User reviews

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.

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.

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.

Tight 100m adaptation of the Annie Ernaux novel, with a terrific performance by the lead actress. Will watch future Diwan movies.

Sure, with US heading back to medieval times on abortion, there is every bit of contemporary relevance. But that is not at all the point here. Diwan wants to make the pride and anguish of the young woman real to you, no preaching attempted or necessary. Cinematically, she succeeds.

The genre of great abortion movies is pretty small, one thinks of the Romanian 4 months 3 weeks and 2 days, but this one is near the top. Good news is, real Ernaux overcame her brutal ordeal and became a decorated French writer. Read her if you can, in the original French if you can.

... is clearly not the question, as we wander through a world that started out with such regression, though the thoughts that linger in our heads are more for education, of traditions that left ignorance brainwashed that there's damnation, sometimes the blinkers seem to stay in place regardless of enlightening, which if you're free and progressive - will only leave you frightening.

Performances combined with a belief that things can always change for the better, no matter what those circumstances are, make this an unmissable piece of great historical stepping stone foundational film making.

This film is about the horrors of abortion or the lack of possibility to have one. "I want to have a child later, but I don't want a child instead of the life" the film heroine states at one of her doctors appointments. But being a young woman in the 60s meant exactly that- you could forget a free life and career if you became pregnant. The film told the story very close to the main character, tight cinematography. This is good for intimacy and really increases the horrors of her several attempts at aborting the fetus. At the same time I feel like the film misses a bit out on showing us the world around her, it's not a queens gambit like costume piece... if it weren't for the old cars it could have also been set in the 90s/2000s in terms of costumes and styling I feel. But that's also what gives the story a lot of actuality because it makes you think directly of the horrible situations woman go through today in countries where abortion is forbidden.

I left the film with a feeling of uneasiness and needed to take a hot shower at home.

Good acting in general, nudity without voyeurism which I greatly appreciated.

With over one thousand reviews on IMDB, this may be the most difficult one I will ever write. The timing is impeccable, as here in America, the landmark Roe vs Wade decision has turned the nation into a state by state battleground regarding the freedom to choose whether or not to have an abortion. As a pro choice Catholic, I am in disagreement with the views of my church. The film portrays a young woman in a France of the 1960s, when abortion was illegal. Some of the scenes are quite graphic and disturbing. The lead actress is outstanding and the story compelling. I am sure that Happening will receive an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign movie.

I think I've probably seen films where illegitimate pregnancy and abortion were a side issue, but I have never ever seen a film that was solely devoted to this and only this. Maybe I'm exaggerating by calling this film "brutally honest" and giving it a 10, but my impression was that the film really stands out, and for that reason deserves a superlative review. There's almost nothing here about this girl's relationship with the guy who knocked her up, or why she was indulging in sex when she was a smart girl living in an unforgiving society, and should have known better. The whole movie is focused on her week by week experience of finding out she's pregnant with an unwanted fetus which could upset her plans for higher education and a better life, and all the emotional turmoil and struggling for a solution that this causes. So I regard this film as worth a 10 as an educational experience.

P. S. I always thought the French were more liberal than us here in the U. S. But it looks like back around 1963, which is supposed to be when this story takes place, that was not the case.

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+

This is an excellent story of a young woman's desperate and harrowing search for a way to end a pregnancy that threatens to derail her life. It is hard to imagine that only 80 years ago, an advanced Western democracy would so obstruct a woman's right to control her own destiny. Aren't we lucky that those days are gone forever? (Oops, guess what?)

I highly recommend this film.

