Happy as Lazzaro

{{Infobox film

| name = Happy as Lazzaro

| image = Happy as Lazzaro.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Italian theatrical release poster

| native_name = {{Infobox name module|fr|Lazzaro felice|translation=Happy Lazzaro}}

| director = Alice Rohrwacher

| writer = Alice Rohrwacher

| producer = Carlo Cresto-Dina

| starring = Adriano Tardiolo

| cinematography = Hélène Louvart

| editing = Nelly Quettier

| studio = {{plainlist|

Tempesta
Rai Cinema
Amka Films Productions
Ad Vitam Production
KNM
Pola Pandora
RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera
ARTE France Cinéma
ZDF/ARTE

}}

| distributor = {{plainlist|

01 Distribution
Piffl Medien
Ad Vitam Distribution
Netflix

}}

| released = {{film date|df=yes|2018|5|13|Cannes|2018|5|31|Italy|2018|9|13|Germany|2018|11|7|France}}

| runtime = 125 minutes{{cite news|last=Scott|first=A. O.|author-link=A. O. Scott|date=29 November 2018|title='Happy as Lazzaro' Review: This Modern Fairy Tale Is an Instant Classic|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/movies/happy-as-lazzaro-review.html|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129193337/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/movies/happy-as-lazzaro-review.html|archive-date=29 November 2018|access-date=6 August 2023|url-access=limited}}

| country = {{plainlist|

Italy
Switzerland
France
Germany

}}

| language = Italian

| budget =

| gross = $1.8 million{{cite Box Office Mojo|id=6752992|title=Happy as Lazzaro (2018)|access-date=7 August 2023}}

}}

Happy as Lazzaro ({{langx|it|Lazzaro felice|lit=Happy Lazzaro}}){{cite magazine|last=Shaffer|first=Marshall|date=27 November 2018|title=Interview: Alice Rohrwacher on Happy as Lazzaro and the Past in the Present Tense|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/interview-alice-rohrwacher-on-happy-as-lazzaro-and-glimpsing-the-past-in-the-present/|magazine=Slant Magazine|access-date=6 August 2023}} is a 2018 Italian-language fantasy drama film written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival,{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/the-2018-official-selection|title=The 2018 Official Selection|publisher=Cannes Film Festival|date=12 April 2018|access-date=12 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/cannes-lineup-includes-new-films-from-spike-lee-jean-luc-godard-1202751300/|title=Cannes Lineup Includes New Films From Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard|work=Variety|publisher=Penske Business Media|last1=Debruge|first1=Peter|last2=Keslassy|first2=Elsa|access-date=12 April 2018|date=12 April 2018}} where Rohrwacher won the award for Best Screenplay.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/cannes-film-festival-2018-award-winners-palme-d-or-1202816743/|title=2018 Cannes Film Festival Award Winners Announced |first=Peter |last= Debruge |date=19 May 2018 |access-date=20 May 2018 |work=Variety|publisher=Penske Business Media}}

Plot

It gradually emerges that on an estate run as a tobacco farm called Inviolata ("Untouched") 54 farmhands live in primitive conditions and work in a sharecropping arrangement. The farm, isolated since 1977 by a washed-out bridge, continues to be run in a feudal manner by the notorious Marchioness Alfonsina De Luna, "Queen of Cigarettes", to whom the workers are constantly in debt, never paid for their work, kept in ignorance and not allowed to leave. Lazzaro is a kind and innocent worker on the farm who dutifully follows every command given by the peasants, the Marchioness, her son, Tancredi, and the estate manager. Tancredi befriends Lazzaro and decides to fake his own kidnapping to aggravate his mother and get some of her money. Tancredi and Lazzaro set out in the wild badlands, where they write a false ransom note and bond with each other. They imitate a wolf's howl to make contact with a lone wolf roaming the countryside. Tancredi warmly suggests they could be half-brothers, since his father was a womanizer. Lazzaro takes the idea of their brotherhood seriously and falls into a fever.

