Happy End. (2005) - full transcript

"Happy End" is about a young writer who moves into an old suburban house because of his writing blockade. He wants to start a new life there. Searching for the right story for his new novel, he discovers a well secured secret in which his strange neighbors and the preceding tenant are involved. Joana, the little daughter who died in a car accident 7 years ago, seems to play an important role in this mystery. In the end, everything turns out different from what he expected.

...deeper than ever before!

I saw my last chance in a radical new start

I had to get out of this big city,
find some airto breathe
and space for inspiration..."

I had to find the way back
to myself and my own story.

if i had foreseen to Which obscure
adventure my decision led me...

...I would have never entered the old house
at the "Orchideenweg 28"!

- This is absolutely ridiculous, Leo!
- Stay cool! They really suit you! Very trendy!

- Haha!
- Come one, be a little bit more patient, please!

Would you at least light me a fag, honey?

- Of course, sugarbaby!

Clever, Leo! Very clever!



- Madmoiselle!
- May ! take off the glasses now?
- Just one more second...

- Here we are!
- Now? - Yep!

- So? - lnteresting...
- lnteresting? Oh. Just wait Until you've seen
the inside ot the apartment!

Of course, Ida wasn‘t enthusiastic at all about
the apartment. She was used to a different lifestyle
and didn‘t intend to give up her apartment downtown.

However the old house looked
almost friendly in the warm sunlight.

I had to think back to that rainy evening,
when lfirst came to the ”Orchideenweg 28".

Anti-Depressives...

-You've really made a bargain here!
-Yep!

-And here upstairs is the stinky nursery, right?
-Yep!

The agent told me about the tragic car accident
7 years ago, in Which the preceding tenant
and his daughter ”Joana" died.

The former house owner was allegedly
convinced that this place was haunted.

Therefore,
the apartment has been empty since that time
and it has already started to decay.

Joana...

-What's that?
- What do you mean?



Can‘t you hear... that knocking?

I see! The hot water tank in the cellar has been
making those strange noises for years now,
but it‘s unbelievable how fast you're getting used to it!

- Do you really want to keep all this garbage?
- Garbage? Why garbage?

Does the interieur not correspond
to your sense of aesthetics?

May! introduce you to the model
”Gustavson" in classic brown...

...and if you order now, you're also
gonna get this... wait a sec...

- Here we go! This exclusive multifunctional
bunch of keys for free so that your doors
will always be open for me!

Leo, you're crazy!

Maybe everything will turn out fine here again...

...but there‘s still a lot of work to do!

While Ida had gone back downtown
to attend her urgent appointments
it was time for me to do the spring cleaning.

Maybe ! could make her change
her mind and convince her of the
beauty of this old furniture

Hello, my name is Leo. ! moved in here...

...a few days ago. Nice to meet you too.

-What are you snooping around here at my door?
- Hello Mr. Boos, I'm... I'm... I'm...

I‘m not interested in Who you are!

! recently saw you coming upstairs
here with a fish in your hand!

Has no one told you that pets
aren‘t welcome in this house?

And never play this music again!
Never again!

Can ! help you boy?

Excuse me. My name is Leo Schwarz.

lmoved in here a few days ago,
and ljust wanted to introduce myself.

I've already seen you with your gilrfriend
A very pretty face!

I've actually already given up hope of meeting
any nice people here in this house...

...so that the thought of moving out again
nearly came to my mind.

We all have to fight our own ghosts...

I've got a little gift for you.
In sign of a good neighbourhood, so to speak.

Moving out wouldn‘t be such a bad idea, indeed!

This isn‘t a good place!
Not for young people!

If you're clever, then move somewhere else!

Near this place, there has been finished
a new terrace house colony!
You could sleep weil there!

What do you mean by:
”no good place"?

Who knows
lgotta get back and care about my sweeties.

Just ventilate your apartment well
and let those old stories escape!

Old stories...?

Ouch, damn!

I'll be right there...

Much better!

Come on in please, Ma‘am!

No, no, no not upstairs!

The private room is occupied at the moment!

But I hope there‘s a second private room...

Of course! The presidential suite!

Two and a half hours
and 3 bottles White wine later,
all the romantic atmosphere was gone.

When I had cleaned the room,
! had found the dusty, erotic video-collection
of the preceding tenant...

...and we were very amused about the odd titles.

Honeybunny.
One photo for the family album! Cheese!

Oh, the film is full.
Would you please take it to the photographer?

Ey, Ey Sir! As you Wish!

Oh no! Exactly now Where it
hasjust begun to become gripping!

- I want my money hack!
- Just a second...

Leo! We're going to miss the best scenes!

