There are always multiple ways to interpret my work, because I want the audience to interpret it for themselves. This is my way of stimulating the audience, telling the story in a more open-ended way, forcing the audience to think and interpret the film for themselves.
——The famous Austrian director Michael Haneke
French movie "Happy End"
Type of work: Drama
Main cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant (85-year-old father Georges), Isabelle Huppert (daughter Anne), Mathieu Kassovitz (son Thomas), Fantine Harduin (Thomas daughter Eve)...
Story overview: Telling the love and warmth of a middle-class family in France
Release Date: October 4, 2017 in France
After nearly three years, I once again met the work of the famous Austrian director Michael Haneke on the big screen, and I was really surprised and delighted. "Surprise" in "I don't know what kind of meaningful and intriguing films Michael will bring to the audience this time," and "happiness" in "No matter what time, Michael's works have never disappointed fans who have been waiting for a long time."
Then, let us look forward to entering the plot and appreciate the masterpieces. (A lot to watch, list them one by one)
I, well-known director Michael Haneke
Award-winning (Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Best Director, Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film...) and renowned veteran Austrian director Michael Haneke returns with a new (written and directed), familiar narrative Style, profound plot connotation, and concise storyline, these are the characteristics of Michael's directed works, and he has never strayed from it from beginning to end, and this work is also the same, simple, lazy, and profound.
II, the luxurious cast
Isabelle Huppert+Mathieu Kassovitz+Jean-Louis Trintignant
Isabelle: No need to introduce too much, this super-strength group who has almost won the leading actress awards at major European film festivals. This time, he teamed up with director Michael again, and the cooperation was tacit, and the character and characteristics of Anne, the backbone of the family and the strong woman, were very delicately grasped.
Mathieu: This name may seem unfamiliar, but if you have seen the 2000 movie "Undercurrent" (starring two French male gods, Jean Reno + Vincent Cassel), you will be deeply impressed. of! Mathieu is the director of this film, talented and handsome. In this play, he plays the role of Thomas (seeing one, loving one, no sense of responsibility), who does not understand what "true love" is.
Jean-Louis: Another veteran French actor, in the film plays Georges, the patriarch of the family, an old man who has entered old age, looks down on everything, and is disheartened.
The simple and unpretentious performances of the three, coupled with the pure natural performance of the young actor Fantine Harduin, brought this "loveless" family to life.
III, the inner meaning of the work
The title of the film is "Happy End", which literally translates to "Happy Ending" in Chinese. I feel that this interpretation method is not very accurate, because there is no factor worthy of "happy" in this work, so I dare to interpret it as follows - Happy , End. what for? Happy ending. In other words, what this work conveys is not "happiness", but "the joy of being terminated" (ie: sadness). How to understand this sentence? Let me answer slowly.
Sadness 1 - Ruthless
Does this big family have love? no! The eldest sister is a workaholic, the younger brother is a playboy, the eldest sister's son is a rich second-generation, the younger brother's daughter is extremely indifferent, the old man sees through life ... Where is the love of this family? !
Sadness 2 - Hypocrisy
Representative - Thomas. Between family relationships, such hypocrisy is not uncommon in today's era! Thomas in the film is the best example of the negative, he loves his current wife? Does he love his daughter? "No". Busy with flirting with his new lover online, he has no time to take care of others. Isn't Thomas, who is held hostage by "lust", a true portrayal of many modern people? !
Sadness 3 - Fall
The Fall of Humanity!
a, Eve, who was only 13 years old, said that he once poisoned his classmates in summer camp;
b, when she casually took out her mobile phone and took a picture of the old man trapped in the water and trying to commit suicide.
These two scenes can't help but make people feel sad. Why can a child who is underage do such a thing? Isn't this the fall of humanity? ! Isn't this the twist of the human heart? ! Isn't this human tragedy? !
Sadness 4 - Indifference
There is such a bridge in the film ( starting at 62 minutes and 30 seconds and ending at 65 minutes and 45 seconds ), the old Georges is in a wheelchair and walks all the way.
Along the way, there are two types of people in the picture—French natives and African-American youths ; two phenomena—“African-American youths take the initiative to ask the old man” and “the natives pass by indifferently”. The meaning of this group of pictures, presumably needless to say.
IV, the author's little grumble
1. The narrative structure is slightly loose. Due to the fact that the work involves many characters, each person's role is equally shared, which indirectly leads to the insufficient portrayal of the characters in the play and the lack of rigorous narrative structure.
2, too forbearance, meaning too shallow. Whether it is the character dialogue or the story development, it is quite simple and subtle, with a special artistic conception of French movies, but it always feels unfinished and too "forbearing", maybe it is more thorough and charming.
The book is not exhaustive, so I put it on hold. See you next time.
Director ★★★★☆
Actor ★★★★☆ (three big names + a little girl, a perfect match)
Plot ★★★☆☆ (profound meaning, but unfortunately the narrative is a little loose and made a mistake)
Visual effects ★★★★☆ (cold, clean, consistent with the theme of the work)
No comments on sound effects (very few soundtracks (the cello section is excellent), if you don’t pay attention, it’s almost impossible to detect it. It seems that the director deliberately weakened its sense of existence, so no comments are made)
Recommendation ★★★☆☆ (There is a slight gap with Michael's best work, because it is a famous director, so the rating is stricter)
More movie reviews and recommendations will be published on the WeChat public account " The Journey of Floyd and Helen ", thank you
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