Happy End

Do you enjoy unsaturated and unforgiving humour that shines a glaring light on bourgeois family values and the oppressive structure of societal existence? Then Michael Haneke’s latest film, Happy End, is the film for you. 

Happy End is centred around 13-year-old Eve (Fantine Harduin), who is sent to live with her father and his wealthy family in their mansion in Calais, France, after her mother attempts suicide. What follows is a narrative of emotional isolation as Haneke’s characters slowly and quietly (very, very slowly and very, very quietly) struggle to connect with each other.  

A chilling vein of disconnection and detachment runs through this film, as each member of the family are silently consumed with their own problems, barely noticing their ‘loved ones’ psychologically crumbling around them. As Eve copes with her mother’s absence, her grandfather (Jean-Louis Trintignant) chases death as a means to free him from his ailing body. Her father (Mathieu Kassovitz) maintains a secret online love affair, and her aunt (Isabelle Huppert) struggles to keep both the family business and her wayward son (Franz Rogowski) from destruction. Disconnection between the characters is heightened by Haneke’s stylistic and directorial choices. Though time is linear, scenes jump erratically from one even to another, and any seemingly significant occurrence is only revealed to the audience after the fact (we only find out about the death of a character because it’s mentioned dismissively to a real estate agent).

As someone who is not a die-hard Haneke fan, I found Happy End a little too harsh for my rose-coloured palette. I took my date to see it and when he tried to hold my hand I inadvertently recoiled in awkward discomfort, for Haneke’s bleak approach to the human condition left me bearing the cold weight of each characters’ struggle with estrangement and apathy.

Yes – my reaction was probably a bit extreme (my date seconded my opinion and still bought me a whisky afterwards, so we’re all cool) but then again, Haneke’s perspective is equally extreme. Unlike many other film auteurs, he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve, but carefully crafts his ideas through a harmonious balance of starkness and subtlety. Though his style is not to everyone’s taste, those who love his work love it for good reason. He is truly a master at what he does, and Happy End is no exception.

Happy End 
In cinemas now
View Trailer