- Hey... you plugged in the antenna!
- Nonsense, antenna! We were watching a video!

220 volt...

Everything OK?

Did you get hun?

Fuck! Wait!

It‘s OK! ljust stumbled!

What happened?

Nothing honey! Everything‘s alright!

Do you hear that?

- Leo, lwanna get out of here!
- Shh, there‘s nothing! Just insects...

chapter 2: evil

Ida had driven back
to her own apartment that night...

...and she didn‘t want to Visit me anymore
as long as there were any living beings
in my apartment, beside me and my fish.

lhadn‘t told her anything about the girl on TV...

For Joana...

Anti-Depressives

Ruth and Joana

Dear Ruth,
! saw two eyes in the darkness yesterday
and I couldn‘t sleep any more all night.

Dear Ruth, please don‘t worry about me so much.
! got used to the cold...

...got used to the cold...

But the worst of it is this darkness...

...but if we stick together,
however, we might make it.

The old woman Who lives next
gave me a little guinea pig...

...the old woman Who lives next door...

- Good morning.
- Good morning.

Could you tell me anything about this girl?

Didn‘t ! tell you
to finally let bygones be bygones?

lfound a necklace... lthink it‘s yours!

Come on in.

A strange child.
She never spoke one word with me.

It was almost
as if shejust didn‘t like human beings.

One evening, lwas out in the
garden to feed the guinea pigs...

...and that‘s when I saw Joana sitting beside
the enclosure, watching the animals.

But when I wanted to walk towards her,
her father yelled from upstairs and she ran away.

But from this day on, she went to the animals
nearly every evening...

...and lwatched her secretly from the Window.

Some time, when it got colder and when it
was time to bring the pets into the house...

...I had this necklace made!

This day Joana went down to the animals too,
sat down on the grass and fed them.

And do you know what happened, when she
saw the necklace with the inscription?

She turned to my window and
looked straight into my eyes!

Afew weeks later, the little girl died...

Where there any problems
between Joana and her father?

He came home drunk sometimes,
roared unintelligible frazzles of words...

...and threw furniture around.

And when it got too loud,
he simply turned up the record player

And no one did anything against this?

We reported it to the youth welfare department...

Joana was even examined
by a medical Officer several times
but they couldn‘t find any indication of violence

...and her father went on as he did before!

What kind of person was Joanas father?

He was evil.

Leo...

...Leo...

...LEO!!!

Are you actually listening to me?

What did you say?

Sorry, lwas thinking about something else.

lnoticed that!

Could you repeat it please?

It wasn‘t that important!

I had to think about the diary
lfound in the girl‘s nursery

I've never read something so sad...

ljust don‘t get it!

How‘s the work on your new novel going?

It‘s going quite alright!

How much did you get done?

I said it‘s going quite alright, OK?

Don‘t lie to me, Leo!

OK, what do you want to hear?
That I've nearly finished the book?

That there are only a few pages missing?

That I‘m going
to be on the top of the bestseller charts...

...and that
I‘m going to move back to the city center?
Is that what you want to hear?

Sorry, but this is not going to happen!

It‘s all fucked up!
lhaven‘t Written one single line for 3 years now!

And do you know What?

I‘m scared!

lfear
that none wants to read my stories any more!

Are you satisfied now?

Satisfied? Me? This is not about me!
It‘s about your book, man!

Why don‘t you give yourself a chance?

But hanging around, doing nothing at all
is so much easier, isn‘t it?

Maybe she was right. ! couldn‘t wait another
4 years for my muse to kiss me again...

...so ! decided to give my inspiration a hand
and to trace back Joana‘s story
and the car accident 7 years ago...

...in Which Joana and her father died.

Joana Alert...

”Lord listen to my prayers,
consider my loud beseeching...!"

"I will call you on the day
of my peril and you will hear me."

psalm 86, verses 6-7

-What are you doing here?
- Uff... You scared me!

Are you one of those perverted guys
Who break into cemeteries at night
in order to devastate graves?

No, no, no I‘m a Writer!
I‘m just doing some research for my new book!

Yeah right, and I‘m the Pope!
What kind of stuff do you write?

Do you know "The Bloodless Horseman"?

- You wrote it?
- Y...yes.„

- My mum read it...
- I‘m glad to hear!

She said the book was pretty shitty!

But my mum has no idea of literature.
I‘m Gustav.

- Leo...
- So what are you doing research on?

Joana Alert died with her father in a car accident,
but I couldn‘t find his grave...

Hmm,
the paper says that his corps was referred
to the clinic for medical research...

That‘s the case when no one
can pay for the funeral charges.

