Euphoria

Euphoria bills itself as “a science-based self-help art film,” and that's about right. In fact, the opening feels like a Fellini movie, as we watch people pushing shopping carts on a beach, past half-buried yellow discs painted with smiley faces—a metaphor for the American version of happiness, here termed “the holy grail of emotions” by Lee Boot, writer and co-director (with John Chester). Much of Euphoria is narrated by Boot—pacing in a small cell lit by a bare light bulb—who holds forth on science and society's definitions of happiness and argues that true euphoria (which he describes as “like sex and winning the lottery at the same time”) springs from being absorbed in meaningful activity—what Joseph Campbell calls “following your bliss.” Interspersed with scenes from the building of his “industrial-strength metaphor” of euphoria—a kinetic sculpture suspended from a Baltimore bridge—are vignettes about a man who has run 20 miles every day for 10 years, a gospel choir on a barge, a woman who collects urban sounds and makes toys incorporating them, a one-legged standup comic, a wrestler-musician who's also a social worker, and a teenage entrepreneur whose bliss is making money. Boot uses animation, music, and artwork to illuminate related concepts from subjects including physics, neurology, and faith. DVD extras include a bonus vignette, and a study guide. Strange, exhilarating, and ultimately enlightening, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Gardner)