Maison du Bonheur

Filmed in the Montmartre quarter of Paris, Maison du Bonheur is a portrait of 77-year-old Juliane Sellam, who is as full of life and vibrancy as the iconic neighbourhood she calls home. The film focuses on the daily life of Sellam in the pre-war apartment that the French astrologer has lived in for half a century. In this intimate and eclectic space, Sellam’s world proves to be as expansive as the universe that lies at her doorstep.

Told in 30 episodic segments narrated by Sellam and Bohdanowicz, the matriarch’s life and rich inner world crystallizes though her daily rituals of making coffee, applying makeup, and caring for her geraniums.

In July 2015, Bohdanowicz embarked to Paris to shoot the film at the behest of Sellam's daughter.{{Cite news|date=August 15, 2018|title=Filmmaker Sofia Bohdanowicz on her $10,000, under-90-minute independent film challenge|work=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/article-filmmaker-sofia-bohdanowicz-on-her-10000-under-90-minute/|access-date=2020-12-04}} For production costs, she sought out a $10,000 line of credit to purchase film stock and rented a 16mm Bolex camera. She shot the film over the course of one month and recorded the sound herself. After filming was complete, she applied to grants for post-production funds.{{Cite web|date=April 20, 2017|title=For Sofia Bohdanowicz, the stars aligned|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/sofia-bohdanowicz-on-chronicling-the-lives-of-elderlywomen/article34758995/|website=The Globe and Mail}}

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 7 reviews, and an average rating of 8.2/10.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maison_du_bonheur | title=Maison du Bonheur (2017) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango Media |access-date=August 26, 2019}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/maison-du-bonheur | title=Maison du Bonheur Reviews | work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=August 26, 2019}}

The Globe and Mail's Barry Hertz named the film one of his top 10 films of 2018, calling it "a supremely thoughtful and careful study of one elderly Parisian woman" and "as revealing as it is honest and sincere," adding that, "this is a film to seek out and cherish.”{{cite news | last=Hertz | first=Barry | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/article-the-globe-and-mails-top-10-films-of-2018/ | title=The Globe and Mail's top 10 films of 2018 | date=December 11, 2018 | work=The Globe and Mail | access-date=August 26, 2019}} Glenn Kenny of The New York Times selected the film as a Critics' Pick and called it "a profound delight."{{cite news | last=Kenny | first=Glenn | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/movies/maison-du-bonheur-review.html | title=Review: 'Maison du Bonheur,' a Beguiling Portrait of a Woman in Paris | date=August 23, 2018 | work=The New York Times | access-date=August 26, 2019}} Corey Atad for Vice Magazine praised the film as "a work of empathic delight, conveying the feeling of a life lived while providing only a glimpse at it."{{cite news | last=Atad | first=Corey | url=https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/53n538/the-hottest-docs-of-hot-docs-2017 | title=The Hottest Docs of Hot Docs 2017 | date=May 11, 2017 | work=Vice | access-date=August 26, 2019}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://sofiabohdanowicz.com}}
• {{IMDb title|6675706}}
• {{rottentomatoes|maison_du_bonheur}}
• {{Metacritic film}}

Category:2017 films

Category:Canadian documentary films

Category:Films shot in Paris

Category:Films directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz

Category:Films shot in 16 mm film

Category:French-language Canadian films

Category:2010s Canadian films