Happy as Lazzaro (2018) Film 4, written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/happy-as-lazzaro

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_as_Lazzaro

Happy as Lazzaro won the Best Screenplay at the Cannes Festival 2018. It’s quite simple yet quite complex.

Setting the scene. A proposal. A peasant farmworkerwith his workmates come to ask for the hand in marriage of young girl. Lazzaro (Adriano Tardiolo) looks on smiling. Food and drink is prepared in the traditional way. An electric lightbulb is borrowed and moved to the main room so they can see each other.

This shows two things. The peasants are poor, when they need to share a lightbulb. But also it can’t be that far in the past if they’ve got electrical lighting.

The feudal nature of the estate called Inviolata is reinforced when the peasant farmer and his fiancée get on the flatbed truck come to take away the harvest on the tobacco farm.  The Marchioness Alfonsina De Luna (Nicoletta Braschi) "Queen of Cigarettes" does not allow them to leave her estate because they are in debt to her. The 54 other farmhands and their children are also in her debt. She owns the land and therefore owns the people on the land.

Her teenage son Tancredi (Luca Chikovani) reminds her that time has moved on and she can no longer exploit workers in this way.

Son: aren’t you afraid they’ll find out the truth?

Marchoness: Human beings are like animals. Set them free and they become aware of their condition as slaves. Of being destined to suffer. Now they suffer but they’re not aware of it.

…Look at him.

[Lazarro] I exploit them and they exploit that poor man. It’s a chain reaction. It can’t be stopped.

Maybe he doesn’t exploit anyone?

That’s impossible.

That’s the central question this film explores. Is it possible to be a holy or happy fool? Or is it just foolish to believe that?

This has a modern vibe: ‘I don’t care if he’s a ghost. If he stays here he has to work.’

Worth watching.