HAPPENING – Review

Wow, now there’s some epic movie “subject matter” timing, almost on par with THE CHINA SYNDROME (in theatres when the news on Three Mile Island broke). Now, mind you this film’s set over 60 years ago, and it’s based on a celebrated novel from 2000. But it couldn’t be released at a better time. Oh, and it arrives after receiving many significant awards, particularly the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion last year. And though its themes have dominated US headlines for the last couple of weeks, a very long time ago in a foreign land it was still a most dire and morally fraught HAPPENING.

That aforementioned time is 1960 and that land in France, in a medium-sized city far from bustling Paris. Twenty-year-old Anne (Anamarie Vartolomei) is living on the campus of what we might call a “junior college”, but only miles away from her folks Gabrielle and Jacques who run a small bistro. Happily, Anne has two best school pals, the wild, free-spirited Brigette (Louise Orry-Diquero), and the shy, fairly naive Helene (Luana Bajrami). Now, Anne’s the more studious of three as she focuses on literature, with aspirations to be a writer herself rather than a teacher. Oh but she’s not always “buried in the books’ and enjoys heading down to the local pub/dance club with the trio’s male buddy (Katey Mottet Klein) who steps in when the flirtatious local firemen get a bit too aggressive. Life is going great until she develops a ravenous appetite and becomes pale and lethargic…and “late”. A trip to the doctor confirms her worse fear: she is pregnant. The distraught young woman hints that the doc should help her “end it” causing him to reel back in fear of a prison sentence for both of them. Another doctor merely prescribes a drug that would resume her “cycle”. As the weeks pass Anne becomes more desperate, imploring her friends for “contacts” and hearing their fears of the harsh laws. She can’t bring herself to tell her folks, then turns to her brief vacation fling (she had lied to her doctor about her “sexual history”), who’s of no help or support. She begins to neglect her studies as the ticking clock gets louder. Are her literary dreams dashed? And if she can find a “secret provider” could she lose her life by waiting too long?

No matter the relevancy and urgency of any “hot-button” film, its strength lies in the main character. Here the gifted Vartolomei makes Anne more than a mere ‘symbol” for a “movement”. This aspiring writer is the “girl next door” or even your daughter or sibling, trying hard to find a way past her circumstances. Vartolomei shows us Anne’s desperation through her sad, haunted eyes as she hurriedly must decide which person to confide in and who must not be “let in” on her situation. What’s perhaps direr is her spirit nearly “shutting down” as despair squelches that hunger for knowledge. And just as light seems to be cutting through the darkness, Anne is almost swallowed up by agonizing pain and suffering. Ms. Vartolomei proves to be a most formidable young talent. Luckily she’s aided by two other terrific young actresses as her BFFs. Orry-Diquerio delights in shocking the other two, especially as she recreates the “dirty pics’ she found hidden in her family home, yet when she’s told of Anne’s indiscretion her Brigette is horrified and almost prudish. This is the recreation we expect of Bajrami’s Helene, who instead, in a powerful but quiet monologue tells Anne of her own secret affair that could have put her in the same spot. Another powerful performance is given by Pio Marmai as Anne’s tough and challenging mentor/teacher who is perplexed and angered by Anne’s complete attitude change. Also offering support, though with a keen maternal instinct is Sandrine Bonnaire as Anne’s mother, who wants to be her daughter’s lifeline while never allowing Anne to disrespect their family unit.

This subtle, unflinching treatment of what could be a most lurid and exploitive topic is directed with great skill by Audrey Diwan, who also contributed to the screenplay adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Annie Ernaux, along with Marcia Romano, Anne Berset, and Alice Girard. They expertly recreate the repressive late 60s early 60s small-town atmosphere, just a few years away from a huge social revolution. But as the title cards, show the pregnancy’s progression, we see that Anne can’t simply “sit it out” till that enlightened time arrives. The film’s biggest strength may be the depiction of Anne’s utter isolation, as friends push her away and leave just as Anne begins a spiral into panic and torment, which then leads to a choice that could be another ‘station of Hell” as Anne dives into a seedy underground of whispered names and location, along with access to quick funding. As many are hoping to “turn back the clock” on this controversy, Diwan’s work provides a much-needed nostalgic antidote. Those “good ole’ days” were indeed very dark for many, at least when dealing with an impending life-altering HAPPENING.

3.5 Out of 4

HAPPENING is now playing in select theatres everywhere