Family life in Iran, as depicted in Ali Tamadon's documentary, Are You Happy?
If you were asked, on camera and in front of your family, whether you are happy, would you give an honest answer?
It's a question that concerned some members of the audience after watching Ali Tamadon's documentary Are You Happy?, screened last weekend at the launch of this year's London International Documentary Festival. Tamadon, armed with a camera and this deceptively simple question, visited the homes of various Iranian families in the cities of Tehran and Esfahan, and recorded their musings on the state of happiness.
Some of the more extrovert participants were open with facts and feelings - one of the most amusing moments involved a husband becoming jealous after his wife said she loved her job as well as him; in the end she revised her answer - she just loved him. Others were understandably shy. One young boy said he was not happy and refused to say why. Yet his silence was just as powerful, if not more so, than anything he might have said - it let your imagination do the work. Throughout the film, there were many moments when small non-verbal signals revealed much more than the accompanying words: a knowing smile between a soon-to-be-wed couple, a young girl's backward glance to watching elders, or the silences of many, heavy with all those things left unsaid.
Most people said they were happy; only a few admitted they were not; and just one talked about president Ahmadinejad's oppressive leadership. This snapshot of Iran may be deceptive or reductive, but it is also a politically significant anthropological experiment. Iran is a country that the west often only hears of in association with its nuclear programme and its alleged involvement in the Iraqi insurgency. This film, on a domestic and social level, revealed something different - maybe it was made for a western audience (it could not be screened in Iran, I was told, because some of the women in it are not wearing veils).
While certainly flawed in some ways, Are You Happy?, the film-maker's debut, is also beautifully executed: Tamadon's background as a photographer is visible in the dreamy stillness of many of the black-and-white shots. And after 50 minutes of watching people reflect on their upbringing, relationships, children, occupation, home - on the things that, I guess, contribute to whether they feel happy or not - I left the cinema heart-warmed.
It's the simple premise that really makes it work. It's such a great idea. And it did lead me to think: am I happy? To which I could only respond: yes and no. Indeed, I don't think the film is trying to promote happiness. Instead it is, much more honestly, conveying that we are not - and should not - be happy all of the time, that suffering and sadness are just as integral to the human condition.
So, in the absence of a camera and under the disguise of a blogger's pseudonym, are you willing to honestly answer the film's question ... Are you happy?
