Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

Directed by Werner Herzog and Dmitry Vasyukov

(Not rated)

***

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Werner Herzog’s latest documentary will show you a better way to live, said Steven Boone in the Chicago Sun-Times. Using footage shot by Russian videographer Dmitry Vasyukov, the legendary German director celebrates the simple, challenging life of fur trappers in remote Siberia, using his familiar “mellifluous” voice to pronounce his subjects both happy and “truly free.” Some of the drawbacks of working with secondhand material show through in Herzog’s “diminished control over mood,” said Nicolas Rapold in The New York Times. His “speechifying” proves to be another distraction, steering our focus toward the director when we’d be happier watching men conquer frigid wilderness conditions by prepping cabins, setting traps, and manifesting deep devotion to their dogs. “The pleasure of Happy People comes from watching these men go about their work while they explain that the only way to make it in the taiga is to do and take exactly what’s needed, and not get greedy,” said Noel Murray in the A.V. Club. The key, it seems, is planning ahead. Yes, that, and looking out for bears.