That‘s not unusual.
People often put candles on someone else‘s graves.

But Who pays for Joana‘s grave?
lthought there were no more relatives...

These are private particulars!

Sorry. ljust wanted a piece of information.
Whom should ! harm with that?

Now listen! You break into cemetaries at night,
hang around at strange graves
and tell me that you're a Writer...

You are lucky that I didn‘t call the police!

By the way, Why do you care about that?
Are you Writing biographies now?

You're right! Sorry for taking up your time.

Please greet your mother from me.
I‘m sure she'll like my new novel a lot more.

I've got an address here,
Where the bills are sent...

"Orchideenweg 28"! Does that ring a hell?

Someone in this house
seemed to take care of Joana‘s grave.

But Why should anyone do that?
Because of sympathy?

Compassion?

Leo did not know.
He went into the kitchen and got himself
a big glass of milk from the fridge.

He was very tired!

Help!

Joana...

Repair voucher...

Death certificate...

Miss Aneliese Alert... Joana‘s mother!

She must have died at Joana‘s birth...

Doctor bill...

Patient: Joana Alert

Practice Dr. Lidia Grubert...

Hi! How can ! help you?

Hello! ! would like to talk to the doctor.

Do you have an appointment?

No, but it won‘t take long!

One moment please...

How about next friday, around 3:30pm?

Listen... Andrea!
My name is Leo Schwarz, I‘m a Writer
and I‘m doing some research for my new novel...

...and that‘s Why I‘d really want to talk to
Dr. Grubert for a second.

Who do you want to talk to?

Dr. Grubert.

Just a second, please!

- You want to talk to Dr. Grubert?
-Yes, that‘s right.

She retired 7 years ago.

Do you know Where she lives now?

As far as I know,
she lives in the north of the town...

Thank you ladies, you helped me a lot!

Hello. Are you Dr. Grubert?

If you could give me a hand,
you can call me however you want!

Thanks a lot, Mister!
You showed up at the right moment!

Do you know all about water mains?

No, sorry! I‘m a Writer!

That‘s OK!

So how can ! help you, Mr. Writer?

My name is Leo, Leo Schwarz.
I would like to talk to Dr. Grubert...

Do you want to leave a message for her?

I would like to talk to her personally...

...it‘s about a patient of hers.

She hasn‘t had any more patients for 7 years now.
I have to go on now...

Would you please give her this message from me,
if you meet her?

Thanks. Bye.

And... you should put
the big logs down onto the ground.
You might have to reach them again one day!

Wait!

Where did you get this from?

From a little girl...

I‘m Lidia. Dr. Lidia Grubert...

- Would you like some Indian root tea?
- Thank you.

"The Bloodless Horseman"...

...not bad for a 24 year old Writer...

...except for the ending!
Did you Write it voluntarily?

What can you tell me about Joana?

- You divert from the topic...
- YOU divert from the topic!

Why?
We were talking about your novel, weren‘t we?

I did not come to talk about myself!

We always talk about ourselves!

Thank you for that Wise saying!
I'll frame it and hang it over my bed!

Leo listen! In fact, I‘m not allowed
to talk to you about Joana...

It‘s about personal information!
If someone finds out, ! could get myself into big trouble.

lthought you had retired?

ldon‘t practice any more,
but that doesn‘t mean that I didn‘t swear an oath.

Alright! What do you want to know?

So ! told her about my Writing blockade,
my move into the old house...

...the dead guineapig,
the box ! found Under the closet...

...and the trouble
! had with my girlfriend since that time.

ldidn‘t teil her
about the red ball and my nightmares.
ldidn‘t want to make myself look ridiculous.

she was sent to me by the youth welfare
department at that time.

lwas supposed to Write an expert opinion.

They suspected
that Joana was maltreated by her father...

Was she?

She had no external symptoms,
no scars, no haemorrhage, not even bruises...

...but she wasn‘t really healthy either.

What do you mean?

She was kind of obsessed with mirrors!

Whenever she saw one, she stood in front of it
and watched her reflection... for hours!

lfirst thought
she wasjust lonesome, but one day,
she talked about Ruth.

She started to cry and when ! kept on asking her
about Ruth, she said no more word.

lfound that in her room...
What does that mean?

Who is Ruth?

Ruth is Joana...

...and Joana is Ruth...

Joana was schizophrenic.

Look... twice the same handwriting.

She must have been so lonely that she simply
created the girl Ruth in her mind one day.

lnfluenced by her subconcious,
she gave every face 4 eyes.

She probably felt as if she had 4 eyes.

For that reason the mirrors...

When you look into a mirror
you're not completely alone...