'Happening (2021)' may be set in 1963 in France, but it might as well be set in 2022 in America. With the recent passing of certain draconian laws, this period piece is more relevant than many of its modern-day counterparts. In fact, its period setting actually further compounds its poignance. Anyone tempted to view the backwards beliefs and legislations that plague not only its central character but, indirectly or otherwise, every other female character in the entire affair as a product of their time is either wilfully ignorant or set to have a very rude awakening when they turn on the news. Film has always been a great tool for empathy, offering a glimpse into the life of someone other than yourself. In many cases, it allows people to connect with the lived experiences of groups of people they're unlikely to ever even meet, let alone directly identify with. Watching someone, fictional or otherwise, undergo a struggle completely alien to yourself is something that, if approached with the right mindset, can widen your worldview and allow you to more easily understand those with vastly different lived experiences to that of your own. This movie does just that. It places you in the shoes of a quietly determined young student who becomes pregnant and does everything she can to obtain an abortion. For whatever reason, a woman's right to choose what happens with her own body is still a touchy subject. Here, though, it's rendered with such aplomb that it's almost hard to imagine even the most devout republican having an issue with the central character's decision. Actually, that's probably giving devout republicans too much credit. Regardless, the point still stands that the picture does an excellent job of putting you in the inconvenienced and isolated shoes of its protagonist. It does an excellent job at conveying the deep-rooted sense of betrayal that comes with everyone around you denying your right to choose what happens to you. Doctors become enemies, families become distant, friends become nothing more than faces in the crowd, and the future suddenly doesn't seem quite as bright as it used to. Despite this growing loneliness and desperation, the lead never loses her focus. She never questions her decision or, more importantly, that it's a decision she and she alone can make. Crucially, her pregnancy isn't the result of incest or a rape and there's no indication that her baby will be unhealthy or that their birth would present a danger to her own life. Instead, her pregnancy is the only thing it should need to be in order for an abortion to be administered: unwanted. By doing this, it argues for universal bodily autonomy and presents the case that abortion is a right regardless of circumstance. The protagonist even says she'd like to have a child in the future, just that she doesn't want one instead of a life. The feature is also very careful not to shame her for having sex in the first place, even though certain unsympathetic characters certainly do just that. In doing so, it avoids perpetuating the misconception that pregnancy is perhaps some sort of punishment for premarital sex. In general, the film is fantastically feminist. It's also quietly confident in its construction, taking an almost minimalist approach to its material and putting a lot of focus on its superb central performance. It doesn't shy away from the more graphic elements of its narrative, featuring a couple of protracted attempted abortions that purposefully make you squirm. It isn't overly explicit and knows exactly when to stop so that it doesn't cheapen itself by trudging into gross-out territory. By going as far as it needs to (which is further than many of its contemporaries dare to go), it presents the truth of its situation. It doesn't pretend abortion is a painless procedure, which further hammers home the fact that it should be legal - and, dare I say, free - so that it can be performed in genuine hospitals by genuine doctors with genuine tools like any other genuine medical procedure. Making abortion illegal doesn't stop abortion from happening, it stops abortion from happening safely. The flick makes you care about its central character, so you're on the edge of your seat when she undergoes some of the dangerous procedures she's forced to undergo by the laws that govern her country. While you never want her to go through that kind of pain, you also never doubt the fact that she needs to. Furthermore, you never blame her for going through these life-threatening procedures. After all, what other choice does she have? Though the film itself is a little slow on occasion and it isn't conventionally enjoyable, it's an engaging and affecting experience throughout. It has something important to say and it knows exactly how to say it. It isn't necessarily an easy watch, but it's easily a necessary one.

The only thing this movie offers is its theme and a good acting performance by the main actress. Her character is boring tho and without a personality so you don't really care what happens to her. The photography is okay, nothing special. The scenario doesn't have much to offer except from the obvious. Overall pretty mediocre, for sure overhyped. I guess the only reason for its success is the women thematic and the woman director. It's an unfair time to live.

A controversial topic. Dealt with the perspective of a woman. Good acting. Personally I would have only made it more graphic with respect to bloody towels and blood. But that would change its rating. So apart from that good buildup, but lacks in middle. Maybe a bigger meltdown was to be shown. The embrace with her mother just was too much to handle for me. Music tones dropping at places to corelate with the plot, was interesting and rightly done, so that was nice. I would suggest it only if you try to watch it with an open mind. On controversial topics, whether you agree or not, is a different question. Atleast you should see the point. You dont have to agree. You can give your points. The reason for cinema is to start a dialogue or ask yourself questions. Good viewing.

As harrowing as this film is, it is so important that it was made. It reminds us how hard won our victories around abortion on demand are. Thank good ness I did not have to go through such horrors 30 years later!

Thank you for making this timely, valuable piece of film.

Up look into the desperation of a girl wishing to not to be pregnant, in a time era and religious rites and rules forbade and still in many countries forbids the pregnant female to abort and end the pregnancy without breaking the law... a french 1960's drama that use the closeup procedure method to show the desperate methods used to abort the fetus on your own, the primitive means, and the inhorrible risks that may follow such a medical procedure.

