I’m not sure why I like Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) so much. For one reason, I was worried when I heard it was a portrait of a relentlessly happy person, but Poppy’s (Sally Hawkins) happiness is far from mono-dimensional. While she is bubbly most of the time, she has her down times when she recharges her batteries by walking for miles through London. While she is genuinely happy a lot of the time, at other times she forces herself to appear happy, as if believing she will become what she acts. Beneath the varieties of happiness we see a person of genuine compassion, giving our bon vivant a depth of character that makes getting to know her interesting.
I think I like Poppy because she is so unlike me. Freud’s old rival, Carl Jung, gives a convincing explanation of this phenomenon. The human personality has a few core characteristics which everyone has on a continuum--for example, introverted-to-extroverted. In early adulthood we latch onto one end of the continuum much more than the other. For the next quarter century, people down-play one end of the continuum, maybe rigorously denying it, maybe letting it peak through once in awhile. But after a 20-30 years, the side we de-emphasized wants to come out, leading to what is popularly known as “mid-life crisis.” Anyway, I am serious, and I find the happy-go-lucky a wonderful change.
I think I like the movie because it manifests the truism that how we look at things is more important than what happens. As Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk, says in Peace is Every Step, our daily activities can be done mechanically or grudgingly or joyously—how amazing to eat that food, how great to wash those dishes, how joyful to help our friends. In Happy-Go-Lucky, nothing much happens, and that is the point. Poppy goes to work as a teacher and enjoys herself (when she could complain about yet another boring crafts project for little children). Poppy goes out on the town with her girl friends and has a blast on the dance floor (when she could complain about being an old maid at 30, about no good men, about . . .). She works at making everyday activities the stuff of a happy life.
I think I like the movie because the supporting characters/actors are so good. As we have come to expect from Mike Leigh movies where the characters and dialogue are “workshopped” instead of written ahead of time, the characters ring true. Eddie Marsan, who plays Poppy’s driving instructor, is riveting, and he gets my vote (along with K. Ledger in The Dark Knight) as best supporting actor of 2008. It is crucial for the movie that Poppy come head to head with someone as unhappy and serious as she is carefree. Alexis Zegerman, who plays Poppy’s roommate of 10 years, slowly emerges as another crucial character as we see that she and Poppy do love one another. I am pleased to note that both Marsan and Zegerman were nominated for best supporting by the London Critics Circle, and that both won best supporting at the British Independent Film Awards.
It’s one of those rare movies I’d watch again.