The Idyll of Cliché and Its Unease in Agnès Varda's Happiness

Upon its release in 1965, Happiness (Le Bonheur, 1965) was met with outrage because, as its director Agnès Varda claimed, it was misunderstood. At first glance, it appears to be a story about a happy young family in which the husband finds happiness with another beautiful young blonde outside the marriage. As such, the film would be an insidious portrayal of women’s lack of agency and their blind submission to men. However, the article proposes a reading where the film serves as a self-critique, producing a Brechtian alienation effect and evoking a sense of unease that is strongly reminiscent of Freud’s concept of the uncanny. Thus, the film is not only a feminist critique of a woman’s position in an idyllic cliché but a critique of the cliché itself.

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The Idyll of Cliché and Its Unease in Agnès Varda’s Happiness