Agent of Happiness
트레일러 재생
Arun BHATTARAI, Dorottya ZURBÓ
- Bhutan, Hungary
- 2024
- 93min
- G
- DCP
- color
Korean Premiere
Synopsis
How can you measure happiness? The country of Bhutan invented Gross National Happiness to do just that. Amber, a 40-year-old man who is still living with his elderly mother, is one of the agents who travels to measure how happy people really are. He is a hopeless romantic who dreams of finding love: a happiness agent in search of his own happiness. We embark with Amber on a cross-country road trip, meeting diverse citizens and reminding us of the fragility and beauty of our own happiness.
Review
How does one measure a nation's development and prosperity? While many might point to production output, military strength, or population, Bhutan offers a unique answer: happiness. Known as "the happiest country in the world," Bhutan annually dispatches trained surveyors across the country to gather data for its Gross National Happiness Index. But Agent of Happiness poses an intriguing question: How happy are these surveyors themselves? This captivating road movie follows two surveyors as they traverse Bhutan's mountainous, cloud-shrouded landscape. The film interweaves two compelling narratives: the surveyors' encounters with a diverse cross-section of Bhutanese society—from a wealthy polygamist to a mountain girl with a passion for singing, and a transgender woman caring for her ailing mother—and the surveyors' own journey of self-reflection. As they travel in their small SUV, these "agents of happiness" contemplate the meaning of contentment, sharing stories about the people they meet and their own lives. The film's focus gradually shifts to Amber, a single man caring for his elderly mother and the son of Nepali immigrants. Through subtle observations of his words, silences, and expressions, the documentary paints a nuanced portrait of individual struggle and resilience. Agent of Happiness skillfully captures the ironies and contrasts of modern Bhutan: a land where TV advertisements extol the king and national happiness, while horse-drawn carts share roads with smartphone-wielding mountain dwellers. The film's delicate and witty cinematography expertly frames these juxtapositions, adding another layer of depth and enjoyment to the viewing experience.Director
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Arun BHATTARAI
Born in Bhutan, 1985. Arun Bhattarai premiered his first feature-length documentary The Next Guardian (2017) (co-directed by Dorottya Zurbó) - an intimate family story set in Bhutan - at IDFA in 2017. The film has been screened at more than 40 international festivals including True/False, Ambulante, SFFILM, MoMA DocFortnight. He is one of the few independent documentary filmmakers in Bhutan.
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Dorottya ZURBÓ
Born in Hungary, 1988. Dorottya Zurbó premiered her first feature-length documentary The Next Guardian (co-directed by Arun Bhattarai), - an intimate family story set in Bhutan - at IDFA in 2017. The film has been screened at more than 40 international festivals including True/False, Ambulante, SFFILM, MoMA DocFortnight. Parallelly, she worked on her first directorial debut Easy Lessons (2018), a feature-length documentary that premiered at the Locarno Film Festival Critics Week section in 2018. The film participated in more than 40 international festivals, receiving awards such as the Hungarian Critics Award for Best Documentary in 2019.
Credit
- ProducerNoémi Veronika SZAKONYI, Máté Artur VINCZE, Arun BHATTARAI
- Cinematography Arun BHATTARAI
- Editor Péter SASS
- Music Ádám BALÁZS
- Sound Rudolf VÁRHEGYI H.S.A.S., Tamás BOHÁCS H.S.A.S.