As the sole female voice of the French New Wave’s Left Bank cinema, Varda approached the concept of "happiness" with a uniquely critical feminist gaze. A male director of the era might have framed François’s actions as a heroic pursuit of liberation or a tragic descent into moral corruption. Varda does neither. She refuses to judge François, presenting his perspective with absolute clarity and neutrality.
Varda leaves the nature of Thérèse’s drowning deliberately ambiguous. Was it an accidental slip, or was it a desperate suicide born from the realization that her husband’s "orchard" left no room for her own agency? By refusing to answer, Varda forces the audience to confront the horrific ease with which Thérèse is overwritten. The film exposes the nuclear family not as a sanctuary of mutual love, but as a rigid societal machine fueled by female self-sacrifice. The Aesthetics of Irony: Color, Editing, and Music
Upon its release, Le Bonheur shocked audiences who struggled to decipher whether Varda was celebrating free love or condemning the patriarchy. Decades later, the film is widely recognized as a brilliant, subversive feminist critique. The Disposable Nature of the Bourgeois Wife le bonheur 1965
Unlike a traditional Hollywood or French melodrama, there are no shouting matches, agonizing secrets, or malicious intentions. François genuinely loves both women. He views his new romance not as a betrayal of his marriage, but as an accumulation of joy—comparing his happiness to an orchard where more fruit trees only bring more abundance.
To François, human beings—specifically women—are resources to be consumed. His philosophy of "more flowers in the meadow" completely ignores the autonomy, feelings, and internal lives of the women themselves. He operates under the assumption that his happiness is paramount, and because the society around him is structured to support male desire, the world bends to accommodate his worldview. The film suggests that true egoism does not require malice; it only requires a total lack of empathy masked by a pleasant disposition. The Legacy of Le Bonheur As the sole female voice of the French
This domestic harmony is disrupted, yet seemingly unbothered, when François meets Émilie, a striking postal clerk who looks remarkably like Thérèse. François falls for Émilie and begins an affair.
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The brilliance of Le Bonheur lies in Varda’s refusal to villainize François. He is not a cruel, abusive, or calculating patriarch. He genuinely loves the women in his life. He is gentle, attentive, and radiant with affection. By making François a "good man," Varda makes a much more damning critique: she targets the societal structures that allow a man's happiness to exist at the absolute expense of a woman's autonomy.