...there‘s at least your reflected image.

Slowly,
the story started to become interesting...

...there was a schizophrenic girl, a dead mother
and an evil dad...

...Who seemed to be an alcoholic and Who vented
his frustration on his little daughter Joana...

...without leaving
any indications of violence, however.

Besides there were those strange neighbours:
a choleric man, a paranoid woman...

...and this nice old lady
hiding behind her guinea pigs.

I had to find out more about this car accident.

Maybe thet‘s how I could find out Who took care
of Joanas grave secretly.

Good evening!

Good evening Mr. Schwarz...
Have you already accustomed
yourself weil to this place?

Of course.
lwasjust... cooking! Are you hungry?

Oh no, thanks! lwasjust around and...
lwas wondering how you were doing!

Well, to be honest...
I‘m here because of the tenancy!

Of course! Just a second...

I‘m sorry,
but that‘s all I've got at the moment...

...but I wanted to go
to the bank tomorrow anyway!

Well, I'll come back tomorrow evening.

- Pardon?
- Tomorrow evening.

Of course... you can keep that!

So the secret was finally revealed,
but I still didn‘t know Why the hell
she was interested in Joana‘s grave

...and Why this secretive acting?

lfollowed her the Whole way out of town,
through small forests, narrow alleys
and past abandoned buildings...

This was the moment when ! recognized
that I had been there before.

Not far away from here
there was the former practice of Dr. Grubert

It seemed to me
as if ! discovered more and more questiones
to which I didn‘t find an answer either.

Perhaps the key to this story
was this tragic car accident 7 years ago
in Which Joana and her father had died.

November... Car accident!
Father and daughter dead!

On thursday the 17th of November
at 8:45 am, a father and his daughter
hit the ditch at the "Blaue Allee".

He and his 10-year old daughter died at once
because of serious inner injuries.

A small amount of alcohol
was found in the blood of Joana‘s father.
The exact reason for this accident is still unclear...

...but a leak in the tube
of the break fluid is suspected.

chapter 3: ghosts

Shit! Damn door!

Open! Come on! Come on fucking door!

lwanna get out of here!

Damn! Come on!

Let me out! lwanna get out of here!

Who are you?

LET ME OUT!!!

Yes mum, did you have a nightmare again...

Leo?

I‘m not too sure any more
if it was a good idea to call you.
The best thing would be to forget this Whole matter...

Now listen, Leo!
You ring me up at 3:30 in the morning
'cause you want to tell me something, alright...

Whatever our Mr. Writer
wants to tell me is so important
that we have to meet in this dump, alright...

...but i will definitely not return home now
and go back to sleep.

It seems to me
as if there‘s something Wrong with you, Leo!

There‘s a ghost in my apartment...

Objects move. ! can hear noises... voices!

lcan‘t sleep any more but... when I‘m sleeping,
ldon‘t know if I‘m awake or if I‘m still dreaming.

Did you see it?

The ghost!

It‘s Joana!

I also dreamt of her at that time.

Have you tried to contact her?

lmean Joana!

All I know about ghosts is the fact that they try
to draw attention to something undone.

But they need the help from living beings!
Maybe you're supposed to help her...

Watch this one here...

lwasn‘t sure
if she had really taken me seriously...

What could this ghost want from me?

There had to be some kind of connection
Which lfailed to notice...

...one detail
Which was missing to put the puzzle together...

What do you want to tell me? I don‘t get it!

IDON'T GET IT!!!

I've already checked out the box!

There‘s nothing special inside!

Repair receipts... medical bills...

Annual inspection...

"The exact reason
for this accident is still unclear, but a leak
in the tube of the break fluid is suspected."

Maybe it was no accident...

Garage ”Boos"...

"Orchideenweg 28"...

There used to be a garage in this house...

- Leo, is this you?
- I‘m not sure...

- Have you already watched the movie?
- I guess there‘s no need any more to do so.

There‘s something else ! have to tell you.

On the day of the accident, Joana had an
appointment with me, right in the morning...

Her father wanted to drop her off at my
practice on the way to his work...

...but they never arrived...

They were on the way to your practice?
Who else knew about this appointment?

What do you mean?

lguess ! finally found a story for my new book.

What are you talking about, Leo?

I'll tell you later on!

This Mr. Boos seemed to have moved
his entire workshop into the apartment...

It smelled like engine oil and old fuel.

ldidn‘t know exactly
what I was looking for. A weapon?
A piece of evidence? A signed confession?

Father and daughter dead - Accident!

Two dead people after collision...

lknew that this guy would cause trouble...

...always sticking his nose into matters
being none of his business!

lguess, ! should talk
to this Mr. Writer alone one day...

