Happy End?!

I came into this film not expecting much and I ended the film pleasantly surprised. It was not at all what I thought it was going to be. This low-budget film really delivers on the emotion, the acting, the scenery...it was all great within its constraints. The two leads were fantastic. I laughed, wallowed in sadness, and nearly cried throughout this film. The messages in this film have actually got me thinking about what I want out of my life. I really enjoyed it! Wonderful movie.

Happy End?! (2014) was directed by Petra Clever. It's in German, with English subtitles. Lucca, played by Sinha Gierke, is a young woman whose life has been micromanaged by her domineering father. She is bound for "Harvard Law School." (Not really, because she hasn't been to college. However, you get the point.)

Through a (true) miscarriage of justice, she gets convicted of what I assume is a misdemeanor, and has to serve 20 hours of community service at a hospice. It's there that she meets a hospice worker named Valerie, played by Vereena Wustcamp. Valerie is Lucca's opposite--a free spirit who is a (very good) club singer.

Valerie has developed a close relationship with one of the hospice residents, Herma. Herma's family is uncaring and avaricious. The story takes off after Herma dies. The question is whether Valerie and Lucca can defy Herma's son and Valerie's father and follow Herma's last wishes. (It sounds trite, but it's actually funny and interesting in the movie.)

We saw this film at its East Coast Premiere at the Little Theatre as part of ImageOut, the Rochester LGBT Film festival. It will work well on DVD.

I loved this movie. It went down paths I didn't expect, with fantastic actors and writing. All of that on a budget.

There are however some glaring mistakes, which kinda get to me. Why would a German girl living in Germany, be applying, let alone going to Harvard Law school? Why does her father look like he's closer to Boyfriend age and acting like such an idot? Also hasn't he figured out that if she goes to Harvard Law school, he basically won't see her again? A security Guard dragging a teenage girl by the ear. I can kinda guess which of them will end up doing time. Why would a hotel not let them stay? Two women, so what.

Valarie and Lucca are however both wonderful characters and the film is very watchable. The story line and writing with some exceptions, is great and the acting (except dad) is great.

Not a lot of information on this one from deutschland. Sadly, the official website listed on IMDb for "sistasinspiration.com/happyend/" (the production company that made this) currently gives us Error 404.... Not Found. sad. was trying to research where this has been shown. Hong Kong in 2014. and probably other cities as well. Through a complete misunderstanding, Lucca (Sinha Gierke) is assigned community service in a hospice facility. While there, she meets fellow employee Val (Verena Wüstkamp) who is a lesbian chick on the wild side. They were very close to one of the patients "Herma", who has passed away. the antagonist/ nemesis here seems to be the son of the deceased patient, but Val says she knows better what Herma would have wanted. Val and Lucca make a road trip to fix that. and now Lucca's father, has joined the team trying to stop Lucca & Val. Very pretty scenery of Germany. and SOOOOO many lesbian references... "saw her at the hardware store, in the POWER TOOL section"... leather jackets, motorcycles. Written and directed by Petra Clever; her first full length feature film. She has done a LOT of deutscher TV. Some weird, confrontations with the son, trying to get the mother's ashes back. Those scenes could have been done better. Good sound track. Good story-line, for the most part. Kind of rolls along, some un-even moments, then some surprises near the end. Fun to watch.