This marks a dozen films I’ve seen from David Lean to this point and I’m about ready to call him my favorite director of all time. It’s almost become a default to me now, when my mind wants a really well made and sharply written old drama I go to David Lean because of how many I’ve seen of his and how every time his movies make for a unique experience while keeping the style I love about him so much. This Happy Breed is a perfect example to show why I go to David Lean for a good time so often because even something like this, so far buried in his filmography on here with less than 700 reviews, can be as good of a time that this is. It’s hard for me to not immediately make the connection to The Royal Tenenbaums here, from the familial drama topics touched upon here to the impossible-to-be relationships, I’m not saying Wes Anderson ripped this off or anything, I like his movie a lot more, I’m just saying they both went for similar familial atmospheres and they were both executed near perfectly. Celia Johnson was great here, I’ve only seen her in another David Lean/Noel Coward collaboration Brief Encounter, and as she was great in that a year after this she was equally impressive here. I always love seeing John Mills too, he always puts a smile on my face, and his supporting role along with Robert Newton, Kay Walsh, and others really made this movie. I was expecting to like this a lot since I’ve realized David Lean is the perfect director for me but he somehow managed to surprise me again with how good this was. Definitely a contender for a 4.5 whenever I rewatch this in the future.

This marks a dozen films I’ve seen from David Lean to this point and I’m about ready to call him my favorite director of all time. It’s almost become a default to me now, when my mind wants a really well made and sharply written old drama I go to David Lean because of how many I’ve seen of his and how every time his movies make for a unique experience while keeping the style I love about him so much. This Happy Breed is a perfect example to show why I go to David Lean for a good time so often because even something like this, so far buried in his filmography on here with less than 700 reviews, can be as good of a time that this is. It’s hard for me to not immediately make the connection to The Royal Tenenbaums here, from the familial drama topics touched upon here to the impossible-to-be relationships, I’m not saying Wes Anderson ripped this off or anything, I like his movie a lot more, I’m just saying they both went for similar familial atmospheres and they were both executed near perfectly. Celia Johnson was great here, I’ve only seen her in another David Lean/Noel Coward collaboration Brief Encounter, and as she was great in that a year after this she was equally impressive here. I always love seeing John Mills too, he always puts a smile on my face, and his supporting role along with Robert Newton, Kay Walsh, and others really made this movie. I was expecting to like this a lot since I’ve realized David Lean is the perfect director for me but he somehow managed to surprise me again with how good this was. Definitely a contender for a 4.5 whenever I rewatch this in the future.

A month ago, I saw someone who had posted the movie on YouTube with a title like “My favorite movie.” I kept it in mind but ended up forgetting about it. Recently, I watched another film with Celia Johnson and became more interested in seeing more of her work. It wasn’t exactly my favorite movie, but I could totally understand why he liked it so much
It’s a movie about a house, full of life, where we get to witness 20 years of their lives. The synopsis seemed simple, but you start to enjoy their routine, the feeling of being settled in that house. You cry over Reg, laugh with Aunt Sylvia and Mrs. Flint, and understand both Ethel and Frank when it comes to Queenie, and you feel happy when she returns. That’s it. And I love that
A house where a family laughs, cries, loves, and finds happiness will always carry a trace of every family that’s ever lived there

A month ago, I saw someone who had posted the movie on YouTube with a title like “My favorite movie.” I kept it in mind but ended up forgetting about it. Recently, I watched another film with Celia Johnson and became more interested in seeing more of her work. It wasn’t exactly my favorite movie, but I could totally understand why he liked it so much
It’s a movie about a house, full of life, where we get to witness 20 years of their lives. The synopsis seemed simple, but you start to enjoy their routine, the feeling of being settled in that house. You cry over Reg, laugh with Aunt Sylvia and Mrs. Flint, and understand both Ethel and Frank when it comes to Queenie, and you feel happy when she returns. That’s it. And I love that
A house where a family laughs, cries, loves, and finds happiness will always carry a trace of every family that’s ever lived there

british people suffering. not bad

6/10

british people suffering. not bad

6/10

Beautifully executed family drama that never ceases to acknowledge life’s comedy and never discounts the ordinary. I loved how 90% of the film took place within or right outside the same house and how the finer period details skillfully showcased the passage of time and built context for many of the familial conflicts. And I especially loved the implication that this single “ordinary” family was just one among thousands who took up in the English suburbs after WWI, and that focusing on any of the families inhabiting such houses would’ve been just as interesting. This Happy Breed is a celebration of the seemingly mundane, and while that may occasionally bridge into endorsing complacency (and even selfishness), it’s so earnest in its convictions and skilled in its execution I couldn’t help but enjoy it. 

PS Sylvia apparently joining a new age cult is the funniest

Beautifully executed family drama that never ceases to acknowledge life’s comedy and never discounts the ordinary. I loved how 90% of the film took place within or right outside the same house and how the finer period details skillfully showcased the passage of time and built context for many of the familial conflicts. And I especially loved the implication that this single “ordinary” family was just one among thousands who took up in the English suburbs after WWI, and that focusing on any of the families inhabiting such houses would’ve been just as interesting. This Happy Breed is a celebration of the seemingly mundane, and while that may occasionally bridge into endorsing complacency (and even selfishness), it’s so earnest in its convictions and skilled in its execution I couldn’t help but enjoy it. 

PS Sylvia apparently joining a new age cult is the funniest

Bob and Frank saying goodbye...uhhh who put this bowl of onions here???

Bob and Frank saying goodbye...uhhh who put this bowl of onions here???