Happy End (1967)

"On behalf of the republic, we cut your head!" That's how Dne Yppah (read it backwards) starts. And I thought I will see one of those parodies of the communist regime, typical for the Czech, Hungarian, Polish or Yugoslavian cinema of the '60s - 70s. In those former communist countries, you could have your head cut or hanged or shot if, for example, you dared to speak bad about the communist state statutes and politics. In Romania, before 1989, many jokes circulating were about the dictatorial regime. One of them said that if you tell political jokes, you can choose yourself a self-criticism, self-police-van or a self-autopsy... In conclusion, this is not an awakening of the soul through spiritual knowledge. This is an unique, original film. Through sarcasm, Oldrich Lipský, who offered us also the western parody Lemonade Joe(1964), now makes us complicit with this Happy End (1967), a total parody of life, including birth, love, wedding, death. But everything is lived opposite, that begins with the death (execution by guillotine) and ends with birth. All the actors are impeccable and the whole film, although spoken, has the air of a comedy from the silent era of Chaplin or Buster Keaton.

After making plans to watch one Czech movie from the Cold War era a day over April,I talked to a fellow IMDber on the European Cinema board,who told me about a Czech Comedy which they suspected I would really enjoy.Getting home late last night,I started thinking about what Czech film would offer a swift viewing,which led to me deciding that it was time to see how happy the ending could be.The plot:Getting beheaded, (what a happy way to start the movie!) Bedřich Frydrych's life starts to run backwards,which gives Frydrych the chance to un-murder his wife and bring his father in law back from the dead.Becoming younger with each passing day, Frydrych discovers that death offers the opportunity of a re-birth.View on the film:Going backwards as attempts to introduce a New Economic Model were taking place in the country,co-writer/(along with Milos Macourek) director Oldrich Lipský holds a satirical timer to the courts and police,with the manipulation of film speed/sound undermining everything that the law does.Working very closely with cinematographer Vladimír Novotný & editor Miroslav Hájek, Lipský locates a dazzling middle ground between Silent and "talkies" cinema,where the ultra-stylised manipulation of film speeds and tints joyfully make the title look like a Silent Movie that really went off the rails during production,whilst the (mostly) overlapped soundtrack gives the film a delightfully quirky mood.Casting the film across the screen backwards,the screenplay by Lipský & Macourek displays an extraordinary attention to detail,thanks to the writers making the witty one-liners ones that show the absurdity of Frydrych's backwards life,whilst simultaneously building a picture to what led to Frydrych's beheading. Firing the one liners and visual gags at rapid speed over a petite 70 mins, Lipský finds time to drip a philosophical note which explores death as a way of re-birth,and makes the final scene a happy end.

I haven't laughed this hard at a film in so long. I had always been looking for this film, but forgot about it until I saw it on offer from an independent company. It really does run 100% in reverse. Dialogue is mouthed backwards, tears run upwards - everything. The story line is a stroke of genius though. Forwards, it might have made a nice, if dull, murder mystery, but played in reverse it becomes a different story entirely - and almost conceivable. The copy I bought had very questionable subtitles, which only brought on more laughter, but it was still easy to understand. Why this never had its day is beyond me - bring it back!

This film will really make you think different.The story is about a husband who kills his wife, but it's not important.The great idea is something else: the WHOLE film was shot backwards. Even the dialogues are spoken backwards. (I guess it was quite hard, because the actors had to speak backwards and then they had to dub themselves. Sounds a bit complicated, doesn't it? =) So the film starts with the execution of the main character and it ends when he is born.This will turn your brain upside down! =)