Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2013)
Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 45
Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 6
Filled with breathtaking images of the foreboding Siberian countryside, Happy People: A Year in the Taiga is a fascinating look at an isolated society.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 20
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 3
Filled with breathtaking images of the foreboding Siberian countryside, Happy People: A Year in the Taiga is a fascinating look at an isolated society.
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 933
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Movie Info
With HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA, Werner Herzog and Russian co-director Dmitry Vasyukov takes viewers on yet another unforgettable journey into remote and extreme natural landscapes. The acclaimed filmmaker presents this visually stunning documentary about indigenous people living in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. Deep in the wilderness, far away from civilization, 300 people inhabit the small village of Bakhtia at the river Yenisei. There are only two ways to reach this outpost: by
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Cast
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Werner Herzog
Narrator
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All Critics (45) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (6)
"Happy People" seems to strain toward the notion that harsh nature makes for a pure heart. And perhaps it does for some. But all?
Top CriticHerzog's longing for the ideological purity in which these lives are lived, free of paperwork and bureaucracy, taxes and technology, drives the film, which lacks an overall story arc.
It's a do-it-yourself world that Herzog clearly admires - much of what we see is the men performing the tasks that enable them to survive.
They decidedly don't seem happy. And "Happy People's" decision to skate down the frozen Yenisei without examining their unhappiness more closely leaves a slight chill.
If you want a taste of life as it must have been for the Voyageurs of old, this documentary is a good place to start.
Albeit a found film of sorts, Happy People is very much of a piece with Herzog's other work, examining man's place in the natural world, looking at man's history and man's ability to survive, to endure.
Cut down from a four-hour documentary by Vasyukov, the result is a film lacking in catastrophic tragedies of any sort that holds you nonetheless with its raw view of lives spurning quotidian modern comforts with a vengeance.
In a very real sense, we are watching Herzog watch this film, his rapturous reaction illuminating as much about himself as his subjects.
Titling a documentary about snowbound Siberian fur trappers "Happy People" is not as ironic as it seems.
Quirky and a little scary and rapturous all at the same time.
It's not that Happy People is uninteresting... It's just that the one sensibility of which we were previously aware -- that of Herzog's -- is indiscernible, as if frozen beneath all this movie's ice.
A stirring meditation on the human spirit in extreme conditions, Happy People also reflects Herzog's passion and fascination for the often unforgiving nature of the wild.
From Siberia, with Happiness
It's a minor film from a major director but it's still a strong one for those interested in its subject matter - how people can still co-exist with and live off the land instead of ignoring or abusing it.
Herzog ... continues his streak of well-crafted documentaries with surprising subjects.
Primarily following one veteran sable trapper through his primitive but fascinating annual routine, the movie also features clouds of mosquitoes thick enough to inspire phantom itching in viewers.
The quality of the video, solid behind the camera work and the dedication of all involved (and the wonderful subjects) make this an uplifting happy story about "Happy People."
Audience Reviews for Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
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- Narrator: This colossal land mass is one and a half times the size of the United States.
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