The grumpy old man do believe in the womans right to choose, maybe because im a medical nurse by proffesion...other wise a rather flawless film therefore a recdommend.

Summary:

Distressing and devastating chronicle about a brilliant student who decides to terminate her pregnancy in France in the early 1960s, when it was illegal. Winner of the Venice Golden Lion in 2021, it is based on the autobiographical novel by Annie Ernaux, the last winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and features a magnetic performance by Anamaria Vartolomei. Filmed with a certain timelessness that emphasizes its absolute validity in the face of an anti-rights right that never stops advancing.

Review:

Anne, a brilliant student who is taking the entry course for the Arts degree in Angoulême, undertakes the difficult path of accessing an abortion in France in the early 1960s.

Upon hearing the news of her pregnancy, young Anne's first reaction is surprise, followed by the immediate certainty that this is not the time, that this cannot stand in the way of her college career and she must act accordingly.

Based on the 2000 autobiographical novel by Annie Ernaux, the last winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the film deals with the ordeal of this young woman at a time when in France (and in the world) abortion was punishable by imprisonment (for those who practiced it and for the pregnant woman) and also constituted an unspeakable taboo, of strong social condemnation, added to the fact of being a single woman. The story paints with sobriety and mastery all that sociohistorical moment.

Anne undertakes the search with a determination as unshakable as it is lonely, in the face of all the obstacles and the lack of collaboration of the people with whom she decides to share her secret and in the face of time that advances inexorably week after week, with a pregnancy that takes on signs of incurable illness. It is devastating how the protagonist must move in a framework of secrecy that brings the story closer to the thriller at times.

Anne undertakes everything in her power to achieve her goal. The director (and co-writer) Audrey Diwan follows the arc of a protagonist who adds to the growing emotional tension her physical injury, with an explicit statement that she rightly chooses not to spare the viewer. The almost square screen frame emphasizes the overwhelm and anguish of the protagonist and the viewer, of a situation with no way out, of closing doors. Another success of the film is a deliberate timelessness, which emphasizes its absolute validity. And not to mention a title that alludes to something as important as it is unmentionable.

Anamaria Vartolomei immediately captures the viewer's empathy, capable of conveying all the conflicting feelings with her gaze and gestures: will, clarity of vision, pride, lack of prejudice, loneliness, anguish and despair, in a film that won the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival and is absolutely necessary in the face of the onslaught of anti-rights neo-fascism.

"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved" - Victor Hugo

Winner of the Golden Lion Award at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, Audrey Diwan's ("Losing It") harrowing abortion drama Happening takes place in rural France during the 1960s, a decade before abortion was legalized in France. Based on the memoir by Annie Erma ("Les Années Super-8"), the film is a gripping and, at times, uncomfortable reminder of the inherent physical and emotional dangers of illegal, "back-alley" abortions, procedures that pose a danger to the unborn child as well as to the health of the mother. Co-written by Marcia Romano ("Peaceful") and brought to life by the naturalistic cinematography of Laurent Tangy ("Mascarade"), the film dramatizes a young woman's painful quest to terminate her unwanted pregnancy.

In a perfectly realized performance by Anamaria Vartolomei ("How to Be a Good Wife"), Anne Duchesne is an ambitious literature student in her early twenties with aspirations to become a writer. She lives at a school dorm with her best friends Hélène (Luàna Bajrami, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire") and Brigitte (Louise Orry-Diquéro, "Occidental"), independent from her parents, Jacques and Gabrielle (Eric Verdin, "Faithful" and Sandrine Bonnaire, "Into the World"). While immersed in her studies to gain admittance to a top university, Anne discovers that she is pregnant, a situation that will threaten her continued education.

Diwan is unsparing in her depiction of the physical and emotional trauma a young girl had to go through to have an abortion, allowing us to see the graphic details that make Happening essential viewing for those confronting the Supreme Court decision to terminate Roe v Wade, the ruling that has protected abortion seekers and providers for the last fifty years in the United States. Until the moment of discovery, Anne is hard to distinguish from her immature roommates who spend their days studying and their nights looking for adventures at the local clubs.

