Review of Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) by Allen G — 03 Jul 2013

Sure, Herzog makes a glaring mistake here with his clear idealisation of the Siberian hunters', often less-than-happy looking lives, but he still brings us to this far-away place and captures the beauty of it all. Things probably aren't as simple as Herzog's portrayal here suggests he wants them to be but surely there's nothing wrong with a filmmaker getting lost in what they too want us to lose ourselves in?

Of course, this documentary isn't just your usual bread and butter- It's a Werner Herzog movie and so there's bound to be some irony in the 'Happy People' and sure enough there is- we have alcoholism, risk, loss and death but Herzog isn't exactly wrong to call these people happy- they certainly seem content, complete and, though there's no big smiles going around here maybe in comparison to you and me these people are happy. Maybe it's their connection with the land that allows for this to be the case or maybe it's how normal their lives seem in such a remote and extreme world. It might even be because they are hardened in a way that we are not- they've come to terms with the less-pleasant aspects of nature, in fact, they benefit from these aspects. Whatever the reason, this film provides us with several possibilities. Sure, there is something behind the surface here and it is strange for Herzog not to delve right into it but we know it is there, it is alluded to and since this is called 'Happy People' maybe jumping right into it wouldn't have been the best way to give the audience what they were promised.

Herzog's unusual, run-of-the-mill fascination rather than penetration of the culture and its people aside, we once again have some beautiful moments here from the great nature scenes, interesting interviews or the admirable finds that Herzog seems to always capture regardless of where in the world he is. In this film the scene where the politician turns into a karaoke-singer to try and win over the remote indigenous people is truly memorable and ensures that this is every bit as full of heart as a Herzog documentary should be.

A big part of this film is man's relationship with his best friend (no, not his penis- his dog of course!) and so it is worth checking out for that alone if you're after an alternative to Marley & Me and those other films that piss me off. It also sticks to the topic at hand and delivers, a pretty robust, description of day-to-day life there. Length-wise it feels fine and it feels like it'd be accessible to people not already familiar with Herzog's work. It really is a shame though that he didn't take off the rose-tinted glasses for a second and go back to his beautifully depressing old self. Ah well, win some, lose some.