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Happiness (1998)
Unflinchingly brilliant (but not a comfortable watch)
I just watched this film on TV last night. Man, I thought I couldn't be shocked by film anymore. The last 15 minutes is without doubt the most uncomfortable I have ever witnessed in film. Some people that I have spoken to who watched the film stated that they found themselves feeling a certain amount of sympathy for the paedophile psychiatrist played by Dylan Baker. I certainly felt sympathy for a fair few of the characters, not least Philip Seymour Hoffman's hopeless crank caller, but I can't say I felt that much sympathy for Baker's character. I never got the feeling that he was particularly sorry about the things that he had done, and was certainly the creepiest character in the film (which says something). On the other hand, my sympathies lay with the young Billy as you watch his world fall apart as he finds out his father is not who he believes to be, and with Joy, the only genuinely likable sister who seems to suffer one mishap after another in her pursuit of happiness.
This would have been unbearable if it were not for a blackly comic sense of mischief that is apparent through the whole film. The music is almost ridiculously out of place throughout the most part of the film, which only adds to the black comedy throughout. Thankfully though, this is not used in some of the more controversial scenes. The performances are universally great, especially Philip Seymour Hoffman who manages to bring to his character a certain amount of pathos that a character as vile as his does not deserve. Ben Gazarra also does a great job as the sisters' father, while Dylan Baker puts in the most memorable turn as the family man, who suffers from the most terrible urges.
Ultimately Solondz has made an unflinchingly brilliant look at the underbelly of America. This film will succeed in offending a lot of people, but he won't be bothered about that. At the same time, while the film is excellent, I don't think it's one that I could watch again.
Shame that Solondz has not been able to scale the heights of this since, though.