Happenstance

Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie All Around!!
Review: This is the best romantic comedy I know. It's realistic and very light hearted. The DVD does not have great features, but the basics are there and the movie is good enough to overcome what the DVD lacks. Worth the buy.

Rating:
Summary: Are we products of circumstances?
Review: This is the question at the center of this film. It is a light, but very thoughtful little film that looks at lives of 6 major characters and how their "inconsequential" actions alter their, and others', fates at every turn. Audrey Tautou is great, but so are many others. You'll have to see it multiple times to pick up on some of the nuances, but it is definitely worth it. I am buying this one.

Rating:
Summary: Karma
Review: This movie is a love story that really isn't a love story. It shows the inner workings of fate and chance and how your decisions affect in the greater scheme of things. I recommend this movie for anyone who believes in fate or needs reassurance that fate exists.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Feeling Film!
Review: This was indeed a good feeling film. A great script with all the characters linking to eachother someway...very interesting! It was a good romance comedy on the "What If's" in life.

Audrey Tautou gives a very good performance in this film, along with a good cast. Audrey is a very talented young woman who has a very bright future ahead of her.

I recommend this to anyone, especially to the Amelie fans out there.

Rating:
Summary: poignantly precise
Review: whether you believe in destiny or fate, this movie is absolutely accurate in the sense that everything which happens occurs for a reason, and contributes to the final result. with it's cinematographically-eccentric angles and settings, the characters are depicted as heart-warming and human; typical blue-collars simply surviving, each playing their role on society's stage. at first the actors are presented in a spacial manner which initially sets you back into categorizing it as "confusing and over-casted". but as the flick takes it's course everything ties together into a perfectly primp bow, winding it down to the complete package happily presented to the viewer. simple, yet enticing, this film is all the rage!

Rating:
Summary: Everything that you do will come back to you...
Review: Yes, I have to say it: "Happenstance" (the original French title is "The Beating of a Butterfly's Wings," referring to chaos theory) bears certain resemblances to the charming "Amélie." The most obvious comparison is that it stars Audrey Tautou, the wide-eyed innocent beauty from "Amélie." It, like "Amélie," takes place in Paris and follows the lives of a group of people whose lives are intertwined by fate. The comparison ends there. "Happenstance" is difficult to categorize: it has elements of romance, humour, quiet desperation, racism, and the dark side of human nature. None of the small coincidences ever seems forced, no matter how trivial the first event nor how grand the repercussion may be. We meet people from all walks of life: an ill homeless man, a compulsive liar, a thief, Gypsy fortune tellers, sales clerks, a cheating husband and his mistress, an Algerian looking for true love after hearing his horoscope (played by gorgeous and talented raï singer Faudel). The smallest things in our lives can determine the course of events: throwing or not throwing a pebble, dropping a crumpled newspaper ad from a pocket, a cockroach crawling into a purse, hence the chaos theory, which is explained by one of the characters in the film. It's sort of a cycle of karma, if you will. Do something good for someone, and it will come back to you. Bear them a grudge and...well, I for one will always think twice about coffees in cafes after seeing Younès' revenge. The numerous subplots can be a bit confusing at times, as can the flashbacks, but "Happenstance" is a charming film that is worth the time. French with English subtitles, 90 minutes.

Rating:
Summary: Everything that you do will come back to you...
Review: Yes, I have to say it: "Happenstance" (the original French title is "The Beating of a Butterfly's Wings," referring to chaos theory) bears certain resemblances to the charming "Amélie." The most obvious comparison is that it stars Audrey Tautou, the wide-eyed innocent beauty from "Amélie." It, like "Amélie," takes place in Paris and follows the lives of a group of people whose lives are intertwined by fate. The comparison ends there. "Happenstance" is difficult to categorize: it has elements of romance, humour, quiet desperation, racism, and the dark side of human nature. None of the small coincidences ever seems forced, no matter how trivial the first event nor how grand the repercussion may be. We meet people from all walks of life: an ill homeless man, a compulsive liar, a thief, Gypsy fortune tellers, sales clerks, a cheating husband and his mistress, an Algerian looking for true love after hearing his horoscope (played by gorgeous and talented raï singer Faudel). The smallest things in our lives can determine the course of events: throwing or not throwing a pebble, dropping a crumpled newspaper ad from a pocket, a cockroach crawling into a purse, hence the chaos theory, which is explained by one of the characters in the film. It's sort of a cycle of karma, if you will. Do something good for someone, and it will come back to you. Bear them a grudge and...well, I for one will always think twice about coffees in cafes after seeing Younès' revenge. The numerous subplots can be a bit confusing at times, as can the flashbacks, but "Happenstance" is a charming film that is worth the time. French with English subtitles, 90 minutes.

Rating:
Summary: Karma and a butterfly's wings
Review: 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.