‘Happiness’ at 25: How Todd Solondz’s Controversial Film Shocked Its Studio and Made Him a Breakout Star Director
variety.comDaniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic Some 25 years ago, Todd Solondz had a hot hand, and he knew it. His film breakthrough, “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” was a Sundance sensation and a surprise hit — surprising, in part, because of its scabrous and brilliantly profane view of life among the petty thugs known as middle-schoolers.
So he set out next to write a script as close to unproduceable as he could. “I played with things that I would otherwise never be able to play with and get financed,” he says in a recent conversation over lunch near his apartment in Greenwich Village.
The end result was a tough sell. “Virtually every door was shut, except one — but you only need one,” he says. October Films’ Bingham Ray signed on, and the finished product, a film called “Happiness,” played the New York Film Festival in 1998.
The title should be read ironically; the ensemble of characters, emanating outward from a family of three adult sisters, are seeking joy in their lives, but struggle with miscommunication and alienation.
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