Learn Hardcore German: Die Hauptfigur bleibt am Ende des Films ruhig und glücklich. - The main character remains calm and happy at the end of the film.

ist = is (describes a state)
- Die Hauptfigur ist am Ende des Films ruhig und glücklich.
  → At the end, she is calm and happy (just describing her state).
bleibt = stays / remains (emphasizes continuity)
- Die Hauptfigur bleibt am Ende des Films ruhig und glücklich.
  → She stays/remains calm and happy (she does not lose that calmness/happiness, even though situations might be stressful).

Using bleibt can imply that there might be reasons for her not to be calm and happy, but she remains so anyway.

What is the structure and meaning of am Ende des Films?

am Ende des Films literally breaks down as:

an dem → contracted to am (preposition + definite article, dative)
Ende – das Ende, so dative singular is dem Ende
des Films – der Film, genitive singular des Films

Grammar:

an
- dative (am) can mean at (a place or point in time).
das Ende in dative → am Ende = at the end.
des Films is a genitive modifier: of the film.

So am Ende des Films = at the end of the film.

Why is it des Films and not dem Film or vom Film?

You see two different cases here:

am Ende – dative (from an dem Ende)
des Films – genitive (from der Film → des Films)

des Films answers “whose end?” → the end of the film.
The end belongs to the film, so genitive is used.

dem Film would be dative and would not fit after Ende in this structure.
vom Film = von dem Film usually translates from the film / about the film, not of the film in the sense of possession.

Correct:

am Ende des Films – at the end of the film

Incorrect if you keep the same meaning:

am Ende dem Film ✗
am Ende vom Film ✗ (this sounds colloquial and not standard for this exact expression)

Why don’t ruhig and glücklich have endings, like ruhige or glückliche?

Because here they are predicate adjectives, not adjectives directly before a noun.

Compare:

Predicate adjectives (after sein, werden, bleiben, etc.)
- Die Hauptfigur bleibt ruhig und glücklich.
- ruhig and glücklich describe the subject, but they are not attached directly to a noun.
  → In this position, German adjectives do not get endings.
Attributive adjectives (directly before a noun)
- Die ruhige und glückliche Hauptfigur
  → Here, ruhige and glückliche need endings because they come before a noun (Hauptfigur).

So: after bleiben (stay/remain), adjectives stay in their basic form: ruhig, glücklich.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Die Hauptfigur bleibt ruhig und glücklich am Ende des Films?

Both orders are grammatically correct, but the nuance and rhythm change slightly.

Original:
- Die Hauptfigur bleibt am Ende des Films ruhig und glücklich.
  Focus is slightly on how she is at that point (calm and happy) once we reach the end.
Alternative:
- Die Hauptfigur bleibt ruhig und glücklich am Ende des Films.
  Grammatically fine. Here the time phrase am Ende des Films feels a bit more like an afterthought.

Typical preference in written German is to place time expressions earlier, often right after the verb or the subject–verb chunk:

Die Hauptfigur bleibt am Ende des Films ruhig und glücklich. (most natural)
Am Ende des Films bleibt die Hauptfigur ruhig und glücklich. (also very natural, extra emphasis on “at the end of the film”)

Why is the verb bleibt in the second position?

German main clauses normally follow the V2 rule (verb-second):

First position: usually one element (subject, time phrase, object, etc.)
Second position: the conjugated verb
Rest of the sentence follows.

In your sentence:

1st element: Die Hauptfigur (subject)
2nd element: bleibt (conjugated verb)
Rest: am Ende des Films ruhig und glücklich

If you move another element to the beginning, the verb still stays second:

Am Ende des Films bleibt die Hauptfigur ruhig und glücklich.
Ruhig und glücklich bleibt die Hauptfigur am Ende des Films.

Why is Figur feminine? It doesn’t end in -in like many feminine nouns.

German noun gender is partly predictable from endings, but not always.

Figur ends in -ur, and many -ur nouns are feminine:
- die Natur, die Kultur, die Figur, die Zensur

Even if there are patterns, you mostly need to memorize the gender with the noun:

die Figur – feminine
der Film – masculine
das Ende – neuter

When you learn new words, it’s best to learn them with the article:
die Hauptfigur, der Protagonist, das Ende.

Is there a difference between Hauptfigur and Protagonist / Protagonistin?

They are close in meaning but not identical:

die Hauptfigur = the main character
- Most general term, used for books, films, plays, etc.
- Can be male or female; die Figur is feminine, but it doesn’t say anything about the character’s sex.
der Protagonist / die Protagonistin
- More literary/technical term, directly borrowed from Greek (and via English).
- Gender-specific forms:
  - der Protagonist (male or unspecified)
  - die Protagonistin (female)

In everyday speech about films, Germans very often say Hauptfigur. Protagonist sounds a bit more formal or analytical.

Why is the present tense bleibt used for a film? In English we often say “stayed” or “was”.

German often uses the present tense (Präsens) to talk about plots of stories, films, books, etc.—this is sometimes called the “literary present”:

In dem Film verliebt sich die Hauptfigur in ihren Nachbarn.
Am Ende bleibt sie ruhig und glücklich.

English does this too in some contexts, but English speakers also frequently use the past.
In German, using the present for plot summaries is very standard and sounds natural, even if the film was made a long time ago.

Could you replace ruhig with still here? What’s the difference?

You can say it, but the meaning shifts:

ruhig
- calm, not nervous, emotionally composed
- can also mean quiet, not loud or hectic
still
- usually means silent, not making noise
- can also mean very quiet, not speaking much

In the context of a film character’s emotional state, ruhig is the more natural choice:

Die Hauptfigur bleibt ruhig und glücklich.
→ She remains calm and happy (emotionally at peace).
Die Hauptfigur bleibt still und glücklich.
→ Sounds more like she stays silent and happy (she isn’t talking or making noise, but is happy).

So ruhig focuses on emotional calm; still on silence.

Why is it des Films and not des Film? What is that -s?

That -s is the genitive singular ending for many masculine and neuter nouns.

der Film (nominative) → des Films (genitive)
das Hund (hypothetical) → des Hundes / des Hunds (real: der Hund)
das Haus → des Hauses

For most one-syllable masculine and neuter nouns, you add -es; for many multi-syllable ones, you often add -s, but there are patterns and exceptions. The key point here:

der Film → genitive: des Films

You use this form after another noun like Ende when you want to say the end of the film → das Ende des Films.

Could the sentence also be Am Ende des Films ist die Hauptfigur ruhig und glücklich? Is that wrong?

It’s perfectly correct, just slightly different in nuance:

Am Ende des Films ist die Hauptfigur ruhig und glücklich.
→ At the end of the film, she is calm and happy (just describing the state).
Am Ende des Films bleibt die Hauptfigur ruhig und glücklich.
→ At the end of the film, she remains/stays calm and happy (she has been calm/happy and continues to be, or she doesn’t lose that calm/happiness).

Both are grammatically fine; bleibt adds a sense of continuity or persistence.

How would you pronounce Hauptfigur and ruhig?

Approximate pronunciation (not strict phonetics):

Hauptfigur → [HOWPT-fi-goor]
- Haupt:
  - au like English “house”
  - p and t both clearly pronounced: haupt
- Figur:
  - stress on -gur: fi-GUR (u like in “too”)
ruhig → approximately [ROO-ich] (two syllables ru-hig)
- ruh- like English “roo”
- -ig in standard German often sounds like a soft -ich at the end (similar to ich).
  So many speakers say it like “roo-ich” rather than “roo-ig”.

Regional accents may vary a bit, but this is a good standard approximation.