Happening

Saw this back at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival

Based on a novel by Annie Ernaux,, the topic of abortion is already becoming a very controversial subject in the past many years. There are many debates about whether abortion is right or wrong. Audrey Diwan takes this serious subject matter and creates a uneasy, intense, but realistic approach about this topic through the lens of an interesting character portrayed by Anamaria Vartolomei who gives an amazing stellar performance throughout this movie. This movie isn't an easy watch because of the brutal nature of what the character is going through and especially a really disturbing third act that made me feel uneasy and quite uncomfortable while watching it. Throughout there are some beautiful camerawork with the 1:33:1 aspect ratio perfectly capturing the 1970s in France, some beautiful production and costume designs, and really good soundtrack. Although, the setting at times didn't feel like the 70s because the movie didn't explore it's time period well enough as it should have which was one of the flaws I had with this movie.

As I have to say it again, Anamaria Vartolomei sells throughout this movie with her realistic performance on portraying a character who is lost, somewhat arrogant but also finding a way to solve her issue. Even if it risks her own sanity. Character study films are really interesting as it provides an guide to understand how the human life works throughout many lens. It's often not easy to be really engage with a character but if the writing is great, the character is great. Some problems I have with the movie are that some of the dialogue felt a little clunky as it didn't feel like it fits in the 1970s time period and some of the supporting characters felt like they had nothing to do with the movie. Almost as if they could have just been removed from the final cut honestly.

Overall, this was a really good adaptation from director Audrey Diwan and I really look forward to seeing more films from here. I believe there's a great potential of French female filmmakers coming soon in the near decade.

Rating: B+

Following the tale of a young student who becomes pregnant in the France of 1963, where abortion is a serious crime punishable by prison, this is a powerful and brilliantly executed film, gripping and often very hard to watch as it's unflinching in its depictions of the difficult and sometimes harrowing experiences the young woman is forced to go through. Told from the point of view of the main character in close up and close quarters, it's a vivid journey, superbly written and directed by Audrey Diwan and with a stunning central portrayal by Annamaria Vartolomai.

It's a movie that came out at the right place in the right time, it's about a girl in France during the 60s who needs an abortion but is engulf in a culture that made this action illegal. Oh wow! Where have I heard that story before?

From a man's point a view this might sound insensitive, but this flick was horrifying. The horrible steps this woman had to take because she lived in a world that would not give her the proper medical procedure to have it done in a healthier environment, just made the whole thing feel like a horror movie. They held nothing back when it came to DIY method of how it's all done.

I don't want to get too political, then again, it's not a coincidence this movie is in American theatres now. All I'm saying is that the movie laid out a great argument for why the woman in the movie made the choice she made.

For that it's a great film because I felt spoken to instead of preached to.

Like it's lead character, Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei), Director Audrey Diwan's HAPPENING is direct, strong and decisive. Anne is a very promising literature student who finds herself pregnant after a fling with a visiting student. The place is France in the early 60s when having a procedure to abort a baby is strictly illegal. Her closest friends and doctor want nothing to do with her plans - especially, her doctor, who's very counsel could land him in jail.

Diwan's adaptation of Annie Ernaux's novel feels immediate, adopting an almost you are there approach (the script was co-written by Diwan and a trio of other writers). While it's certainly not a documentary construct, it's very much a drama, but it feels real. Laurent Tangy's hand-held camera is like an intimate partner to Diwan's vision. The active tense title is very much on point here (the French title also translates into "The Event").

Vartolomei is quite excellent. She is often the only character on screen and her performance never seems studied, simply inhabited. The others in the cast are always believable even if they don't have time to really develop. Anna Mouglalis is particularly memorable as the blunt Mme. Riviere, and legendary European actress Sandrinne Bonnaire is on hand as Anne's mother.

HAPPENING gets quite explicit at times, but never feels in the least exploitative. The screenplay is also admirable in that it never preaches. Diwan follows her character on her own terms all the way through. It's a difficult movie, but a very worthy one.

As "Happening" (2021 release from France; 100 min.) opens, it's some time in the early 1960s in France, and we are introduced to several young women, students at the local university, who are getting ready to go out on the town. One of them is Annie (or Anne). Then later, Annie goes to see a doctor as her period is late. The doctor informs her that she is pregnant, to Annie's shock. She asks the doctor "to do something" but he flat-out refuses, as abortion is illegal and carries a penalty in jail... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from French-Lebanese writer-director Audrey Diwan ("Losing It"). Here she brings the real life tale of what happens to a young woman in her early 20s who gets pregnant in a time and space where abortion is entirely illegal without any exceptions (France in the early 60s). Watch how Annie gets no support, zero, from anyone around her including doctors, family and friends, and even her lover. Watch how increasingly desperate Annie becomes as the weeks pass. Please note that some scenes are very difficult to watch. The US premiere of this film came at the 2022 Sundance film festival, just over a year ago, and mere months before the US Supreme Court overruled Re v. Wade, with the GOP subsequently enacting strict anti-abortion laws in multiple states. For shame. Do you want to go back more than half a century to the times when men in power decided that "this isn't a woman's issue"? Welcome to the GOP of 2022! As a complete aside, this film is based on the book of the same name by acclaimed French author Annie Ernaux (born Duchesne), who just last year won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

"Happening" is currently rated 99% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. It is a gut-wrenching abortion drama, now more relevant issue than ever. I had been clamoring to see this film, and finally it started streaming on Hulu just yesterday. I watched it right away. If you are in the mood for a top-notch if devastating abortion drama, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.