Tancredi's mother sees through the fake kidnapping straight away, as another of her son's pranks, but after a fake distressed call from Tancredi his sister Teresa takes it seriously enough to call the police on her mobile phone during a rare surge in signal reception. This brings down disaster on the De Luna family. The police arrive on the isolated estate by helicopter and begin to search for the missing marquis; they are astonished by what they find on the farm, saying sharecropping has long been illegal, the workers should be earning wages, and that the children should have mandatory education. The police evacuate Inviolata to register the inhabitants, and Alfonsina is apparently arrested in a scandal that becomes known as the "Great Swindle." Lazzaro, distracted by a police helicopter, falls off a cliff and is left behind; later a wolf (perhaps real, perhaps symbolic) spots him and identifies him by smell as a good man.

When Lazzaro magically awakes many years have passed, he has not aged and wanders into Inviolata, which is long abandoned. It is being raided by robbers (one of whom lived there as a child). The robbers lie to Lazzaro, saying that the estate has moved and they are moving possessions for the De Luna family. They also tell him the city is within walking distance. Lazzaro sets out for the city, which he has never been to.

There, a woman, Antonia, recognizes Lazzaro from the farm. She takes him into a circle of impoverished survivors of Inviolata, who now survive by crime having lost their home and having received no compensation or state assistance. They express disbelief and uneasiness as to his lack of aging and tell him of the Great Swindle, but Lazzaro is more concerned with finding Tancredi. Recognizing Tancredi's voice when he is calling for his dog, Lazzaro is reunited with his "half-brother" in a nightclub. Tancredi recognizes Lazzaro and is overjoyed. Lazzaro unwittingly joins him on another of his pranks.

Tancredi visits the former estate workers and invites them for lunch in a typical display of largesse, telling them to dress appropriately. Though unsure, they arrive with expensive pastries they could ill-afford as gifts, only to discover that Tancredi is bankrupt and lives in a slum, and has supposedly forgotten about their meeting. Tancredi's sister tells the workers that they have lost the De Luna fortune to "the bank," although it is not clear whether this is true. She asks to take the pastries, a memory from times past, and closes the door on them. While pushing their vehicle back to the squat, the crew overhears organ music from a church. They enter but are barred from staying by a nun. Somehow, the music leaves with them and fills the air around them. They consider returning to Inviolata to squat there.

Lazzaro wants to help his half brother and visits a bank, where he accidentally sets off an alarm. The staff and clients are terrified as they think he has a firearm, and when asked his demands, Lazzaro simplemindedly asks for the De Luna fortune to be returned. When the terrified bank clients realize Lazzaro has only a slingshot, they beat him to death. The film ends with another vision of the wolf, which takes off from the bank and runs free through the city streets, back to the countryside.

Cast

Adriano Tardiolo as Lazzaro
Agnese Graziani as young Antonia
Luca Chikovani as young Tancredi
Alba Rohrwacher as adult Antonia
Sergi López as Ultimo
Natalino Balasso as Nicola
Tommaso Ragno as adult Tancredi{{Cite web|last=Balsom|first=Erika|date=13 June 2019|title=Happy as Lazzaro|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/happy-as-lazzaro-adriano-tardiolo-alice-rohrwacher-persistence-injustice|access-date=5 August 2020|website=British Film Institute}}
Nicoletta Braschi as Marchesa Alfonsina De Luna

Production

Happy as Lazzaro was produced by Tempesta with Rai Cinema, in co-production with Amka Films Productions, Ad Vitam Production, KNM, Pola Pandora, RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera, ARTE France Cinéma, and ZDF/ARTE.{{cite magazine|last=Vivarelli|first=Nick|date=30 May 2018|title=Cannes Standout 'Happy as Lazzaro' Inks Major Global Sales (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/festivals/happy-as-lazzaro-cannes-sells-around-world-1202825033/|magazine=Variety|access-date=6 August 2023}}

