Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2017: #1. Michael Haneke’s Happy End

Happy End

Director: Michael Haneke
Writer: Michael Haneke

At the end of 2015, after several mentions of a reunion from Isabelle Huppert, news broke of Michael Haneke’s next project, Happy End, his first project since 2012’s Amour. The two time Palme d’Or winner (The White Ribbon, 2009; Amour, 2012) had been developing a project known as Flashmob which was eventually abandoned after he waited some time for a lead actress he’d had in mind. This latest marks his fourth collaboration with Huppert (following The Piano Teacher, Time of the Wolf, and Amour), as well as reuniting them both with Jean-Louis Trintignant. A European refugee crisis informs the tone of this tale about a well-to-do family in Calais, and so we can most likely expect a searing denunciation of privilege something along the lines of Code Unknown, perhaps. The addition of director Matthieu Kassovitz in the cast is also a welcome attribute, and anticipation is high for the latest from master of misanthropy, Michael Haneke.

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Matthieu Kassovitz

Production Co./Producer(s): ARTE France Cinema, France 3 Cinema, Les Films du Losange, Wega Film, X-Filme Creative Pool.

U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Release Date: Having filmed in the first half of 2016, this will most assuredly be appearing in the main competition at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

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