Happy People: A Year in the TaigaMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Happy People: A Year in the Taiga."

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga Showtimes + Tickets

Avg. Critic Score: 74 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

OK for kids 12+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

88

Chicago Sun-Times |
Like "Grizzly Man," Herzog's latest documentary, Happy People: A Year in the Taiga is mostly built around another filmmaker's priceless footage. Read full review
80

NPR | Scott Tobias
At bottom, though, Happy People celebrates the hard-won freedoms that living in the Taiga offers those who are willing to confront its challenges. There are few places on the planet where the strictures of society don't apply, and the trade-off for fending off bears and minus-50-degree weather is the opportunity to lead a pure, solitary life. Read full review
80

Arizona Republic |
Herzog’s longing for the ideological purity in which these lives are lived, free of paperwork and bureaucracy, taxes and technology, drives the film, which lacks an overall story arc. And that longing makes the title’s veracity a little suspect. Read full review
75

New York Post | Farran Smith Nehme
The film is both elegiac and amazingly retro, like the nature specials that baby boomers were weaned on - although it's not for animal lovers, unless you have a specific grudge against sables. "Happy People" is the title, but it's virtually all men. Read full review
75

Boston Globe | Mark Feeney
“Happy” isn’t meant ironically. Herzog, who narrates, clearly loves, and envies, the trappers’ elemental existence and connection to nature. Read full review
70

The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck
While the original version's four hours might have made for wearisome viewing for Western audiences, Herzog's 94-minute cut feels just right, fully immersing us in this rarified world without lapsing into tedium. Read full review
67

Austin Chronicle | Marjorie Baumgarten
It’s not that Happy People is uninteresting – its presentation of previously unknown, distant lives is full of lots of interesting tidbits. It’s just that the one sensibility of which we were previously aware – that of Herzog’s – is indiscernible, as if frozen beneath all this movie’s ice. Read full review
60

Time Out New York |
This Siberian jaunt, free from cultural weirdness and ethical barbed wire, is even more of a vacation for Werner Herzog than it first appears: The German codirector never left L.A. Read full review
60

New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman
There is indeed much beauty on display, from the icy Taiga landscape to the age-old trapping techniques passed on through generations. But this does feel like a lesser Herzog project (he joined on after it was shot). For viewers who don't share his awe, a short film probably would have sufficed. Read full review
25

Slant Magazine |
It would be inaccurate to call Happy People: A Year in the Taiga the newest Werner Herzog film. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Happy People: A Year in the Taiga on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says OK for kids 12+ Fascinating Herzog documentary about Siberian trappers.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Happy People: A Year in the Taiga -- a documentary assembled (though not filmed) by German director Werner Herzog -- captures a year in the life of the hunter-trappers who live and work in the wilderness region around Siberia. There's some violence related to hunting, with animals harmed and/or killed. In one sequence, a dog chases and bites a small animal. The movie briefly discusses the fact that many of the residents of this area have a drinking problem; some drinking is shown, as is cigarette smoking. The word "bitch" is used a few times, but only in reference to female dogs. These issues aside, Happy People is fascinating, informative, and sometimes touching, even showing what life might be like without media and cell phones. It should be fine for younger teens and older tweens.

Families can talk about the concept of hunting. How violent is this act as depicted in the movie? What's the difference between hunting for sport and hunting for a living?
How does Happy People address drinking? Which interview subjects appear to be drinkers? What do you think might cause people in this region and lifestyle to start drinking?
If you lived in this area, what would you miss about your life as it is now? If you had been born there, how much do you think you would miss?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Some viewers may see the hunter-trappers as old-fashioned or out of touch, but there's something beautiful about the way that their methods have been passed down through the generations and the way that they live without media in the wilderness, focused mainly on survival and the task at hand. There are a couple of brief scenes of young people being taught these age-old skills for future reference.
Positive role models: No one subject stands out here as a role model, but the hunter-trappers have learned a purity of existence, relying mainly on skill and experience to survive the raw, wintry conditions of the Taiga and return to the village with food and game.

What to watch for

Violence: A few sequences of animals being caught and/or trapped. A dog chases a smaller animal and fights with it, and a hunter removes dead, frozen animals from traps. Guns are occasionally shown and fired. Fish are stabbed and shot underwater. There's a spoken story about a bear killing a dog. Little to no blood is shown.
Sexy stuff: Not an issue
Language: The word "bitch" is used a few times (in subtitles), but only in reference to its actual meaning: a female dog.
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: In one sequence, the movie explains how many of the inhabitants of this small village have a drinking problem, specifically mentioning vodka. One local seems to be either drunk or slightly crazy. (The main subjects don't seem to drink at all.) In another scene, locals drink strong vodka that the narration describes as being like "jet fuel." Some subjects are shown smoking cigarettes as well.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.