Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Butterfly wings, 31 Dec 2005
You know the old saying about the "butterfly effect," that the beating of a butterfly's wings can set off a storm over the Amazon jungle. That idea is half the basis of "Happenstance" (original title: "Le Battement d'ailes du papillon" -- more on butterflies), a sweet little French bit of froth that will leave you warm and fuzzy.
Irène (Audrey Tautou) is on the subway to her job when a woman doing surveys tell her the horoscope: She will meet her true love that day. The handsome young man, Younès (Faudel) who sees her, has the same birthday and same horoscope. Coincidence? There is no such thing in this film. Elsewhere, an indecisive man promises his mistress Elsa that he will tell his wife that he wants a divorce.
Fallen leaves, tossed stones, discarded sneakers, a mugger's yellow jacket, heads of lettuce, Algerian sand, uneaten chocolates and nose injuries all affect Irène and the people who brush by her in everyday life. After the end of that fateful day, nobody's life will be quite the same. Some people will come home, some will make break up, some will miss dates, and some will live happily ever after.
"Sliding Doors" was a shaky but interesting romantic comedy, and "Run Lola Run" was frenetic and full of visual gimmicks. But the slower-paced, more forthright "Happenstance" may be the most interesting look at how little things can change our lives -- it's not just one person's life, with a few people affected around him or her. Instead, it's a dozen or so, whose lives change for better or worse because of little things.
What little things? A head of lettuce falls off a truck and causes a bike crash. A pebble fails to get through a modern sculpture, causing a man to lie to his mistress. A thousand little innocent events cause major changes in people's lives. But above the idea of chaos theory is the concept of fate and karma: You know that forces are slowly driving Irène and her soulmate together. A few bad things may happen to the two future lovers along the way, but they are just stepping stones.
Cinematography is nothing special, but nice and somehow makes Paris look like more than a postcard, with the subways, grubby side streets and sparkling night skies. The intricate script is bound to trip itself up a few times. A couple of storylines are left mildly unresolved. And perhaps the most intriguing character -- the enigmatic "Destiny Man", who seems to be all-knowing -- appears once and then never again. How does he know other people's plans and secrets? We're never told. (Maybe the guy is supposed to be God)
Tautou displays a different kind of acting from the charming "Amelie." Here, she's more downbeat and outspoken, but gradually softens as she comes to realize that things don't happen purely by accident. Faudel is a good counterpart to Tautou, quiet and unassuming, but quite sweet. The dozens of supporting actors are given less to do, but are charming too.
Do you believe in fate and true love, that somehow you'll be drawn together with your soulmate, the one meant specially for you? If you do (even a little bit), then "Happenstance" will charm you.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gem of a film - and not just because of the beautiful Audrey!, 3 Dec 2006
Whilst many films have explored the idea of the 'Butterfly Effect'/'Chaos Theory', Happenstance is possibly the most charming of them all - the fact that this is a French take on the theory obviously lends itself to this.
This film manages to tackle the butterfly effect in a way that is less cliched than some of the Hollywood attempts (Sliding Doors, for example - which incidentally, I do love; but it is a more obvious take on the theory). The reason Happenstance is so successful, I think, is because the characters are so Everyman. Where Hollywood would have lip-glossed Tautou up to oblivion in every scene, cast some inhumanely beautiful lead actor as her 'love interest' and forced comedic situations at every turn, Happenstance appeal lies in the normality of the characters and events - whilst still managing to be very entertaining.
Whether you simply want to add to your Audrey collection, or whether you feel like passing a few hours, I would definitely recommend this movie. It really is a great find.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What if, 11 Jan 2006
Do you ever wonder how your life might have evolved had you not been stung by a bee, dropped your car keys down the street grate, and missed the Big Job Interview thirty years ago. Maybe you'd be the CEO of IBM by now instead of staring at this review before heading off to flip burgers at the corner BK. It's this cause and effect of random events that provides the storyline for the quirky HAPPENSTANCE. Audrey Tatou, the darling of AMELIE, landed her first screen role as Irene in HAPPENSTANCE. As the film opens, she's revealing her birthday to a total stranger on the Paris Metro. In return, her friendly fellow commuter reads Irene her horoscope from the newspaper and remarks that she'll find her soulmate before the day's end. Why? Because there's a full moon that evening. After Irene gets off the train, a handsome young man, who until now hasn't said a word, remarks to the news reader that he too has the same birthday. Right there the viewer can surmise the film's conclusion. Irene only seems the lead because she begins and ends the film. In between, she's one of a cast of many unremarkable characters whose lives intersect through a series of minor random events, causing them to make decisions and take actions that lead, like a Rube Goldberg apparatus, to the final denouement. And we're not talking earthshaking events either. Leaves of lettuce fall off the back of a delivery truck. A half-eaten macaroon cookie is thrown into the street. A small cockroach crawls into a woman's handbag. A pigeon drops a big one on a couple's photo album. A package is abandoned on the Metro platform. A cafe customer decides not to eat a chocolate candy. A pebble is thrown from a balcony. Algerian sand imported by an illegal immigrant blows from a window. The concept of HAPPENSTANCE is an interesting one, but, the ending being a foregone conclusion, no more profound than if I wonder what would have happened had I eaten chunky peanut butter instead of smooth back on October 17, 1964. And fans of Tautou's AMELIE may be disappointed in her Irene character, who's not only very ordinary, but sometimes cranky and rude (just like the rest of us). While not eliciting an "Oh, wow!" from this viewer, HAPPENSTANCE is a respectably clever, gentle, well-acted, and deftly choreographed film that deserves to be rented for a quiet evening of contemplative, home viewing. And Audrey has those enormous, brown eyes that could melt linoleum!
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