Oldřich Lipský's one-of-a-kind Czech black comedy employs an ingenious twist - telling the life story of a philanderer and condemned murderer entirely in reverse: from his 'birth' at the guillotine, to his departure as an infant. Starring the great Vladimír Menšík in a rare leading role, the film is wildly inventive and disarmingly hilarious.

The reverse chronology, with events playing out completely backwards, upends the narrative flow to become a playful, surreal, Dadaist experience unlike anything else in contemporary cinema.

Now beautifully restored in 4K, Happy End makes its world premiere on Blu-ray.

“Like Memento multiplied by ten to the power of infinity and scripted by Spike Milligan”

Wonders in the Dark

“As conceptually and formally radical, and virtuosic, as any helmed by the New Wave’s celebrated, most outré directors... can astonish even the most cinephilic audiences today with its singular bravura” Senses of Cinema

“A twisted comedy with some truly hilarious moments” Bonjour Tristesse"

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

Happy End (Šťastný konec, 1967) presented from a new 4K restoration by the Czech National Film Archive.

A Projection Booth audio commentary with Mike White, Kat Ellinger and Ben Buckingham.

Cerise Howard on ‘Happy End’: a video essay by the film critic and Program Director of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

Booklet featuring a new essay by Jonathan Owen.

New and improved English subtitle translation.

World premiere on Blu-ray.

Region: ABC