And the Pursuit of Happiness

Overview

Directed by Louis Malle, And the Pursuit of Happiness is an 80-minute television documentary about immigrants’ experiences in the United States during the 1980s. Its subject is immigration to the United States, and its setting places personal accounts within a period of change in the country’s immigrant population. The film is in English and was released in 1986.

The documentary first appeared as part of HBO’s America Undercover series on Independence Day in 1986. At the time, immigrants from Latin America and Asia had, for the first time, outnumbered those arriving from Europe. That context gives the film a clear historical frame: it documents immigrant experiences amid a shift in where newcomers were coming from, rather than treating immigration as an abstract policy question.

Malle’s film later reached public television in 1988. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and received a Peabody Award the following year. These milestones place the documentary within both television documentary history and Malle’s work as a filmmaker.

Key features

• Director: Louis Malle.
• Format and length: a television documentary with an 80-minute runtime.
• Subject: immigrants’ experiences in the United States during the 1980s.
• Historical setting: a period when arrivals from Latin America and Asia exceeded those from Europe for the first time.
• Language and country: English; United States.

Who it's for

This film suits viewers interested in immigration, American social history, and documentary accounts of life in the United States. Teachers and students can use its 1980s setting to consider how population shifts and immigrant experiences were represented in television documentary at the time. It may also appeal to viewers exploring Louis Malle’s documentary work or the history of HBO’s America Undercover.

Pros and cons

What stands out

• It focuses on lived immigrant experiences in a defined historical period.
• Its original television context and later public television release offer useful context for studying documentary distribution.
• Its subject connects a specific 1980s moment to the broader history of immigration to the United States.

What to keep in mind

• The film’s stated focus is the 1980s; it is not a survey of immigration across all periods.
• The available details identify its subject and historical context but do not describe individual contributors or specific stories.

Alternatives

For more from Malle, see Documentaries by Louis Malle. To browse more films from the same decade, explore Documentaries of the 1980s or Classic documentaries. Other Malle documentaries include Place de la République, Calcutta, and Phantom India.

Verdict

And the Pursuit of Happiness is a historically situated documentary for viewers who want to explore immigrant experiences in the United States during the 1980s. Its 80-minute television format, Malle’s direction, and its connection to a period of changing migration patterns make it a focused choice for documentary fans, students, and teachers interested in immigration and American history.