MovieChat Forums > Frau im Mond (1931) Discussion > Is this a happy ending?

Is this a happy ending?

posted 20 years ago by Rosabel
11 replies | jump to latest

Am I the only one who thinks that the ending is not a happy one? Maybe bittersweet, but not happy. True, Wolf and Friede are together at last, but their embrace is hardly a joyful one. Wolf is sobbing and Friede is gazing up with an expression of calm acceptance. It seems to me that they are not going to live happily ever after on the Moon - they know they are going to die together, but they will have this brief moment of fulfilled love before the candle flickers out. As I recall, they never DID find water on the Moon. That means that their supplies will last a little while, then they will die of thirst. Does anyone believe that Hans will come back to rescue them? I don't. Even if it were the other way around, and Helius was going back to Earth instead, he couldn't possibly return in time to save Hans. That's why the 3 of them were so despairing in their last meeting - they knew that for whoever had to stay behind, it was a death sentence. At first I thought that they were worried that Hans, being a weakling, would go crazy with loneliness and maybe kill himself before rescue came. But if that were the only problem, then it would make perfect sense for Friede to stay with him. They'd only have to wait out the time until Helius returned, and there would be no question that he WOULD return. But when she suggests it, it's clear that Hans sees that as no solution. He doesn't want to die, and Friede staying would make no difference - she'd just be sacrificing her own life for nothing. She looks so lovely at the end, you'd almost think that it's a fairytale ending, but when I look closely I think it's more pessimistic. That would be more in character for Fritz Lang after all.

Yup, when you think 'shocking horror' you think German oompah-band music.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nccrin 19 years ago

Possible they survived as help may have come back in time from earth.

[–] Theo87 18 years ago

i think it might be considered a happy ending not because wolf and friede survive but because they are together no matter how much time they are still going to have with each other. i know it sounds a little sentimental but otherwise i couldn't explain why it's seen as a happy ending by many. imo, bittersweet as you put it is the exact word.

[–] Tina-37 18 years ago

I just finished watching the movie about an hour ago (which now means I have seen all of the Lang movies in that special Kino collection), and I think the same things that crossed your mind, also crossed mine as I thought over the ending.

I knew that if Helius had been the one to leave, he would have returned to rescue Hans because that was in his nature. I kept saying to myself that Hans would never survive being alone on the Moon, since -- although he was quite excited about making the trip in the beginning, he was beginning to lose it before they had barely broken the Earth's gravitational hold!

I must admit that I was surprised -- pleasantly surprised -- when Helius realizes that Friede has remained behind. I had noticed that when she took a tiny sip of her drink, she immediately knew that something was in it, but when she slipped away, I wondered if she intended to finish it behind the closed door and privacy of her room. I halfway wondered (when they didn't show her again, even when the little boy, Gustav, was preparing things) if she might have slipped outside, but wasn't certain until I saw her on the Moon, waiting for Helius. And it is beautiful ending, isn't it? I would like to hope that Hans would be noble and honorable enough to mount a rescue attempt, but I'm not so sure. And regrettably, little Gustav is still too young to do it himself. And who knows what story Hans will invent by the time they return?

So there's this part of me that thinks that Friede and Helius will simply enjoy what time they have remaining with one another, and not live in some hope that help will arrive. And then there's the other part of me that hopes the scientific community is already working on another project and will get everything organized in time to save them. After all, it was only a 36 hour trip one way -- it is just a matter of building the rocket...and hoping the experiment works again, and realistically, how long would that take? *sigh* But yes, with Helius' reaction of being glad to have the woman he loves, but knowing she has now sacrificed herself for him...and seeing that look of contentment on Friede's face despite an unknown future...well, it may not be the happiest of endings, but it may have been the most honestly realistic of all.

(And at least it was a more "upbeat" ending than "Kreimheld's Revenge" *groan*).

If you haven't seen Willy Fritsch and Gerda Maurus in Fritz Lang's "Spies" check that one out too. They make a beautiful couple! I just love watching the two of them interact!

[–] jtyroler 12 years ago

I agree - they did make a beautiful couple.

[–] advice31765 17 years ago

It is a happy ending.

[–] Kinematico 17 years ago

I think most people would consider this as a "happy ending" or a "bittersweet ending".
Whether or not they could be rescued from the moon, that's the destiny they have chosen. And more important: they are together no matters what could happen later to them.

[–] Bogdan_A74 16 years ago

Well, maybe there's another angle to the ending. I don't know, but is Friede blind or something? Wolf gives any sign he can that he wants her and it's sad about her choosing Hans over him (I was left with the impression that the news of Friede engaging to Hans was a nasty surprise for Wolf) so he thinks that fulfilling his dream to go to the Moon would be enough for him and standing with the happy couple could do him only harm. So he chooses to stay on the Moon and sacrifice himself, in order to let Friede be happy with the man she loves despite him being such a lousy character.

