonheur

Directed by Agnès Varda • 1965 • France
Starring Jean-Claude Drouot, Claire Drouot, Marie-France Boyer

Though married to the good-natured, beautiful Thérèse (Claire Drouot), young husband and father François (Jean-Claude Drouot) finds himself falling unquestioningly into an affair with an attractive postal worker. One of Agnès Varda’s most provocative films, LE BONHEUR (“Happiness”) examines, with a deceptively cheery palette and the spirited strains of Mozart, the ideas of fidelity and happiness in a modern, self-centered world.

Le bonheur
  • Le bonheur

    Directed by Agnès Varda • 1965 • France
    Starring Jean-Claude Drouot, Claire Drouot, Marie-France Boyer

    Though married to the good-natured, beautiful Thérèse (Claire Drouot), young husband and father François (Jean-Claude Drouot) finds himself falling unquestioningly into an affair with an attrac...

Extras

  • Flash Cuts and Long Takes in LE BONHEUR

    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 Observation...

  • Agnès Varda on LE BONHEUR

    In this short interview from 1998, Agnès Varda briefly discusses her ideas behind LE BONHEUR and how it was received by critics at the time of its release.

  • The Two Women of LE BONHEUR

    In this short 2006 piece by Agnès Varda, her daughter, Rosalie Varda-Demy, reunites Claire Drouot and Marie-France Boyer to discuss their roles in the controversial film LE BONHEUR forty-two years earlier.

  • Thoughts on LE BONHEUR

    In 2006 Agnès Varda gathered four intellectuals from various professions and backgrounds—freelance writer-journalist Michèle Manceaux, producer and distributor Gérard Vaugeois, journalist and critic Frédéric Bonnaud, and Fadela Amara, president of the organization Ni putes ni soumises, which seek...

  • Happiness? The People of Fontenay Respond

    In ths short piece by Agnès Varda, the director and her crew stroll through the streets of Fontenay-aux-Roses asking a number of the town’s residents what happiness means to them.

  • Bonheur: Proper Name or Concept

    In this short piece by Agnès Varda, the director furthers her investigation into happiness by looking at definitions of the concept put forth by great writers.

  • Jean-Claude Drouot Returns

    In 2006 Agnès Varda followed Jean-Claude Drouot, who plays François in LE BONHEUR, as he returned to the movie’s setting of Fontenay-aux-Roses and retraced his steps. He also reconnects with local residents, some of whom were featured in the film.

  • Démons et merveilles du cinéma

    In this segment from the 1964 television program “Démons et merveilles du cinéma,” directed by Jean-Claude Bergeret, Agnès Varda directs actors and crew on the set of LE BONHEUR.

  • Du côté de la côte

    Directed by Agnès Varda • 1958 • France

    As if you need any more reasons to visit the beautiful south of France, Agnès Varda celebrates the splendor of this area in a short documentary funded by the French Tourism Office. In this cheeky little film, Varda highlights the importance of tourism to...