As a female narrator reminisces about her younger self, we are presented with a family road movie all about love, loss, and forgiveness. Here is Screen Critix review of Devin Scott’s docu-drama My Happy Place.
We have all suffered from heartbreak at one time or another and it’s never particularly pleasant, but over three-quarters of a million divorces take place in the US every year and while the US divorce rate has remained relatively stable over recent years, it has actually declined in the long term. Devin Scott’s My Happy Place takes a look at divorce through the eyes of an adult who tells us how, as a 7-year-old child, she had to go through the painful experience of her parent’s separation.
Opening with a number of super 8-style home movie clips, we are immediately thrust into the lives of a young immigrant family from Germany who left their home and migrated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the early ’60s. Baby Anna, mother Ingrid, grandmother, and her father – a pastor who Anna referred to as Pastor Boarman instead of daddy, because he was so insistent she calls him that in front of his congregation. Due to her confusion at such a young age, Pastor Boarman stuck.
The opening is one of the more brilliant aspects of this film. Due to the effect that super 8 footage has on an audience, I initially thought I was watching a genuine documentary about a real-life family. It took me a few minutes to actually realize that this was, in fact, a completely fictional piece of work. I’m sure it’s based on some aspects of the film-makers real lives but due to the cleverness of the editing and the skill of the direction, the full 18-minute runtime never diverts from its mission. Its assignment is to convince the viewer that all of this footage and all of this story about Anna’s family is completely true and it’s fair to say, My Happy Place, completes its mission successfully.
With regards to the cinematography by Rob Amato, some of his shots are beautiful to look at; whether that be the traveling shots of the roads and deserts as we fly past them, or the images he catches of famous American landmarks. Of course, a lot of what we see would be considered a cliché of Americana, “look there’s Mount Rushmore, The Statue of Liberty, Niagra falls, there’s another huge Cadillac, a roadside motel, hey let’s go and watch a baseball game”. But when the clichés can appear so sumptuous, who cares how many times we have seen them before. The colour scheme of the blacks and browns mixed in with the occasional lush greens make the outdoor shots of abandoned roads covered in sand and rocks look extravagant. While shots of the early days of Disney Land are a joy to watch, this includes one horrific and totally un-pc sight from a Disney boat that becomes the film’s darkest-yet-funniest moment.
The writing and direction of Devin Scott are smart enough to keep you guessing as to what is real and what isn’t. This is especially true of the super 8 footage; I know some of it was special effects, but it all blends into the narrative and the rest of the film so seamlessly that I would have great difficulty pointing it out. Meanwhile, Scott gives us a conclusion that is both moving and extremely uplifting, leaving the audience feeling hugely optimistic about family, forgiveness, love, and life in general.
I am very much looking forward to seeing what Devin Scott comes up with next.
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