Infiorata, a beautiful country village where it seems time has stopped. Lazzaro is an innocent young man who works with his neighbors on a tobacco farm for the marquise, the queen of cigarettes. Lazzaro′s best friend is a young nobleman Tancredi. Free-spirited Tancredi orchestrates his own kidnapping and Lazzaro helps him. Since Tancredi left, the farm is broken up by the police, who come to arrest the marquise, leaving Lazzaro alone. A few years later, in the middle of the city where the factory was built, Lazzaro meets with his old neighbors from the village. Alice Rohrwacher′s Happy as Lazzaro shows the original imagination and sensibility, just as from the director’s previous film. The idyllic scenes of daily life and fable of Italian rural life combine finely with the magical elements of time travel and realism, but also turn a critical eye to society. The images captured by cinematographer Hélène Louvart, with a Super 16mm camera, add mystical tone to this unique story. (Jin Park)