Happiness [Widescreen] (E)

This controversial and darkly funny independent film is an examination of the alienated lives of three middle-class sisters. The eldest (Elizabeth Ashley) believes herself to be happily married and the epitome of suburban success, but she is unaware that her psychiatrist husband lusts after his son’s school-boy friends; the middle sister (Lara Flynn Boyle) is an emotionally sterile successful writer who is fascinated by the obscene phonecalls of her next door neighbour; and the youngest (Jane Adams) is an eternally optimistic hippie who maintains a Candide-like faith in her fellow humans and therefore ends up being taken advantage of by family, friends and colleagues. Populated by a cast of talented character actors, “Happiness” is a sharply scripted film that explores the break-down of family life and community. By focussing on sexual relationships that mainstream English-language cinema usually only presents as evil or extreme, the film also manages to present the underlying loneliness that leads to the bleakness and alienation of modern suburban life. In its final devastating scenes, the film also manages to convey powerfully, and unexpectedly, the importance of familial relationships. Often criticised as cynical, the reality is that in its final moments, “Happiness” reveals itself as a compassionate and moving film. Cast includes Ben Gazzara, Louise Lasser, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Cynthia Stevenson.