happy end

This article deals with the term happy ending in film, as well as other meanings, see Happy End (disambiguation) .

The pseudo-Anglicism Happy End (from the English happy ending ) literally means “happy ending”, while the English phrase “a happy ending story” means “happy ending” or “happy ending”.

In a general sense, it means every positive end to a sequence of events that is or can be shaped by difficulties and adversities. The proverb that ends well, everything is well used . In fairy tales , the closing formula “... and they lived happily ever after” is also common.

The English term came into use through the art of cinema . The term happy ending thus originally refers to a movie , but is also applied to a series, a novel or a story such as a fairy tale . What is meant here is the usual positive conclusion to the respective plot of the narrative, in particular the success of the main characters. Typical examples of happy endings are e.g. B. Film ends where lovers become a couple, the bomb is defused in time, the shy professor overcomes his fears, the world is saved, etc.

In the film industry , a happy ending is often used as a denouement in order to leave the viewer with a positive overall impression of the film. However, it can also have the opposite effect, which is why the film industry does not use it without hesitation. Looking back on his time as assistant director in the 1950s, Rainer Erler remarked: "Until shortly before the end of shooting, it was often not clear whether it should be a film with a happy ending or a so-called 'artistic' film".

Kurt Tucholsky's well-known poem Afterwards closes with the words:

"And that's why the happy ending in the film is usually dimmed."

Vienna ending

Emperor Joseph II declared by decree that plays in the Vienna Burgtheater should no longer deal with sad events in order not to put the imperial audience in a bad mood. Many pieces therefore had to be changed and given a Viennese ending , for example Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet . After Joseph II's death in 1790, his theater reforms, like many of his other innovations, were withdrawn.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fritz Göttler: West German Post-War Film. In: History of German Film. Second. Edition. JB Metzler, 2004, p. 204