Happy or sad endings to movies?

I like movies with a punch for the ending. That is, unless popcorn is available instead...


kidding. Seriously, I like Sad endings that make a powerful point, or like Silverfox said, A Happy ending after something Really sad.

 

Don't go with B. It's hokey, overdone, hard to do well, predictable, etc.

And A isn't?

 

I got it! To Be Continued...!

 

According to the Jarvis Method, which is neatly packaged into the StoryCraft software, there are 3 catagories of stories:

"Stories falling under the PLOT Category are those concerned strictly with plot, in which the characters are there only for the action. They also generally have a happy ending."

"Epic-Category stories are about complex characters who are victims of fate. Just to name two examples: ROMEO AND JULIET and TITANIC. But although the characters in an EPIC story have strong inner needs and goals, these desires are frustrated. As such, EPIC stories do not have a happy ending in the ordinary external sense but have instead a spiritual or philosophical message - and always a tragic ending. "

"Another classic Category is CHARACTER. This Category differs from PLOT stories in that there is always an inner struggle toward a goal (for example, becoming better adjusted to one's age, inner need, or environment). Yet CHARACTER stories share one thing in common with PLOT stories: They always have a happy ending."

 

I like sad endings,i'm hoping GL makes the next star wars have a sad ending,i can't see any other way for it to go(we already know what happens)
I watched The Wall on xmas day 2002(for about the millionth time),round my friends house ,his housemates girlfriend was there and she hadn't seen it,it freaked her right out ,personnaly i love it.Must be something about that house i was there again last xmas,in a similar state(rather drunk).
Life isn't always happy,so why should the movies be any different.
Now one of the saddest endings ever has to be Green Mile,boy what a choker that was,would've ruined the film to have ended any other way.ROTK had a happy sad ending.
It's good to see the bad guy win now and again.Though thats not say i don't like films with happy endings.

 

I like positive endings but not 100%. Somewhere in between that and 51%:49% ratio.

 

Generally, I think that there are two major things in writing one's ending.

1. context

It has to flow with the rest of the movie, cinematically, philosophically, grammatically

and less important but still fairly important.

2. not totally predictable

Why even watch the last five minutes if you can predict it shot for shot before your first viewing.

It's got to be paced so that everyone knows how the main confilct has ended, for the most part(depending on your themes)
and everyone is like,

"well it's over...what happens now?"

I sort of experienced this with TKAJ when Will fell down dead, though I was a little disappointed with what followed, I guess because I felt Nick never understood Will at all, and he was talking like he did at the end....

Arg, Im ramblin' now....

 

I think endings like the ones in Braveheart and Gladiator have such an impact on the audience because they go through quite some time with the main "hero". In both movies the hero went through a lot of trouble and finally reached his goal but dies anyways. That´s hard to accomplish in a fanfilm or even short film. Generally, you don´t get much time to connect to the main character and really care for him.

As TKAJ has been mentioned already for references sake, I think there it was attempted and also quite successfully pulled of. The viewer had enough time and background story for Will and the others to really care if they die or not (at least for the main characters).


On a personal note, I like both extremes, very sad and very happy, depending on the story. Green Mile (as mentioned before) really needs this end, you feel almost cheated that the character dies although he´s not guilty and everyone around him knows it, but still, this is the biggest impact the movie can achieve.


What I also like is a somewhat open end to a movie that gives the audience enough freedom to speculate on what happened or will happen after the movie with the characters etc. Or a completely surprising ending that really catches the audience on the wrong foot. But I think this is out of question for your project at hand.

I don´t know how helpful my opinion is, but I felt like answering it here as this topic is quite interesting.

 

I'm with Dorkman on the business of letting the essence of the story dictate which ending you choose.

Both can work, but step back and look at the big picture of the story. Which will serve your overall story more potently? Something tragic or something triumphant?

You could always somehow combine the two, if that would work. In this way, you could potentially add a piece or two to earlier scenes to foreshadow the chosen denouement.

Ya never know!

Surprise endings also work wonders. Just look at films like "Arlington Road" and a foreign film called "The Vanishing". Both had jaw-dropping endings. While those two are fairly dark examples of this, you could always try a more upbeat version of the surprise ending...or, if you might consider making a sequel, throw in a teaser.

My two cents...and good luck with your screenplay!

- Johnny

 

Whatever as long as it is done right. Sad endings are 100x more difficult to pull off than a happy one.

For fanfilms - happy ending. Every fanfilm with a sad ending just rings hollow and fake. Fanfilms are action movies, action movies require a happy ending in almost every sense - that is how they are made.

Lots of people go "There are no hollywood scripts with sad endings so I'm going to be origional and put a sad ending in there" Well the truth is there are a lot of hollywood scripts with downer endings, you can find them in the trash recepticals.

