The rambling and seemingly unstructured opening of the film can be hard to stick with until you get to know the people and the unfamiliar setting. When you do, you may find yourself deeply drawn into their world...a deeply familial, community of "middle-class" summer people in Sicily. Despite the stresses these people face, as described in the opening blurb here, I felt envious of their closeness and warmth. The intimacy of the film is highlighted by one couple in which an injured and aging man overcomes his fears under the unmistakably loving gaze of his wife. That moment alone is worth the the time invested in this lovely film.
A little background will help clarify the setting...this is from a PBS POV summary and I found it helpful in comprehending this unique place: "Every summer on Palermo's Mondello beach, over 1,000 cabins are built in preparation of the Ferragosto holiday. Centered around a family who goes into debt, three women holding onto the feeling of youth, and a politician seeking votes, Happy Winter portrays a vanity fair of beach goers hiding behind the memory of a social status that the economic crisis of recent years has compromised."
