A Happy Divorce

After a suicide attempt, a troubled young man becomes the object of a challenge by his doctor who bets he can restore his client’s zest for life. The doctor’s boast, though, is as hollow as it sounds. He seems to be living a happy divorce, but the arrangement with his ex wife and her new husband hides trouble rather than peace. In truth the doctor longs to win back the wife he pushed away. From these fibs and mixed signals, a tangle of complications erupts, testing trust, friendship and the line between help and manipulation. As the charade takes hold, the line between therapy, friendship and romance becomes blurred. Friends and rivals surface, and loyalties shift without warning around them.

Directed by Henning Carlsen, this 1975 drama assembles original material credited to Benny Andersen and stars Jean Rochefort, Bulle Ogier, and André Dussollier. Collaboration blends French and Danish sensibilities, reflecting the era's interest in intimate moral puzzles, with restrained gaze.

Box office data for this title is not publicly available, and there are no widely cited worldwide grosses. It circulated in art house circuits and festivals and in select markets, where its quiet dialogue driven tension was its calling card.

Though not a household name today, the film sits in the 1970s wave of European dramas that probe therapy and marital deception. Its cast, especially Rochefort and Ogier, conveys a nuanced look at romance under pressure. The Danish director's restrained style mirrors cross border cinema trends of the era globally.

Critics framed the movie as a sharp, morally tangled portrait of happiness as performance. It examines how best intentions blur into manipulation and how the desire to reclaim what is lost tests personal ethics and the bonds we call family. Performances, timing and dialogue drive the uneasy mood for audiences.