Happy Times PG

Happy Times
8.5K ratings
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Format:  DVD
item number:  S2YR
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DVD Details

  • Rated: PG
  • Run Time: 1 hours, 46 minutes
  • Video: Color
  • Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
  • Released: December 3, 2002
  • Originally Released: 2000
  • Label: Sony Pictures

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring &
Performer: , , &
Directed by
Screenwriting by
Composition by
Produced by , &
Director of Photography:

Entertainment Reviews:

Fresh72%

TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 60

Upright78%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 4,303
Happy Times sounds like any of the dozens of heart-tugging comedies that Miramax seems to release every month, but it has such a peculiar premise and the central performance by Zhao Benshan is so winning that Zhang gets away with it by the skin of
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta)
Jan 20, 2003
Rating: 2.5/5 -- Jie Dong, who makes her film debut as the blind and unwanted Little Wu, is thin, tough and heartbreakingly lovely.
About.com
Oct 24, 2003
...Keep an eye on Dong Jie....She follows in the bound-for-stardom footsteps of other Zhang discoveries Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi...
Entertainment Weekly
Aug 2, 2002
Rating: 61/100 -- The basic premise is intriguing but quickly becomes distasteful and downright creepy. Full Review
Apollo Guide
Jun 5, 2003
Rating: B+ -- One might relate this story to Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. There is much to dislike in the message, but it's hard not to enjoy the craftsmanship of the tale.
Reno Gazette-Journal
Dec 20, 2002
Rating: 4/5 -- Zhang Yimou delivers warm, genuine characters who lie not through dishonesty, but because they genuinely believe it's the only way to bring happiness to their loved ones. Full Review
BBC.com
Sep 23, 2002
...Shooting on location in Beijing, Zhang shows us the parks and streets of a city that is cinematically under-represented in the West...
Sight and Sound
Sep 1, 2002

Product Description:

Zhang Yimou (JU DOU, RAISE THE RED LANTERN) directs HAPPY TIMES, a tragicomedy about one man's humorous, ridiculous, yet truly endearing attempt to love and be loved. Zhao (Zhao Benshan), a retired man of humble means who doesn't want to be lonely anymore, proposes marriage to a fat lady (Dong Lihua) who he believes will be easily coaxed into loving him. However, he quickly learns that this assumption is wrong when she demands a lavish wedding that will cost him 50,000 yuan. Scheming for a way to get the money, Zhao enlists his friend Li (Li Xuejian) to help him, and together they refurbish an old bus, calling it Happy Times Hotel, and charging admission for teenage lovers. Meanwhile, Zhao's fiancee reveals her strange family to him--a spoiled, mean-spirited son (Leng Qibin), and a helpless, blind stepdaughter, Wu (Dong Jie). When Zhao is asked to find Wu a job at his hotel, he becomes a surrogate father to her and their relationship takes over the second half of the movie. As they learn to trust each other and understand each other, they develop a sweet relationship that overrides Zhao's previously shady intentions. A sad film with a touching message looped within quietly comic situations, HAPPY TIMES reveals the vulnerability of the human spirit, while telling its solemn searching tale.

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Product Info

  • Sales Rank: 21,454
  • UPC: 043396079045
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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