Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Lee Eisenberg Laurent Firode's peculiar "Happenstance" (called "Le Battement d'ailes du papillon" in its original French) focuses on the theory of the butterfly effect, meaning that any action or decision, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, will cause other things to happen. The movie focuses on several different individuals in Paris over the course of one day, as their lives intersect and their actions affect each other.Any movie like this - others include "The Cooler" and "Match Point" - begs the question as to whether or not our lives flow independently or are in fact getting influenced directly by each other (as it was, the last scene in "The Shining" posed this question also). One could easily look at the course of world history to find events that, had they turned out differently, would have easily changed the course of history.* But a person could spend eternity talking about that. "Happenstance" is certainly fun to watch, gazing at the characters as their actions initiate a new series of events every time. And of course, who doesn't like the sight of Audrey Tautou? I recommend it.Also starring Faudel, Eric Savin, Nathalie Besançon and Lysiane Meis.*Without World War II, power might never have shifted from Europe to the United States.

three-m A missed train. A wrong phone number. An extra cup of coffee. What happens to those around you when you make a seemingly innocuous decision? Most people don't give it a thought as they absorbed in their own thoughts and actions."Happenstance" tells the story of the interrelations and cause-and-effect of the mundane as it pertains to a group of normal Parisian folk. It has all the components of what passes for contemporary theater, with the full cast of the dysfunctional and disillusioned.There's a cheating husband, an illegal immigrant, a classic slacker, a pickpocket, a crazy grandmother, an annoying girlfriend, a selfish roommate, and a homeless man. Audrey Tautou serves as the erstwhile protagonist (in the sense that she's on camera as much as anyone else and opens and closes the film) and normal girl who just can't seem to find the right rhythm in her life.She learns at the beginning of her day from a stranger on a train what her horoscope holds for her. What happens to her in the course of the day is told through various characters. Does the prediction come true? The concept is good, but the storytelling is flimsy. The connections from one event to the next are weak. There's better storytelling in 15 seconds of the Liberty Mutual insurance commercial where one person sees a good deed and passes it along to another than there is in two hours of Happenstance.If you enjoy Audrey Tautou, then you certainly can sacrifice the time for this film, but you'll finish it dissatisfied and wondering what this same storyline could be if it were handled by a better producer and director.

jotix100 This whimsical film had the misfortune of being released at the same time of the highly popular "Amelie", both having the wonderful Audrey Tautou playing the central role. Laurent Firode, the talented director made one of the most enjoyable films that have come out of France in recent memory.The film deals with chance, as its English title indicates. The French title makes reference at how butterflies wings can create chaos over the Atlantic as they fly, as well as hurricanes in the Pacific, something not to be believed just by looking at these colorful insects. From the start, the director interlaces all the characters one sees in the film and how each has a connection to the other, something that is hard to imagine, but in the film's context seems to work well.A chance meeting at the metro sets the tone for the film. Irene, who is going to work, is asked by the woman sitting opposite her to tell her what her Zodiac sign is and proceeds to read from her paper. Irene, it seems will cross paths and will find her soul mate that same day. After Irene leaves the train, the quiet young man seated next to the woman tells her he has the same birth date as Irene. It seems they are destined to one another from the start, but alas, they will not reconnect until the last frame of the film.Audrey Tautou is wonderful as Irene. Faudel, who plays Younes, doesn't have a lot to do until the end, but he shows he has a presence and plays well his part. The talented young cast makes a valuable contribution to the success of the film, which is as light as butterfly wings.We look forward to future films by Laurent Firode because he appears to be a director with the heart in the right place and an ear to the way humans are connected.

TxMike The fact that a long series of little things and daily decisions, plus randon events, unalterably shapes our lives, has long interested me. If Ronald Reagan had not been governor of California in 1967, none of my children would have been born and I would have no doubt turned out quite differently. Or even if my friend Phil had not told me that he didn't have a date with Judy for our college graduation, which led to my eventually marrying her. Little, unpredictable things like that. A recent movie with Diane Lane, 'Unfaithful', is based precisely on this, a missed taxi. This movie, 'Happenstance', is squarely about those little things too. But it goes a step further -- what if everything happens for a reason, the idea of 'fate' rather than randomness. For a small movie, the DVD picture is as beautiful, sharp, and detailed as about any I have seen. The style and acting reminds one of 'Amelie', but this movie is totally different. A really nice and enertaining 93 minutes.SPOILERS are contained in the following comments, please read no further if you fear disappointment. However, it is the type of movie that could be watched 5 days in a row, and one would discover new fascinations each time.The movie starts on a train, a lady is reading Irene's (Tautou) horoscope, reads aloud her birthday, a young man with the same birthday overhears it, both of them learn they will find love under the full moon if they are patient. They never see each other again until the very end of the movie, when they sit back-to-back on a bench, both with bandaged noses, as 'good luck' sand is accidentally blown out of a second story window and onto them. The middle 90 minutes or so take us through a complex series of little things, experienced by a whole bunch of characters, all of which engineer unwittingly this 'not-so-chanceful' meeting of the two young people.Without a chart and pens to diagram, it would be impossible for a mere mortal viewer to understand all the connections of all the characters, but that isn't important. A man hitching a ride in a lettuce truck spills some, causing a man on a bicycle to crash, causing a son to see him and dream dad had died, which leads to mom visiting him in Paris causing him to deal with his affair. Playing chance a man says, 'If he makes this toss, I'll tell her everything.' Another man says to the pebble tosser, 'Miss it on purpose, that man will act on something if you make it, so we can change his decision.' A grandma complains about a coffee maker, a bystander who was there only because of a prior conversation in a coffee shop overhears, feels the grandma is treated poorly, steals a coffee maker to give to her, but her bus goes away too quickly, Irene gets fired for it, he gives it to Irene who leaves it at the station, suspecting a bomb the train skips that stop, the young man looking up his former girlfriend who found him after a pidgeon pooped on some photographs misses his stop, is late for the meeting, the girl leaves, sees a man in a yellow coat, thinking it is the thief pushes him down, bloody nose, he meets up with Irene in the end. The whole movie is like that, it is mesmerizing, the way connection after connection is depicted. Fun to watch, and almost impossible to keep track of.