‘Happiness’ at 25: How Todd Solondz’s Controversial Film Shocked Its Studio and Made Him a Breakout Star Director
03.10.2023 - 15:33
/ variety.com
Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic Some 25 years ago, Todd Solondz had a hot hand, and he knew it. His film breakthrough, “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” was a Sundance sensation and a surprise hit — surprising, in part, because of its scabrous and brilliantly profane view of life among the petty thugs known as middle-schoolers. So he set out next to write a script as close to unproduceable as he could.
“I played with things that I would otherwise never be able to play with and get financed,” he says in a recent conversation over lunch near his apartment in Greenwich Village. The end result was a tough sell. “Virtually every door was shut, except one — but you only need one,” he says.
October Films’ Bingham Ray signed on, and the finished product, a film called “Happiness,” played the New York Film Festival in 1998. The title should be read ironically; the ensemble of characters, emanating outward from a family of three adult sisters, are seeking joy in their lives, but struggle with miscommunication and alienation. Dylan Baker plays the husband of the most picture-perfect sister (Cynthia Stevenson), with whom he lives in an idyllic suburban setup.
Seemingly, they have everything going for them, and yet he’s a just-barely repressed pedophile who can’t help but give in to his desires. Still, we’re invited to care for him, even as we watch his crimes. Before it came to New York, “Happiness” premiered at Cannes, where it generated controversy, harsh criticism and praise.