Happy End (1967)
DVD5 Custom | ISO | PAL 4:3 | 01:09:38 | 4,10 Gb
Audio: Czech AC3 2.0 @ 224 Kbps; Russian AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps
Subtitles: Czech, English, Russian
Genre: Comedy
DVD5 Custom | ISO | PAL 4:3 | 01:09:38 | 4,10 Gb
Audio: Czech AC3 2.0 @ 224 Kbps; Russian AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps
Subtitles: Czech, English, Russian
Genre: Comedy
Director: Oldrich Lipský
A dark comedy about a murder and its consequences presented in a backwards manner, where death is actually a rebirth. The film starts with an "execution" of the main protagonist and goes back to explore his previous actions and motivations.
IMDB
Happy End is a comedy film from the Czech New Wave, directed by Oldrich Lipský (Lemonade Joe), co-written with Milos Macourek. One of the most unique concepts to come out of Czech cinema, this is an experimental tribute to silent films and slapstick comedy, that tells the tragic story of a condemned man entirely in reverse.
It opens with a shot of the severed head of Bedrich Frydrych (Vladimír Mensík), a butcher who murders his wife and her lover, and is sentenced to the guillotine. Narrated as if his execution was his birth, and operating on the 'time destroys all' premise that Gaspar Noé would become famous for exploring 35 years later, what follows is Frydrych's life story with all the action playing out completely backwards, going all the way back to his childhood. As absurd and confusing as that sounds, the result is quite hilarious and amazing to watch.
Shown the other way around, the film would have been a rather mundane betrayal and murder story, but in reverse it makes for quite a twisted comedy with some truly hilarious moments.
Bizarre and disturbing scenes such as Frydrych carrying his wife's dismembered body home from the police station in a suitcase, and then assembling her back together at home, or a plate full of cookies being chewed and regurgitated back onto the table.
In addition to the backwards action, the lines of dialog are also spoken in reverse order leading to some incredibly surreal and nonsensical conversations with answers given before questions, and constantly out of context exclamations being made.
Much credit goes to Miroslav Hájek, the film's editor, as I can't imagine how much work it took to keep track of everything by hand; and at 71 minutes, the film is just the right length, ending just as the idea fully runs out of steam.
Have you seen Gaspar Noe's ""Irreversible"? How about Cristopher Nolan's "Memento"? Do you know of "Benjamin Button"? Well, this movie is about thirty years older and, in terms of concept, way more "outside the box" than any of the above. Plus, it's really FUNNY!
Now here's the thing. The "actual" story is about a butcher killing his wife and her lover, then being put in jail and eventually executed. But all this, you never see. What you do see, is "all this" reversed, aka the movie begins with the execution of the butcher and goes backwards from there. And when I say "backwards", I really mean backwards! People walk in reverse, talk in reverse, eat in reverse. And on top of all that, there is a voice-over narrating in real time, thus putting together a whole new, totally surreal, perversely funny story.
This is definitely one of the most interesting movies I 've ever seen. It's funny, it's original, it's a must watch.IMDB Reviewer
Special Features:
- Interviews
- Fotogallery
- Filmography
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