Happy ending - every story needs an ending
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Happy ending - every story needs an ending |
| Original title | happy end. |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2003 |
| length | 102 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Daniel Goldfinch |
| script | Daniel Goldfinch |
| production | Martin Tischner |
| music | Daniel Wehr |
| camera | Thomas Forster |
| cut | Daniel Goldfinch |
| occupation | |
| |
Happy End - Every story needs an end is a German horror thriller that was realized by Daniel Stieglitz for only 10,000 euros in 2003 in Cham (Upper Palatinate) .
action
Due to writer's block, the young writer Leo Schwarz moves into an old, ailing apartment building far outside the city to start all over again. His relationship with the beautiful Ida is on the verge of collapse, his money is getting tight, and his career seems to have bottomed out.
While looking for the right story for his new novel, he comes across the traces of the deceased previous tenant who died in a car accident together with his daughter Joana. In the children's room he discovers an old, strange diary with the inscription “Joana and Ruth”, dolls with four eyes and dark children's drawings and suddenly the apartment seems to develop an uncanny life of its own. Objects move. Strange noises are heard.
The old woman next door tells Leo about Joana's father, who often came home drunk, screamed and often beat the little girl with a belt. The neighbors had turned to the youth welfare office , but the medical officer found no evidence of abuse .
Despite all the warnings, Leo continues to research and, with the help of the former child psychologist Dr. Grubert on the trail of a secret: Joana was schizophrenic . But what do the strange neighbors have to do with it? Why is the old house haunted? What does Joana's ghost want from him?
After Leo couldn't sleep at night and the nightmares got worse and worse, he finally broke into the neighbors and found evidence that Joana and her father might not have died in an accident. When he confronts them, they tell him about the cut brake line. They just wanted to help the girl and get rid of the choleric father in an accident, but when not only her father but also Joana got into the car the next morning, it was already too late.
Leo starts to write. He finally has a story for his new book, but certain details still don't fit together. Why were no bruises or scars found on Joana even though the neighbors are sure she was beaten? Suddenly Joana's ghost appears in the mirror and Leo ticks off. He smashes all the mirrors, roars wildly for the girl and finally collapses.
Only now does he discover in a photo that Joana had a twin sister - Ruth! She was not schizophrenic and no signs of abuse could be found because Ruth was examined, not Joana! Finally Leo finds the half-decayed corpse of the twin sister in the dark, damp cellar and sits down, exhausted.
Production notes
The film was directed by the 23-year-old Daniel Stieglitz, together with fellow students from Kassel and film-loving friends from the area, in his home town of Cham (Upper Palatinate) .
Originally planned as a 15-minute short film exercise by the two Kassel film students Thomas Förster (camera) and Daniel Stieglitz (director, script, editor) on the topic of "fear", the happy ending developed - every story needs a 90-page end Screenplay and finally a full-length feature film.
All that was available was the privately financed budget of 7,000 euros that production manager Martin Tischner had to work with. Only with a lot of personal commitment, countless sponsors and the fee-free cooperation of all those involved, the shooting could be successfully completed in August 2003 after about 5 weeks.
In front of the camera, in addition to many amateur actors and theater actors from the area, the Austrian veteran Erwin Leder , the television experienced Matthias Scherwenikas and the former Viva presenter Katharina Schwarz were won over for the lead role.
After more than a year of post-production, the costs for a happy ending - every story needs an ending at around 10,000 euros.
Reviews
This German "horror film on the trail of those about The Ring and Shining " (Blickpunkt: Film / amazon.de ) was mainly discussed in the online area of specialized genre magazines. Above all, the fact that Happy End - Every Story Needs an End was made with much less money in contrast to the related films, was praised by the critics, “because on the one hand you never see the film's low budget. Stieglitz managed to make his film look like a large-scale production ”(Wicked-Vision).
Despite the good criticism, the April 2006 issue of the video week (amazon.de) discussed the weaknesses in the dramaturgy and the staging in "a sometimes funny and atmospheric, but overall somewhat wooden and moderately original horror chamber play".
Festivals and Awards
Happy Ending - Every story needs an ending premiered at the Fantasy Filmfest , screened at international festivals around the world ( Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles , Cinénygma Luxembourg, Pifan Festival Korea) and won at the International Independent Film Festival in Brussels 1st prize for the best debut film.
Web links
- Happy End - Every story needs an end in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website at danielstieglitz.de