Le Bonheur 1965 Now

Available via The Criterion Collection, often streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max) or available for digital rental. Approach with caution. And plenty of sunlight.

Close readings of 3–4 key scenes (with timestamps)

The film opens in a sunflower field, saturated with gold and yellow. François (Jean-Claude Drouot) is a young carpenter, handsome and simple. He lives with his wife, Thérèse (Claire Drouot—the actor’s real-life wife), and their two small children. Their life is pastoral, set in the suburban tranquility of a village outside Paris. They picnic, they swim, they make love on Sunday afternoons. On the surface, this is personified. le bonheur 1965

The film is dominated by bright yellow (sunflowers, clothes) and vibrant green (nature), creating a visual experience of pure joy, which directly clashes with the tragic, unsettling plot.

What makes Le Bonheur so enduringly fascinating is not just its story but its formal construction. Varda’s editing scheme and use of framing are essential to its meaning. Available via The Criterion Collection, often streaming on

In an era of curated social media happiness—where we post the perfect picnic, the perfect spouse, the perfect child—Varda’s film is more relevant than ever. It asks us to look at the sunflowers and wonder who had to disappear so that the frame could stay golden.

Le Bonheur is perhaps the most radical feminist film ever disguised as a conventional domestic drama. Varda’s direction is a masterful exercise in visual irony. The opening credits, which feature a zooming sunflower and rapid cuts of the family walking through a field, are accompanied by Mozart’s ominous Adagio and Fugue in C minor, which hints at something dark beneath the cheerful surface. Varda uses the aesthetics of Impressionism—dappled light, vibrant flowers, picnics in the grass—to criticize the very notion of domestic bliss. The men speak of women interchangeably, comparing them to plants or animals, treating them as accessories to their own personal fulfillment. François’s shocking lack of self-awareness and his ability to bounce back from tragedy without a second thought is a direct indictment of a patriarchal society that enables male happiness at the expense of female subjectivity. Many contemporary critics found the film amoral or irresponsible, which was exactly Varda’s point: she exposed a male fantasy for what it is, and the male establishment was horrified. Close readings of 3–4 key scenes (with timestamps)

—pinks, purples, and yellows—to create a "candied" look that contrasts sharply with the underlying darkness. Floral Motifs: