The Pursuit of Happyness

This study guide will help you analyze the film The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) directed by Gabriele Muccino. You can also find a summary of the events, as well as inspiration for interpreting the film and putting it into perspective.

Presentation of the text

Gabriele Muccino is an Italian film director, writer, and producer. At the beginning of his career, he made short films in Italy. After the international success of his third film, The Last Kiss, he began directing movies for Hollywood. At the time when The Pursuit of Happyness was being filmed, Muccino did not speak English very well. Muccino won several awards throughout his film career, among them Torino International Festival for Best Film, the Audience Award Sundance Festival and three Nastro d’Argento Prizes, which are the Italian equivalent of the Oscars.

The film The Pursuit of Happyness is based on a best-selling memoir of the same name written by Chris Gardner, a salesman who struggled financially and was homeless for almost a year. The misspelling in the title is intentional, and it references graffiti that Gardner notices on the wall of his son’s daycare center. The film stars Will Smith in the main role, and his son, Jaden Smith, plays the part of Gardner’s son. Jaden Smith made his film debut in this film, at 8 years old.

The film was generally well received by the audience. The critics gave it moderately positive reviews, praising Will Smith’s acting as well as the touching nature of the story. Smith also received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe nomination for this role. The film was nominated for several awards, such as David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Film, and Capri Award for Movie of the Year, which it also won.

Excerpt from the study guide:

Poverty

Poverty is an important theme in the film. From the beginning, we see Chris and his family struggling with financial difficulties. They have unpaid taxes and are several months behind on rent as well. Chris cannot afford a better daycare for Christopher, has to put in extra hours, while Linda works double shifts. The strain of their financial situation takes its toll on the family dynamics. Linda stops trusting Chris, while Chris feels let down by Linda’s lack of support for him. Linda and Chris argue and eventually break up, with Christopher caught in the middle. Eventually Linda leaves, and Christopher is left without a mother. The poverty leads to the characters making choices that they would not have made otherwise – Linda choosing to leave her family, and Chris changing his career.

The film places in sharp contrast the way of life of the rich versus that of the poor. While poverty is mostly presented from Chris’ point of view, there are some scenes which illustrate the gap between the rich and the poor. One example is the scene with the young ...