Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Happy End (2017) - A worthy full stop for Haneke's dark oeuvre

5/05/2023

Happy End (2017) - A worthy full stop for Haneke's dark oeuvre

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A recording of a loading site for boats make up this mysterious, curiosity-sparking poster for Michael Haneke's Happy End

A young girl moves in with her father and his big family, after her mother has been poisoned.

Happy End is written and directed by great German-born Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke (The Seventh Continent/Der Siebente Kontinent (1989)).

Haneke is back in sober, unsentimental top shape here with this potent drama, which is a continuation of the story of the old man and his daughter who we met in his Amour (2012).

Fantine Harduin (Fanny's Journey/Le Voyage de Fanny (2016)) is brilliant and disturbing as the girl; Jean-Louis Trintignant (Z (1969)) is just as inimitable as the suicidal grandfather.

The ending loses a bit of the subtlety that otherwise esteems the film: The party is too white, and the racism that is showcased was already outlined in the masterly dog bite scene. - But this cannot overshadow that Happy End is a sublime, though-provoking, relevant film and a very handsome (possible) end for the European master's long career.

Funny Games (2007) - Haneke recreates his strong critique of movie violence consumption for the American audience

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Hidden/Caché (2005) - Haneke's slick, cold surveillance drama-thriller

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Time of the Wolf/Le Temps du Loup (2003) - Apocalyptic meanderings by Haneke

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 12,034,009 €, approximately 13.3 mil. $

Box office: 2.6 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.19 times its cost)

[Happy End premiered 22 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 107 minutes At least 21 companies and support bodies cooperated in the financing and making of the film. Shooting took place from July - August 2016 in France and in London, UK. The film opened #35 to a 23k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it never attained a higher position although it widened to 20 theaters, grossing 301k $ (11.6 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was France with 563k $ (21.7 %). 2nd biggest was Netherlands with 337k $ (13 %), and North America was the 3rd biggest. The film lost the Palme d'Or to The Square and was also nominated for 2 European Film awards, among other honors. Haneke seems to have retired after the release of the film. Isabelle Huppert (Mama Weed/La Daronne (2020)) returned in Mrs. Hyde/Madame Hyde (2017); Trintignant returned in The Best Years of a Life/Les Plus Belles Années d'une Vie (2019); and Mathieu Kassovitz (La Haine (1995)) in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). Happy End is fresh at 70 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Happy End?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

5/05/2023

Happy End (2017) - A worthy full stop for Haneke's dark oeuvre

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Time of the Wolf/Le Temps du Loup (2003) - Apocalyptic meanderings by Haneke

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

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