Disharmony in Norway

A Danish couple, escaping city life after one of them commits infidelity, moves to the Norwegian countryside next door to an insecure couple whose sex life is just as stagnant as theirs in Happy, Happy, the feature-film debut from director Anne Sewitsky. As libidos awaken, so do uncomfortable truths in...

By John Thomason

November 10, 2011

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A Danish couple, escaping city life after one of them commits infidelity, moves to the Norwegian countryside next door to an insecure couple whose sex life is just as stagnant as theirs in Happy, Happy, the feature-film debut from director Anne Sewitsky. As libidos awaken, so do uncomfortable truths in a perceptive mix of carnal comedy and wintry Scandinavian tragedy that is equal parts Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and Scenes From a Marriage. The four adults become so mired in their own romantic confusion that they're oblivious to the disturbingly sadomasochistic relationship developing between their children -- all part and parcel of the director's study in the ways class, race, and sexuality divide us. Every now and then, Sewitsky cuts away to a choral group of English-language singers underlining the characters' emotional states in song, in the manner of a Greek chorus. It's one of the many beautiful ways she uses music, which functions variously as commentary, counterpoint, and catharsis. Happy, Happy is playing at Living Room Theaters at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton. Tickets cost $5 to $9.50. Call 561-549-2600 for showtimes.
Nov. 15-Jan. 16, 2011

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