Happy as Lazzaro

PG-13

2018

2h 5m

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Drama

List

91%

91 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Lazzaro, a good-hearted young peasant, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination, form a life-altering bond when Tancredi asks Lazzaro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping.

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Critics Consensus

Happy as Lazzaro uses a friendship's ups and downs as a satisfyingly expansive canvas for a picture rich with thematic and cinematic depth.

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Alec B

You'd never expect a movie that features both social commentary and magical realism to feel this grounded and reserved and yet Rohrwacher finds a way to pull it off. Even more impressive is that the mid-point of the movie features a number of startling twists in the narrative that happen organically.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/05/24

Full Review

Eric P

A contemporary version of Candide (or, at least, indebted to Candide, a youth's journey, an innocent/fool's journey, both wry and sweet). Beautifully filmed, well executed all around.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/03/23

Full Review

kay e

Beautiful movie that is wonderfully thought provoking while also evoking tears as to how mankind is so often cruel and life unjust. One of the best movies I have seen lately and greatly needed in our present day world. I speak Italian so that added to the comprehension and appreciation but is a movie for all young to old adults around the world.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

isla s

I really liked this film. I found Lazzaro a quite endearing figure - he's a quiet, introverted type and he has a sort of naive charm to him - he with the large (and seemingly un-blinking) eyes. I felt frustrated by those who chose to exploit him (if but only mildly) and indeed, exploitation is certainly a relevant theme in this film, as well as tolerance perhaps. I liked/respected the simplicity aspect of it. It has a positive feel about it. I thought its good as a piece of social commentary. Its quite a charming film in general, I thought and so I'd recommend it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Ken R

Happy As Lazzaro – The Smell Of A Good Man Tuscan-born writer/director Alice Rohrwacher has created an Award-winning allegorical observation on how the average person stumbles along, following the ruling classes orders of the day. Most live without stopping to analyze the derogatory impact, this almost hidden manipulation, has on our everyday understanding of the true meaning of life. Curiously, the writer based part of this strange story on a factual newspaper story! The manipulation of the poorer classes by greedy conglomerates - fleecing workers for a pittance in return for endless hard labor. How empty modern lifestyles can offer little more benefits than those of the slave workers, too often pushing the good in humanity to obscurity. It's not a film for everyone and many viewers may miss important messages within this thoughtful work – perhaps one reason could be because they blindly accept the hidden economic controls, enforced on the world's working classes. ‘Lazzaro' is both enigmatic and silently devastating to any viewer prepared to consider how the world's bankers – pervade every aspect of modern life - often reducing it to rubble for struggling nations. It's little coincidence this film comes to its haunting conclusion inside a bank! It's a longish tale (2 hrs) so needing a patient, discerning audience. It could possibly have conveyed its thoughtful message in less time but those attuned to reading between the lines of our everyday news media - will be quite willing to take the journey. Fascinatingly the filmmaker is able to convince the viewer to accept quite jarring, bizarre twists, as if we trust somehow they are taking us towards a meaningful outcome. Sought after French cinematographer Hélène Louvart provides the darkly probing visuals. There is an interesting piano soliloquy that plays out here and there but the film has no score composer. Performances are uniformly good, making this a treat for those who like to think about their entertainment – the sensitive viewer might find the final scene one not easily forgotten (aided by a Wolf and some Italian folklore)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/22/21

Full Review

Juan R

Strange movie. Some Magical realism in the story of a naïve, humble and good human being.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/17/21

Full Review

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Alice Rohrwacher

Director

Adriano Tardiolo

Lazzaro

Alba Rohrwacher

Antonia

Agnese Graziani

Antonia bambina

Tommaso Ragno

Tancredi

Luca Chikovani

Tancredi bambino

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Amy Taubin

Film Comment Magazine

Alice Rohrwacher follows her beguiling The Wonders (2014) with the no less lyrical and even more fabulist Happy as Lazzaro.

Aug 27, 2019

Full Review

Erika Balsom

Sight & Sound

In the wide, green eyes of actor Adriano Tardiolo, Rohrwacher finds a gaze that sheds all cynicism, a guileless anchor for her devastating exploration of the false promise of progress and the elusive possibility of collective happiness.

Apr 7, 2019

Full Review

Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

Rohrwacher's eye for gestures is revealing of class, pride, humour, and values.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 6, 2019

Full Review

Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

Even though the ending, overwhelmed with too many allegories and religious symbolism, doesn't measure up to the rest of the film, Happy as Lazzaro ratifies this filmmaker as one of the most valuable in contemporary cinema. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/5

Aug 1, 2023

Full Review

Manu Yáñez

Otroscines.com

This work makes us aware of the evils of our present and provides us with the tools to defeat them. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/5

Aug 1, 2023

Full Review

Josh Parham

Next Best Picture

One always has the sense of being in the hands of a filmmaker who understands how to create a tangible world that is so interesting to explore, and the film accomplishes that with a confident hand that draws you further into its overall messages.

Rated: 8/10

May 29, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Lazzaro, a good-hearted young peasant, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination, form a life-altering bond when Tancredi asks Lazzaro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping.

Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher
Production Co: RSI-Radiotelevisione Svizzera, KNM, Arte France Cinema, Ad Vitam, ZDF Arte, Tempesta, Pola Pandora Filmproduktions, Amka Films
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Brief Violence)
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Drama
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2018
Runtime: 2h 5m
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

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