Release

Happy as Lazzaro was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival,{{Cite web |title=The 2018 Official Selection |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/press/press-releases/the-2018-official-selection/ |access-date=6 August 2023 |website=Festival de Cannes |date=12 April 2018 |language=en-US}} where it had its world premiere on 13 May 2018.{{Cite web |date=2018-05-02 |title=The Screenings Guide 2018 |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/press/press-releases/the-screenings-guide-2018/ |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Festival de Cannes |language=en-US}} It was theatrically released in Italy by 01 Distribution on 31 May 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.01distribution.it/film/lazzaro-felice|title=Lazzaro felice (2018)|publisher=01 Distribution|language=it|access-date=6 August 2023|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525104303/http://www.01distribution.it/film/lazzaro-felice|archive-date=25 May 2018}} It was released in Germany by Piffl Medien on 13 September 2018,{{cite web|url=https://www.piffl-medien.de/film.php?id=167|title=Glücklich wie Lazzaro|publisher=Piffl Medien|language=de|access-date=6 August 2023}} and in France by Ad Vitam Distribution on 7 November 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/un-amour-impossible---high-life---kursk---les-sorties-cine-du-7-novembre-2018_890395|title=Un amour impossible, High Life, Kursk : les sorties ciné du 7 novembre 2018|date=6 November 2018|publisher=CNC|language=fr|access-date=6 August 2023}} World sales were handled by The Match Factory.{{cite magazine|last=Vivarelli|first=Nick|date=7 August 2017|title=Italy's Alice Rohrwacher Shooting 'Lazzaro Felice,' Match Factory Takes World Sales (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/italy-alice-rohrwacher-lazzaro-felice-match-factory-world-sales-1202516900/|magazine=Variety|access-date=6 August 2023}}

Reception

=Critical response=

According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, {{RT data|score}} of critics have given the film a positive review based on {{RT data|count}} reviews, with an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. The site's critics consensus reads, "Happy as Lazzaro uses a friendship's ups and downs as a satisfyingly expansive canvas for a picture rich with thematic and cinematic depth."{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/happy_as_lazzaro|title=Happy as Lazzaro (2018)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}} At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/happy-as-lazzaro |title=Happy as Lazzaro |publisher=Metacritic |access-date=27 April 2019}}

Erika Balsom writing for the British Film Institute, described the film as a "devastating exploration of the false promise of progress and the elusive possibility of collective happiness."

Bong Joon-ho said the film "probes the rift between agrarian and modern life, and contains one of the most dazzling twists – and tracking shots – in recent memory."{{Cite web|title=Bong Joon Ho's 20 upcoming directors for the 2020s {{!}} Sight & Sound|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/bong-joon-ho-picks-20-upcoming-film-directors-for-2020s|access-date=6 March 2021|website=British Film Institute|date=10 January 2021 |language=en}}

=Accolades=

class="wikitable"

!Award

!Category

!Recipient(s) and Nominee(s)

!Result

!Ref.

Cannes Film Festival

|Best Screenplay

|Alice Rohrwacher

|{{won}}

|{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/05/cannes-film-festival-2018-winners-palme-d-or-full-list-1202394678/|title=Cannes Winners: 'Shoplifters' Takes Palme D'Or; Spike Lee's 'BlacKkKlansman' Is Grand Prize – Full List|first=Nancy|last=Tartaglione|date=19 May 2018|access-date=3 December 2018}}

National Board of Review

|Top Five Foreign-Language Films

|Happy as Lazzaro

|{{won}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/green-book-named-best-film-by-national-board-review-1164206|title='Green Book' Named Best Film by National Board of Review|website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=27 November 2018 |access-date=3 December 2018}}

Independent Spirit Awards

|Best International Film

|Happy as Lazzaro

|{{Nominated}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/film-independent-spirit-award-nominations-2019-list-full-1153425|title=Independent Spirit Awards: 'Eighth Grade,' 'First Reformed' Among Best Feature Nominees|website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=16 November 2018 |access-date=3 December 2018}}