Fundamentally Happy
︎︎︎Trailer ︎︎︎Streaming︎SYNOPSIS
Twenty years ago, Habiba and Eric were neighbours. When Eric revisits her home to find her still living there with her husband, what seems like a friendly reunion turns into the gradual revelation of a painful secret from the past. An unflinching look at the consequences of abuse, Fundamentally Happy explores, without judgment or condemnation, critical issues such as trust, memory, relationships and consent. This is a film adaptation of Fundamentally Happy, a 2006 award-winning play by Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan.
Habiba Hj Salim
Adibah Noor
Eric Sim
Joshua Lim
Directed, Produced and Edited by
Tan Bee Thiam,
Lei Yuan Bin
Written by
Haresh Sharma,
Alvin Tan
Co-Producers
Ken Hui,
Lee Chatametikool
Associate Producers
Dan Lim,
Glen Goei
Production Manager
Colin Huang
Director of Photography
Christopher Doyle
First Camera Assistant
Shyan Tan
Second Camera Assistants
Jonathan Goh,
Lau Hong Hu,
Lee Feng Nian,
Louise Evangeline Ng
Gaffers
Chia Meng Chee,
Colin Peh,
Jon Keng,
Jaryl Lim,
Khairul Ami
Grips
Daryl Ong,
Derrick Loo,
Dazfirul Haniff,
Jason Ye,
Johan Sue
Production Designers
Lei Yuan Bin,
Vivien Koh
Make Up
Jeffrey Linus Lee
Production Sound Mixer
Jenn Hui
Boom Operator
Susanne Soon
Data Wrangler
Liao Jiekai
Post Production
White Light,
Lee Chatametikool,
Max Tersch,
Gigs Siripun
Colourist
Chaitawat Trisarnsri
Sound Designer
Maiken Hansen
Foley Artist
Lim Ting Li
Foley Recordist
Filipe Paszkiewicz
Music Composer
Teo Wei Yong
Special Thanks
The Necessary Stage
Original title
Fundamentally Happy
International Title
Fundamentally Happy
Duration
73 min / Colour
Aspect Ratio
1:1.85
Screening Format
2K DCP
Sound
5.1 Surround Sound, Stereo
Year of Release
2015
Language
English, Malay
Subtitles
English
Country of production
Singapore,
Thailand,
Hong Kong
Production Company
13 Little Pictures
Co-Production
White Light
PRESS
“With its wrenching psychodrama and scalpel-edged dialogue, the film’s moody cinematography and varied close-ups bring viewers further into the story’s heart of darkness, breaking down the distance of the stage and cinema's fourth wall, and creating its own form of detachment. An unflinching look at the consequences of abuse, Fundamentally Happy explores without judgment or condemnation critical issues such as trust, memory, relationships and consent.”
Philip Cheah
“An intelligently written and beautifully acted film that manages to treat a highly controversial subject both artfully and compassionately. The director is adept at exploring changes in mood, reflection, light, and space.”
Chris Fujiwara
“A remarkably skillful and humane treatment of the original play.” Professor Kenneth Paul Tan
“An intelligently written and beautifully acted film that manages to treat a highly controversial subject both artfully and compassionately. The director is adept at exploring changes in mood, reflection, light, and space.”
Chris Fujiwara
“A remarkably skillful and humane treatment of the original play.” Professor Kenneth Paul Tan
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
We imagine a cinema that embraces the theatricality and that distills the essence of an original text. That this is also cinema – that is the possibility that we are after, as we adapt a play that already has a very strong and clear vision: two persons trapped in a house of their memories, two persons having a conversation after not seeing each other for 20 years, their recollections the mirror image of the other’s – images of the same thing but from laterally opposite perspectives.
We are interested in making a film about the portraits of Eric and Habiba. Faces are mysterious and truthful at the same time. When you look at someone long enough, you can see their stories. We seldom put both characters in the same frame – you see a person and hear the other offscreen. You do not know if they are talking to each other or to themselves. We created these offscreen spaces to hold their years of anger, betrayal, fears, and longing. To make it a little kinder, gentler for Eric and Habiba. In making this film, we hope to examine the complex issue of abuse with the grace of love.
We are interested in making a film about the portraits of Eric and Habiba. Faces are mysterious and truthful at the same time. When you look at someone long enough, you can see their stories. We seldom put both characters in the same frame – you see a person and hear the other offscreen. You do not know if they are talking to each other or to themselves. We created these offscreen spaces to hold their years of anger, betrayal, fears, and longing. To make it a little kinder, gentler for Eric and Habiba. In making this film, we hope to examine the complex issue of abuse with the grace of love.
FESTIVALS
IN COMPETITION
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2015 IN COMPETITION
Hanoi International Film Festival 2016IN COMPETITION
SalaMindanaw Asian Film Festival 2015
Honorable Mention by Audience, Thessaloniki LGBT Film Festival 2016
