Thirteen Conversations about One Thing (2001)

Directed by: Jill Sprecher | 97 minutes | drama | Actors: Alan Arkin, Matthew McConaughey, John Turturro, Amy Irving, Barbara Sukowa, Clea DuVall, Tia Texada, Rob McElhenney, Peggy Gormley, Frankie Faison, William Wise, Shawn Elliott, Alex Burns, Victor Truro, James Murtaugh, Richard Council, Walt MacPherson, Leo Finney, Daryl Edwards, Eliza Pryor Nagel

Ask a hundred people what they strive for every day and they will all answer the same: happiness. Ask those same people to define that simple word and a lot of them will be speechless. Happiness remains something elusive and at the same time something extremely subjective. It is the domain of philosophers and artists, who may not know exactly what that wonderful concept means, but who often deal with it in an interesting way. Such is the case with ‘Thirteen Conversations about One Thing’, an American film that deals with happiness and goes into great depth.

In ‘Thirteen Conversations about One Thing’, director Jill Sprecher weaves together a large number of stories of people in search of happiness. These different stories are a good indication of how comprehensive that concept is and how time plays an important role in the experience of it. For example, we hear the story of a man who one day wins two million dollars, perhaps the happiest moment of his life, but who is slowly being destroyed by this wealth. We follow a woman who has the ultimate happiness of escaping death twice. We see a man whose present life has become a grind and who longs to relive his past. We see a junkie, his few seconds of blank happiness after taking a shot.

The film is also about the connection of everything, how the happiness of one person affects the happiness or misfortune of the other, and how impossible it is to be happy if a part of yourself (your partner or child) is not. In addition, ‘Thirteen Conversations about One Thing’ deals with complex issues such as guilt, coincidence, faith and loyalty.

To clarify this matter, director Sprecher opted for a thoughtful pace and a controlled, businesslike yet visually appealing style. The back and forth chronology and the narrative and thematic references keep you on your toes, otherwise a great bunch of actors do, Alan Arkin in particular excelling.

With all those fascinating motifs, dialogues, associations and thoughts, ‘Thirteen Conversations about One Thing’ has become a beautiful, profound and remarkably intelligent film. A film that will haunt you for days. Although the tone is sometimes a bit distant, there are still enough emotional moments to also appeal to the heart. And what is happiness in the end? No one knows. So to quote the song with which the film ends: Put on a happy face! Who knows if you’ll make someone happy with that.