Happy as Lazzaro

Name: Happy as Lazzaro
Genre: Drama
Released: November 30, 2018
Duration: 125 min
Rating: 87
Cast: Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher, Alessandro Genovesi, Antonio Salines

2018

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 27 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	Your Score
7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Ratings

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Happy As Lazzaro

Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: November 30, 2018 | Not Rated

Starring: Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher, Alessandro Genovesi, Antonio Salines, Carlo Massimino, Daria Pascal Attolini, David Bennent, Davide Denci, Elisabetta Rocchetti, Luca Chikovani, Maddalena Baiocco, Natalino Balasso, Nicoletta Braschi, Sergi López, Tommaso Ragno

Summary: This is the tale of a meeting between Lazzaro, a young peasant so good that he is often mistaken for simple-minded, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination. Life in their isolated pastoral village Inviolata is dominated by the terrible Marchesa Alfonsina de Luna, the queen of cigarettes. A loyal bond is sealed when TancrediThis is the tale of a meeting between Lazzaro, a young peasant so good that he is often mistaken for simple-minded, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination. Life in their isolated pastoral village Inviolata is dominated by the terrible Marchesa Alfonsina de Luna, the queen of cigarettes. A loyal bond is sealed when Tancredi asks Lazzaro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping. This strange and improbable alliance is a revelation for Lazzaro. A friendship so precious that it will travel in time and transport Lazzaro in search of Tancredi. His first time in the big city, Lazzaro is like a fragment of the past lost in the modern world.… Expand

Director: Alice Rohrwacher

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 125 min

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Awards & Rankings

31	#31 Best Movie of 2018

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

The Film Stage Rory O'Connor

May 18, 2018

You could argue that Lazzaro Felice owes a debt to Pasolini with its fascination for peasants, saints, and faces, or even Gabriel Garcia Marquez with its mix of rural life and magical realism, but that would be to discredit the shear vivacity and boldness of Rohrwacher’s directorial hand, not to mention her incredible warmth as a filmmaker. Read full review

100

RogerEbert.com Tomris Laffly

Nov 29, 2018

Easily among this year’s finest films and laced with an unapologetic social message, Happy As Lazzaro dares one to imagine a reality where each individual would task themselves to be as selfless and morally whole as its main protagonist. If only. Read full review

100

The Telegraph Tim Robey

Apr 4, 2019

As parable, the film’s slippery quality catches you off guard in the best way. And it summons profound love for a character – a village idiot it would never let you describe that way – without congealing even slightly into sentimentality. It clings on to Lazzaro like the only hope in a benighted world. Read full review

Lawrence Garcia

Nov 27, 2018

Poised somewhere between despondency and hope, its conclusion suggests that, unable to see pure goodness even when it’s right before our eyes, we unwittingly snuff it out. Yet that goodness will endure — and it will outlast us. Read full review

Simran Hans

Apr 8, 2019

Inviolata is Italian for “unspoiled”, and the word could apply to its people as much as their straw-gold land. Read full review

David Edelstein

Dec 3, 2018

Part of the movie’s fun — and it is fun, once you adjust to its uninsistent rhythms — is how it forces you to share Lazarro’s go-along-to-get-along ebullience. Read full review

Boyd van Hoeij

May 18, 2018

The main problem of Happy as Lazzaro is that it's unclear what Rohrwacher finally wants to say in part two, which combines the near-documentary realism of her first feature with the occasional flights of fancy of her second. Read full review

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User Reviews

Nirlash

Dec 26, 2018

Happy as Lazzaro is one for the ages. The sheer clarity with which Alice Rohrwacher's vision translates to screen is astounding. As odd as the tale is, it never feels so. Sweepingly breathtaking yet earnestly soul-shattering.

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movieducation

Dec 2, 2018

HAPPY AS LAZZARO is too pure for this world. Irresistible but never irritating, realistic with magical touch, a real time capsule that brings the best and the worst out of humankind seamlessly. One thing arranging shocking tonal shift and miraculous swindle, it is life itself.

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Tyranian

Dec 19, 2019

Interesting film with great visuals, good luck trying to figure out its meaning.

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