Le bonheur

All is happiness in François' life: the young carpenter is married to Thérèse and they have two lovely children. He adores all three of them. Yet still there is room for even more happiness in his life, which he finds when he strikes up an affair with the young postal worker Émilie. Despite his extramarital escapades, he still loves his wife as much as before. Thérèse, of course, notices that her husband is in an even better mood than usual and questions him about it. Not wanting to lie, François confesses his affair. At first, this does not seem to have any consequences.

Nouvelle vague director Agnès Varda, who died last March, doesn't pass moral judgement in this romantic drama about François' infidelity, something for which she was strongly criticized. Striking detail: in the film, the real wife and children of leading actor Jean-Claude Drouot play his film wife and children. Awarded three times at the 1965 Berlinale.