That the ridiculous over the top nature of the ending works brilliantly?
Like it goes so over the top that it makes "what really would have happened" to the Doorman character all that more depressing. Sure it could have ended like Bicycle Thieves or something, but this just hammers the point home even harder in my view.
Or maybe I'm just biased because I really liked the character and didn't want him to keep suffering. I CAN have my cake and eat it too, dammit!
The film was to end with Jannings dying in the toilets after he has been "thrown out" of his home by his sister and family. That was Murnau's intention. But the studio decided it was far too depressing, so Murnau was forced to give the old boy a chance instead. He did as told, but in a way that the happy ending is in reality a satire of all happy endings and which we watch with a big smile because it is so silly.
shareResurrecting a very old post here.. but I think the ending ended with the last card that was shown, and what followed could have been looked at as a dream.
shareThat's why the film is so beloved. By the way, it's not that different from what Tarantino has been doing in his last couple of movies, including "Inglorious Basterds" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."
By the way, were the two films I mentioned even released at the time this original post was published??