Of course down endings done right are very powerful (Requiem for a Dream, Monster, etc.) but that they are done by godlike experts in their field. The truth is fanfilm makers have yet to create memorable characters, much less plotlines that move us to our core.

EDIT: Dorkman - nice Matrix point

 

I have to agree with Dorkman on this one. Good endings are the most important.

The story itself should suggest the ending. Don't just shoe-horn in a happy or sad ending because you feel like it, but use the ending that fits the story you are trying to tell. When it comes down to it, that's the most important part, telling the story. It may not always be the story you started out with - sometimes they just take on a life of their own and suggest something totally different to what you expect - but it's the most important thing in my opinion.

 

Here are the 4 best guidelines I've found for a good ending.

Taken from wordplayer.com

Decisive.
The most satisfying endings resolve the issues at hand clearly and decisively, one way or the other. Effective endings that are ambiguous are rare -- and a bit of a contradiction in terms.


Set-up.
The ending can't come completely out of left-field. It should be one of several known possibilities, or referenced as a possible solution sometime earlier in the film. The ending must appear to evolve naturally out of the elements that are known. You don't want to change the rules at the end of the game -- that's not fair.


Inevitable.
Another word for this might be 'appropriate.' You want an ending that is so 'right,' it seems as if it could have turned out no other way -- but only after it's happened! Because it's also got to be --


Unexpected.
This is the real trick. The unexpectedness of the ending is the true payoff, the reward for watching the film. It's the element the audience will weigh most heavily when judging the outcome of the story -- whether or not it was 'worth waiting for.'

 

I love twist endings, but in short stories it's like a staple and gets overdone. But what I'm talking about is like in "The Twilight Zone," those were usually negative but felt really good, you know?

I guess the question is what ending fits the story you're writing.

Chris

 

my advice is to write your story and see how it comes out!

i quite like bitter sweet endings like Withnail and I's

if all else fails pull a waynes world

 

Thank you all again for your thoughts on this matter.

I have gotten a lot of great feedback from your responses and have lots of ideas how to more effectively end my screenplay now. I will keep you posted on the details in the future. Thanks again everyone...

 

Well, I, personally prefer sad endings. They evoke all kinds of feelings at the same time, and its not at all predictable like most movies. However, I also agree with the happy/sad ending comment.

-Alron

 

AP,

I think it totally depends on where you want it to go! It's hard to generalize what is a better ending. I've seen some sad endings that were wonderful movies and just the same with the happy ones. I don't know how you'd ask a question like that. It's sorta odd.

I guess one ending Star Wars related that i could say was happy and sad was ROTJ because of the loss of Anakin and the sad tragedy his story will be once EpIII is done, but good in the sense that the evil Empire is defeated and the friends reuniting at the end. So in that sense you could go for a dual end!

 

I like a mixture. Return of the King was probably the best ending to a film I'd ever seen. You're feeling exactly what the characters are feeling in the sense that there's this hole that you can't quite fill. But you come to reality that everyone is in a comfortable place in the end. I dunno, it was just so powerfull for me. Of course, it's most effective when you've been hauling your audience along for 3 years

The biggest thing for me was just sitting there during the credits thinking, "It's over..." ? <---try to merge those, you should get the right smilie.


...Your film

 

Totally agree, DMP.

 

I agree about Return of the King. The only movie whose ending has had as much emotional empact for me as RotK was Contact. And Mr. Holland's Opus. And A.I. Okay, three movies, but you get the point.

-Paul

 

"action movies require a happy ending in almost every sense - that is how they are made."

I defy you to watch 'The Killer' or 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' (if that one counts as action. I think it does.) and make this statement again.

 

Just have an ending that suits the tone of the story (eg. action films should have action packed endings), and doesn't cheat the audience (eg. then I woke up and it was all a dream).

Whether they're happy or sad, doesn't really matter.

Some examples from my beloved Alien films. In Alien people are getting bumped off all over the place, so you were really never quite sure if Ripley was going to live. In Aliens, there was a different tone and Ripley was the star this time out, so it wouldn't have worked as well if she died at the end. With Alien3 it's depressing as, from the outset and then gets worse. 3/4 through the film we find out she's got an Alien inside her, but you still have Bishop's offer and whether she'll take it. When she knocks him back, it's something the audience was prepared for, so while she dies, she's saving the universe from the Alien AND beating the Company. In fact all of the endings could fit into the 'bittersweet' category. Ultimately the hero(ine) wins - but lots of people had to die along the way.

 

I, personally, like mixed endings, where people have suffered, maybe even died, but the main task has been fulfilled.

Saying that, I do sometimes opt for the sad ending, especially in my short stories and poems.