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Very Happy Alexander

Very Happy Alexander

Comedy · 1968

Alexandre, a young and honest farmer, is oppressed by an authoritarian wife, who makes him work like a dog. When she dies in a car crash, he decides to stay in bed, absolutely free and inactive. Just a dog is occupied to carry food and newspapers to him.

Movie details

Very Happy Alexander

1968 Comedy 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.3 / 10

2.4K votes

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Alexandre, a young and honest farmer, is oppressed by an authoritarian wife, who makes him work like a dog. When she dies in a car crash, he decides to stay in bed, absolutely free and inactive. Just a dog is occupied to carry food and newspapers to him.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Very Happy Alexander?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Yves Robert

Written by

Yves Robert · Pierre Lévy-Corti

Philippe Noiret

Philippe Noiret

Alexandre Gartempe

Marlène Jobert

Marlène Jobert

Agathe Bordot

Françoise Brion

Françoise Brion

Eliane Gartempe, aka 'La Grande'

Paul Le Person

Paul Le Person

Sanguin

Tsilla Chelton

Tsilla Chelton

Mrs. Bouillot

Léonce Corne

Léonce Corne

Father Lamendin

Pierre Richard

Pierre Richard

Colibert

Court is in session

Put Very Happy Alexander on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.