Very Happy Alexander

This is a strangely great film. It is a comedy with many moments of uncontrollable hilarity. But what is special about it is that it haunts you long after you have seen it. The images sit vividly in your mind. The themes are built with great cleverness yet extremely subtly and entertainingly. This is a film of intelligence. It is superficially about the eternal war between men and women. But that is just the familiar context and not the real subject. It is really about small town customs and mores and how being different is a problem. It also has an extremely clever cyclical theme. This film ran continuously in Boston for years. (You can look it up.) It is not to be missed if at all possible. Anyone know how I can get a copy?

I saw this movie 3 times over 30 years ago. It is one of my favorite movies of all time. I have been looking for it on tape or DVD for years. I discovered IMDb today and for the first time was able to find that the movie is at least entered in a database. Can anyone tell me how to get a VHS or DVD of this movie?

One of the things that made this movie so appealing for me is that I am a dog person. Alexander is a lazy man who lives on a farm with his dog, a cute mutt. He sends his dog into town carrying a basket in his mouth to bring home groceries. The dog walks from store to store as the store keepers fill it with groceries. The dog then brings the basket home to Alexander. Alexander never leaves his bed as he stores the food the dog has carried home around the bed. The villagers eventually descend upon Alexander to force him to become a productive citizen - a concept he doesn't value. One of the villagers is an eligible young lady who sees Alexander as a potential husband and, more importantly, a route to a comfortable life. The rest is about the struggle for Alexander and his dog trying to adjust to the woman. The ending is superb.

Every once in a while a movie sneaks up on you and just really flat out surprises you. For me, this was one of those movies. The french sure have a way with wit and comedy. They were masters at it. This one is at the top of the pile for sure. I guess you can't go back again but if you could, I would request more french comedies just like this one.

My day got a whole lot better watching this. This one is classified as a comedy and rightly so, but ,there needs to be another category for movies like this...Charming. If your not smiling or happy or not feeling better after watching this, you need therapy. They don't make em like this anymore. Absolutely fantastic film.

It was in 1968 that famous French actor/director Yves Robert shot "Alexandre Le Bienheureux"/Very Happy Alexander. It is said about Yves Robert that before entering the field of cinema, he had successfully tried his hand at various "Métiers" which have enabled him to faithfully depict working classes in his films. It is precisely his eye for detail which is very much visible in this film. A very happy Alexander is one of his lesser known comedy films which celebrates the virtues of laziness. It is true that laziness has been known since olden times as one of the seven deadly sins. However, Yves Robert makes us believe that even a certain joy can be had if one is able to lead a planned lazy life without bothering to worry about what is happening in the outside world. As a "meaningful" comedy film, 'Alexandre Le Bienheureux' raises a lot of pertinent questions about male/female relationships especially in the context of love and marriage. One of the most important questions raised by this film is whether a partner can leave a union if the relationship is purely based on money. Much of the film concerns a happy farmer Alexander whose life changes for good when his domineering rich wife dies in a car accident. The film also discusses how love can change a person's life. This aspect is depicted through a credible amorous relationship featuring two great actors of French cinema: Philippe Noiret and Marlène Jobert.

In an era that also gave us Peter Seller's Clouseau, Phillipe Noiret created another indelible comic character in Alexandre that deserves a certain degree of immortality. One can only hope that there is a vault somewhere that contains a decent print of the film and that the owners will see fit to preserve it. To describe "Alexandre le bienheureux" as charming is too soft a description -- it is social and political commentary wrapped in a delightful and hilarious package that has few equals. The ending was a revelation for a generation of young filmgoers who also believed there might be something more to life than laboring to gain subsistence. When it played in my hometown in the early 1970's -- in a limited run at the local art museum -- I dragged everyone I could find to it. Ah, to be able to do the same today!