On the other hand, from Friede's point of view, Hans had made the ultimate mistake: had declared that for him the only thing that he'll long for will be the Earth, therefore being with Friede, stranded on the Moon, will not help. This, in the eyes of a woman, means that his love is not genuine and does not stand before anything else, as a woman would like to be. So she decides to stay to the Moon and give a chance to Wolf to survive the trip home and an opportunity for her to escape from the continuous effort of coping with the not-so-courageous Hans. Any woman deeply in love, when put in the situation of being rejected by the one she loves, feels like she better die than carry on living this way, and maybe the decision of staying on the Moon was an impulse decision...

Overall, I liked the movie, it was very decent and well-anchored in science reality (being a physicist it really satisfied me seeing that physics laws were not ignored in such a great measure like Hollywoodian movies have). A true example that silent movies can be interesting and serious.

[–] Rosabel 16 years ago

I think that Friede is presented as the ideal woman - intelligent, brave, adventurous, beautiful, honourable. The love triangle places her between two possible suitors, and as she is the ideal woman, only the ideal man deserves to have her. She thinks she's found him in Hans, but the journey to the moon reveals weaknesses in his nature that she did not suspect. I find that a little far-fetched, since Wolf is so OBVIOUSLY more attractive than Hans, but I think we're supposed to see them sort of as opposites, and complimentary to each other. Wolf is the cool, analytical one (who is also tongue-tied when it comes to his feelings for Friede) and Hans is the impulsive, high-spirited, hot-blooded one who sweeps Friede off her feet. In a silent movie it's perhaps a bit hard to get across Hans's good points, but I think that's how he is intended to be portrayed.

The trip to the Moon turns out to be a test of character, and Hans fails it. Worse still, he and Friede both know that he's failed it - that's the meaning of their stiffness and lack of communication when she passes him on her way back to the spaceship to develop her film. She's discovered that he's not the man she thought he was, and he realizes that she's disappointed in him for failing to accept the adventure of the moon journey. He's probably disappointed in himself, too - he'd been insistent upon going to the moon with Helius, and at the moment of truth, realizes that all his enthusiasm and scientific ambition was built on sand and crumbled upon contact with reality.

Helius, typically, is oblivious to the last. He doesn't seem to realize that Friede has seen through Hans and now recognizes his weaknesses. He still thinks that things are the way they were the night of the engagement party. He believes that Friede loves Hans, and that only by being with the man she loves will she be happy. So he sacrifices himself to obtain her happiness. He doesn't realize that this is HIS test of character, and he PASSES. This proves that he alone is the ideal man who deserves the ideal woman, and so she stays with him at the end. And his self-sacrifice is even justified: Friede WILL only be happy if she's with the man she loves, and the man she loves is the one who deserves her, so he DOES succeed in giving her happiness.

I have to admire the neatness with which Lang and von Harbou settle this love triangle. It wouldn't be fitting for the Ideal Woman to just dump her fiance because she's found someone braver and better. And I do wonder a little what Hans must have thought when he found out that she'd stayed behind - but by the end of the movie, I was so sick of him and his snivelling, I didn't much care what he thought. He had a chance to choose what he wanted most, and he was clear what it was - to return to Earth, no matter what. So Hans got what he wanted most in the world, too.

Flat, drab passion meanders across the screen!

[–] Naldoman 11 years ago

I agree - bittersweet ending because they are thrice DOOMED.
1) No escape; 2) No water; 3) No rescue coming

I enjoyed the whole story, but what gets me is WHY a smart, sexy woman like Friede should have to choose between a callous jerk and a nearly impotent nerd. You'd think she'd have a dozen businessmen at her heels with brains and balls, or politicians with ambition, or even artists engaged in the new moments of the 20ths century. It makes no sense that she'd have to pick between these two misfits.

Oh, well...all politics is local, and so is romance, usually. Could be she went to college with these two. My grandmother graduated college in 1928 and married an engineer.

OH - Concerning the "rescue". It was made clear that the ENTREPRENUERS who were hording gold would certainly hire any rogues to make sure they controlled the resources of the moon and the technology to get there.

Upon seeing their man not return and finding my boy with a fired gun on him, I'm sure they would have kept control of the plans & notes and later contracted another firm to build a new ship.

The kid probably would have told them the truth of what happened - and their greedy minds would believe the two stayed on the moon to keep the gold out of their hands.

RESCUE? Not gonna happen. Shipload of thugs and gold miners on it's way? SURE!

[–] Rosabel 11 years ago

But didn't they return all of Helius's plans and designs once he gave in and agreed to, in effect, work for them by taking Turner to the moon with him? I thought that it would be *possible* to build another rocket to get to the moon, but it would take so long that the survivors' supplies of food and water would be exhausted before help arrived.

Furthermore, I don't trust Hans to follow through on a rescue. If it were Helius, he'd build another rocket and return to the moon, even if he knew that it was futile - he just wouldn't be able to give up and do nothing. But Hans has already shown himself to be gutless - he'd just reason that there was no hope of finding them alive and another trip to the moon would be pointless.

I'd forgotten that Gustav was there when they found the cave of gold where the Professor died. I suppose the Moneybags would find out from him that there really was gold on the moon, but I don't know if they'd be able to build a new space ship themselves with someone else to fly it. I had the impression that Hans and Helius were the only ones who could do it.

Flat, drab passion meanders across the screen!