Steal Happiness is a humorous yet sad tale of the harsh lives of a poverty-ridden family. Zhang Damin, who works at a thermos factory, lives in a two-room shack with his widowed mother and four brothers and sisters. However, the home of Zhang Damin becomes too crowded when his brother Sanmin′s marries right after Damin himself. Eventually, his youngest sister, Wumin leaves home to study and his other sister Ermin goes to the country to get married. The family′s weary trek through life is filled with joy when Damin sees his son Xiaoshu, and with sadness when a sister, Simin dies from sickness. They finally move to a new house, but this doesn′t mark the end of their story. It is a moving tale of ordinary people, appealing to all precisely because of it modest approach to life. Like Damin′s last line, in which he describes as living itself is happiness, and that it is necessary in life, even if one has to steal it. Filmmaker Yang Yazhou′s positive take on life reveals itself in the warm atmosphere of the film. (Kim Ji-Seok)