Co-directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, Agent of Happiness is a unique documentary that explores the idea of human happiness in the idyllic kingdom of Bhutan, the only country in the world that charts its Gross National Happiness (GNH). In an unusual move during the 1970s, the fourth Bhutanese king coined the term, making it part of the nation’s official development. There was even an equation developed to measure happiness, and today, the GNH index is based on annual data gathered by 75 government agents.
The documentary, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, follows Amber Kumar Gurung, one of these happiness-investigating agents. His temp surveying job involves travelling throughout the kingdom to determine if its citizens are happy by asking 148 specific questions. The questions themselves are simple enough, covering physical, mental, and emotional needs along the lines of:
How much do you sleep/meditate?
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Do you experience worry/anxiety/depression?
What is your work-life balance like?
Do you have access to a phone/car/computer?
How many farm animals do you own?
It is a rather bureaucratic take on that inexplicably weighty and complex topic of happiness that provokes its own irony while revealing/reducing what aspects constitute the whole of human happiness. While watching, viewers will be struck by the cultural differences that set Bhutanese happiness apart from a Western point of view. Modern technology is not as prevalent in the small nation (a whole village may only have one TV within it), and someone can derive a great deal of joy from something as simple as the birth of a cow (it’s a source of meat and milk!), but there’s no doubt happiness is still a very universal concept.
With Amber’s picaresque journey through the stunning mountains, farms, and villages of Bhutan, we encounter a surprisingly diverse cast of characters. The documentary becomes incredibly reminiscent of the real-life stories presented by photographer and author Brandon Stanton in his super-popular blog Humans of New York. A young farming couple, an old widower, a transgender singer/dancer, a brash polygamist with three wives, and other citizens find themselves in front of the camera, answering assorted questions about happiness. The co-directors also patiently extract other stories from their ensemble, revealing people’s histories, dreams, fears, and regrets. Thus, the universality of the human experience is shown.
Middle-aged Amber also spends time under the focus of the camera. A Nepalese man whose citizenship was taken away from him when he was only two years old, the film’s titular agent cannot hold a full-time job, travel outside Bhutan, or land a wife until the government grants him his citizenship. This means that Amber’s own tentative pursuit of happiness with his Australia-loving sweetheart is blocked by bureaucracy. Capturing this on camera, Agent of Happiness also acts as a gentle rebuke to the imperfect Bhutanese government, which ironically upholds the importance of happiness while still causing deep sadness.
