Just returned from seeing Happy Here and Now (Michael Almereyda, writer/director). In terms of its thematic ground and stylistic approach, you could place it on a triple bill fairly easily with Pulse and Demonlover — but it’s far more hopeful than the former and has far more heart than the latter. (Another quick description I could make would be to say that it’s L’Avventura crossed with William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition — which may or may not make any sense). It’s very, very lightly science fictional — part of the plot hinges on a piece of video messaging software that’ll probably be in use in nine months or so. Fundamentally, though, it’s a film that deals with how technology affects us and our relationship to society; weighty themes like alienation and identity hover over the proceedings, and there’s plenty to ponder over the course of the film.
It’s also incredibly lively at times, funny at others (I won’t say what, but fans of Nikola Tesla will be pleased), and moving. All of the central characters are damaged in some way — in the case of at least two, physically — and part of the experience of watching the film is seeing how this damage plays itself out. (I kept expecting John Hawkes‘s character from Me and You and Everyone We Know to wander onscreen, bandaged hand prominently displayed). There are some terrifically composed scenes, and one character’s epiphany takes shape as one of the film’s most thrilling sequences.
Walking towards the subway after the film ended, I found it interesting that both this film and Pulse — each of which, I think, functions as something of a parable of how we live now — are several years old and are only seeing theatrical release stateside now. Happy Here and Now was shot in 2001 in New Orleans, and it shows the city as a fully functioning, lived-in place. (The soundtrack’s terrific as well.) Ultimately, this is an analog film dealing with digital life, and it’s well worth ninety minutes of your time.