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Happenstance | Year: 2000 Classification: Foreign Film - French Actors/Actresses: - Audrey Tautou - Faudel a not very memorable ensemble film A film by Laurent Firode There is an idea that life is made up of a serious of coincidences and that any small action can have a wide ranging effect and connection to the lives of various people in ways that we cannot even imagine. Little events can affect big events even though the two are not truly related, at least not in any way that we can directly see. It is like the butterfly in Egypt flapping its wings and causing a hurricane over the Pacific Ocean. This is the overriding idea of "Happenstance". The movie opens with Irene (Audrey Tautou) on the subway. A lady sitting across from her is reading Irene's horoscope and tells Irene that soon she will meet her soul mate. Irene gets off the train and the scene changes. From here we are brought into the lives of multiple people (men and women) living in Paris. We see their actions and how their actions affect each other. Even though Irene opens and closes this film, it is not truly about her and she is a more minor character than I had expected (or hoped). It is interesting to see how all these lives intersect and affect each other, but even with the ending wrapping things up, "Happenstance" did not feel like it truly amounted to much, or did a good enough job making me care about any of the characters (except Irene, but that may be because of Tautou). It was difficult for me to engage with any of the characters, or find any of them memorable (though some of the intersecting events I can remember, but not the characters themselves). The best I can say is that "Happenstance" was just okay. Despite Tautou being all over the cover/poster for this film, she is not the star, this is a true ensemble piece. The ensemble just didn't add up to a strong whole. -Joe Sherry One small, solitary event... The film _Happenstance_ investigates how one small, seemingly meaningless event, can change the lives of many others. The script weaves a large web, with few degrees of seperation between the characters. There are no "main" characters in the film, because each story is so interlocked with the others. The French title of the film translates to "The Beating of the Butterfly's Wings", and it is unclear why they changed the title for the American release. The word "Happenstance" does not come up in any conversation in the movie, however a major scene in the movie discusses the butterfly's wings. Audrey Tautou's face is on the DVD cover, (not even a picture from this movie, I might add) and it is clear that the American marketing firms wanted to show off Tautou and use her recent fame to attract attention. While I think it is misleading to plaster her picture on the front when there are many other deserving actors in this movie, the marketing did work for me: I would not have found this movie had I not seen Audrey's face advertising it. A fun and rewarding film that is sure to leave a smile on your face. Buy Happenstance at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Happenstance Search with the Priority Search Engine on Happenstance This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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