There‘s so much trash amassed
in this house and I don‘t know
any more what to do with this shit...

The best idea would be to...
SPLIT IT INTO MATCHWOOD!

What are you doing in my apartment, snoop?

What are those pictures
of the accident doing in your room?

That‘s absolutely none of your business!

lguess the police would be damn interested in this!

- shut up or I‘m gonna...
- ...gonna do What?

Do you maybe want to kill me, too?

lguess you enjoy manipulating cars!

You don‘t even have a tinge of an idea, you little...

Stop it, Roman!

YOU???

What do you have to do with the Whole story?

ltold you only one half of the story!

You mean... the story of the accident?

He hit the girl. Again and again...

- But the doctors couldn‘t find
any indications of... - The doctors...
ldon‘t give a shit about the doctor‘s opinion!

If one of the doctors
would have heard her screaming only once,
they would have had their indication!

What about the youth welfare department?

This damn youth welfare department...!!!

...it accused us all of defamation!

One evening he came home drunk again,
turned up the music again...

...we only wanted to help the little girl...

Vanish you ssssnake!

Go back into your room, ! said!

So What‘s up? Hit me!

HIT ME!!!

So you're into this little toad, huh?

Bastard! You like her?

Get lost... scram!

Coward!

lshould have done it! If! had killed him
she might still be alive.

But instead, ! cut through the
brake tubes of his car this very night...

He always used to drive to work all by himself...
...always used to drive all by himself!

The appointment...

What are you staring at?

Everything has changed since that day.
For everyone of us...

An unbelievably heavy burden
was taken off their shoulders...

...when they finally made peace
with themselves and with Joana.

Their story had gotten to an end,
but only now! realized that ! myself
had become the protagonist.

! sat down at my typewriter that day
and began with the words: A red ball...

It was as if the letters were already lined up
in my brain and as if they were eager
to be sqeezed into the darkblue ink ribbon.

lwrote for days. Letter after letter,
word after word, page after page...

Time seemed to become an empty phrase,
meaningless and used up...

I had forgotten the world around me long ago,
just as the world had forgotten me.

lthought a lot about the ending...

...but with every passing day,
every Written page and every finished chapter,
one thing became clear to me:

This couldn‘t be the end of my story!
Something else would happen.

Too many questions were still Open...

Ida! Wow, you look great!

Why didn‘t you tell me that you‘d come?

Your phone has been busy for 2 weeks now...

Oh damn! ! Unplugged the cable, sorry...

...ljust didn‘t want to be disturbed, you know.

Don‘t panic. lwon‘t stay long!

My new book is nearly finished.
lthink it turned out great!

Nice. I‘m happy for you.

Weil the first chapters aren‘t that brilliant yet
and let‘s not talk about the ending...

Some changes in the middle, but in fact,
! got quite a lot done.

Hey, Why don‘t you come in? For a cup of tea?

Shit! There‘s no more tea... But what about
a glass of cool, fresh tap water?

What do you think I am here for?

No...

lthink you're doing fine Without me.

I‘m going to call my publisher and he'll
surely give me an advance...

...and you just take a few days off and we will
take the car and go somewhere far away...

south of France!
...or Venice?

Do you remember last year? Summer holiday?

We both at the beach, naked.
The sea, the seagulls...remember?

Sure...

But I don‘t want to just live
in those memories any longer.

It‘s over!
Something between us broke apart
and we didn‘t even notice it.

Ida!

No happy end for the two of us?

ldon‘t know.
That‘s not the end of the story isn‘t it?

Session Nr. 128... 5th ofJuly 1994

What are you drawing, Joana?

May I see it?

Who is this? Is it Ruth?

What are you scared of, Joana?

You don‘t have to be scared of me.

Are you scared of your father?

Are you scared of Ruth?

lwant to get out of here!

What do you want from me?

Leave me alone!

ldidn‘t cause you any harm!

Where are you? Appear!

What do you want from me?

Grubert. Leave a message after the signal.

Dr. Grubert?

Dr. Grubert?

If you're there please answer the phone!
It‘s important!

Joana was not schizophrenic!
She had a twin sister... Ruth!

She told you about her once...

Her father must have hidden her somewhere or
exchanged them for one another, ! don‘t know...

My neighbours
are sure that Joana was maltreated,
but there were no indications of violence!

This bastard!
He didn‘t send Joana to the appointments
but Ruth, understand?

Like this, he kept them Under control,
do you understand?

That‘s the reason
for those 4 eyes and the mirrors...

She must have been
unbelievably worried about her sister...

If I only knew Where he hid her...