Happy as Lazzaro ending explained

What happens

In a city bank, Lazzaro tries to help the former workers, but the staff and customers take his open kindness for a threat. They beat him and he dies. A wolf runs through the street as life goes on.

The last image

The wolf that has followed Lazzaro since his return runs into the street, and the city carries on around it.

Two readings

1 · A saint's deathLazzaro dies for a world that cannot recognise goodness, much like a martyr.

2 · The wolf's meaningIt may be his guardian, a sign of the old world, or a warning that the danger is still loose.

What it says

The ending shows how a society treats pure goodness: with suspicion, then violence. Lazzaro never changes while everything around him does, so his death exposes the system without changing it. The wolf leaves the question open.