Happening [2021]
“It was in the very midst of our tragedy; She was playing a melody; on the harp; halfheartedly”
Difficult, upsetting, and powerful; 2021’s Happening is the all too real story of what happens when people in positions of power decide they know what is best in the ways of managing the personal lives of others. When politicians decide they are the voices of reason concerning the autonomy of bodies they do not live in; dangerous – sometimes deadly – things occur and futures are sacrificed instead of people being given the help they need, in the timely manner that they need it.
Based on a 2000 novel by the same name, Happening tells the harrowing story of being a young, pregnant woman in 21st century America… I mean 1963 France. Faced with bringing her pregnancy to term – ruining her chance at exams and what she considers a meaningful future – or seeking an abortion in a country that dares not even think the word in private, Annie sees her future falling through her hands faster than she can piece it back together. The lengths she is forced to go, and the perils she is forced to face are painfully realized in a way that only the most delicate and intimate of filmmakers could manage.
Never are scenes in Happening dramatic, forced, or graphic for the sake of shock. Instead, they are plain, painful, and personal. Director Audrey Diwan takes us on an incredibly focused and affectionate journey through Annie’s struggles without ever softening the poignancy of what is going on – or diluting how it still relates to a modern world.
Assisting in this journey is the emotionally bleak performance of lead actress, Anamaria Vartolomei, who delivers this needlessly dangerous experience without fanfare or undo theatrics. Alongside her is the incredibly intimate decision to have almost no music throughout the entire film; forcing the viewer to simply sit and feel, instead of being fed emotional cues by a conventional score [similar to 2019’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire which, oddly, Anamaria Vartolomei is also in]. Finally, the wonderful cinematography by Laurent Tangy transports us to a seat right alongside Annie for most of her journey. Scenes are tight, close, personal, and claustrophobic; forcing the viewer to look at the only thing on screen: Annie’s life falling apart before her [our] eyes and the heroic bravery she must maintain in order to solve this in a world that hates her.
Comparable almost directly to 2020’s Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always; Happening is a movie that shouldn’t have to be made in the 21st century. And yet… Here we are, still needing to see and hear this message.
Will it reach those that need to hear it the most? Probably not.
Would they care if it did? Almost certainly not.
However, as long as this issue is one that plagues our modern world; as long as women are forced into unsafe situations because of those that do not care about their lives over the possibility of future voters; as long as women are forced to face the destruction of their wellbeing because of some invisible man in the sky; as long as women aren’t treated with the respect and protection they deserve in the face of unjust and draconian laws…
As long as those things are still true... films like this, need to exist.
I hope they don't need to exist much longer.
“The troops continue on their route; heads high; raising their flag; holy rags”
