Happy End

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Audience Member An upper class family in Calais struggles with crisis. Although this film is of an obvious high caliber production, the lack of a coherent plot left it much to be desired. Either I'm not that smart or this movie made no sense. Given that this was a French film and perhaps much was lost in translation, the story was difficult, at best, to comprehend. There was no real beginning and no real end. It is not wrapped up in a nice little bow and for most films, it doesn't really have to be. However there was such a lack of explanation pertaining to the characters actions there was nothing for the viewer to grasp as reasoning. The best thing about this film was its ability to make yourself feel good about your own family. As crazy as you may think your family is, this one is crazier and not funny haha crazy. but perhaps it was meant to be crazy. Critics love this film, the general public probably does not. CritPop score of a 2 of 5 stars. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Otra vez Heneke y sus estilachos. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member The critics were unfairly harsh on this characteristically opaque examination of family secrets, betrayal and the mysteries of life. It's not an easy film to follow, at least initially, Haneke doesn't hold your hand or spell everything out, but that approach pays growing dividends as the onion is slowly unpeeled. Marvellous acting from his ensemble cast, led by Matthieu Kassovitz, Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Fantastique. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Director Michael Haneke's latest film, his first in five years, is a chilly look at the moral failings of the bourgeoisie (or perhaps the upper class). Isabelle Huppert is the neurotic head of a construction company, hoping to bestow this role on her son, who she constantly berates for not being good enough (an accident at one of the sites heightens this tension). Mathieu Kassovitz is her brother, a surgeon, whose 13-year-old daughter by a first marriage (Fantine Harduin) is suddenly added to the family when her mother attempts suicide; the daughter immediately senses that her father is having an affair (and investigates this on his computer; her smartphone is always near at hand, recording things). Jean-Louis Trintignant (now in his 80s) plays the retired head of the family, alternatively forgetful and lucidly perceptive; he seeks escape in death after having euthanised his wife several years earlier during a chronic illness (a nod to Haneke's previous feature, Amour, 2012). There is no linear plot to reveal; we just see the family with its various players rolling through a series of events that show their obliviousness to the suffering of the world (made a bit more overt when the son invites a group of African refugees into a fancy engagement dinner). We do feel the tension from these events but it is enhanced by the characters' inability to communicate with each other, to confess their own true feelings or to recognise those of each other. (Haneke uses some cinematic tricks, such as filming from a distance so that we cannot hear what is being said, to emphasise these failures). Our social pain may be even more acute when we observe the poor tween daughter and her own constricted emotions, clearly borne of the treatment received from those around her. As always with Haneke, there are ideas to chew on here but they seem slightly less well digested than in some of his other films. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member am vazut doar prima jumate in aer liber. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Haneke has served us so many great films that his newst efforts are always something to give a peep. Here he is back after the magnificent "Amore" and also brought some of the same actors in Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert. There are some interesting shots here, some of them done with cell phones. It takes quite some time to get a grip of the stoy as there are many people involve and we see parts from all of they're lives. When the needed connecting-bit comes throgh you feel the whole story and you feel you know everyone pretty well. There's not much happiness here. Everyone seem self-destructive no matter if they are 13, 90 or 40 years of age. OK acting but for me Fantine Harduin as the 13 year old "Eve" is the most impressive acress here. Some cool scenes, like the great karaokee scene, but other scenes are not bring that much to the table. It's like a bunch of short clips, they all plays important parts but I never really dig them. Part experimental, part boring, part solid. The result is fresh, but not fresh enough, hard hitting but never hard enough and I was left disappointed even if I liked the way the film made me feel like an observer like few other films do. 6 out of 10 cell phones. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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