Here, women who interface too much with boys are called "loose" or "sluts," and their sexual encounters consist of acting out of fantasies within their own dorm. When her roommates discover that Anne is pregnant, the temperature in their room plummets to zero, and Anne finds only grudging support from her "best friend" Brigitte, who tells her coldly that "it's not our business." While Diwan shows us the humiliation that Anne must endure, we learn very little of her history or her background and neither do we learn much about the young man who impregnated her.

Aware of the possibility of jail for the patient and the medical practitioner, a doctor she has trusted (Fabrizio Rongione, "The Unknown Girl") in the past tells her that she has to keep the child, reminding her that she cannot even discuss the matter with him. In addition, Jean (Kacey Mottet Klein, "Being 17"), a male friend, turns Anne's plea for help into a sexual proposition asking "why not?" since she no longer has any risk of becoming pregnant. Ultimately, Anne finds a surreptitious practitioner, Madame Rivière (Anna Mouglalis, "The Salamander") but that is only the beginning of her sorrows.

Yet, for all of its disturbing images, in telling this "horror" story, Diwan avoids melodrama, offering a tense, engaging, and realistic picture of what the world was like for a young woman who is carrying an unwanted child and what it could be again unless our collective voices are heard. Like events shown in Ursula Meier's brilliant 2012 film "Sister," life for an unwanted child may not be better than no life at all. Meier makes it evident that growing up in a world without love, even the most skillful and resilient child cannot fill the gaping hole it leaves.

Well, it's not 100% grim but I'd struggle to describe it as a casual watch. We basically follow Anne who is still at school when she discovers she's pregnant and investigates what she can do about it. Which, in early 60s France appears to be limited to "have the baby whilst being abandoned by everyone you've ever known" - unless you're prepared to go beyond what's legal.

And whilst I said it's not 100% grim, I do have to say there were some very grim scenes in it - some would say unnecessarily graphic, whereas others would say necessarily so. However, somewhat ironically for the film's title, very little actually happens in it. Which is probably sensible in terms of not distracting from the traumatic journey that Anne is undertaking, but it does feel a bit like you're just waiting for the next thing she's going to try and you know it's gonna be stressful.

And Anamaria Vartolomei really sells us on the journey - you really feel her confusion, pain, fear, shame, desperation and many other unwanted emotions. It's an impressive and very unglamorous performance which marks her out as one to watch. Louise Orry-Diquero, Louise Chevillotte and Luàna Bajrami also impress as her friends - to be honest, no-one else is really given enough to do to stand out. They are all pretty mean to Anne though!

It's beautifully shot - really making the most of the lovely weather they seemed to have a lot of in early '60s France. The style reminded of Call Me By Your Name - both are very sun-kissed, although the mood is somewhat darker here. It uses an unusual (these days) aspect ratio - 1.37:1, which is apparently known as the Academy ratio because it was set as the standard aspect ratio by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 1932 and was the standard format until 1952, but is rarely seen these days. The last time we saw it was apparently The Tragedy Of Macbeth, which I mistakenly said was 4:3 - and it's odd because I immediately noticed this one wasn't quite 4:3, but obviously didn't with that film.

But, obviously the burning question that needs answering is - given it's a French film, are there gratuitous naked breasts on display? Well, it's set in a girls school with communal showers - what do you think? However, in the French "it's only a body" way, there's rarely any effort made to sexualise matters - they're just having an argument or shooting the breeze or whatever, but they just happen to have no clothes on. All very French.

On a more serious note, it's a powerful and obviously timely film which is well acted and beautifully shot - but I really can't say I enjoyed it in the slightest. But I guess there's an argument that it never hurts to suffer for an education, which it was - mostly because it had never occurred to me to think about it. I'm not going to comment on the rights or wrongs of abortion because that's not my place but this film does a good job of telling one woman's story and the lengths she was prepared to go to - how people react to it will be entirely dependent upon them.

Would I recommend the film? Not really, to be honest - I'm just not sure who would enjoy it, but it's definitely a very admirable and impressive unenjoyable film.

A nice point of view on the story from the director , with some very beautiful cinematic shots that makes you think and see a point of the life that protagonist has during this time of her life. We see also in a very good the way people was thinking in social issues that effects the way of living in womans life during 1950 .

Very interesting the way that the leading actress (Anamaria Vartolomei) was acting specialy after the first half of tge movie. The way that she changes the point of view that her character has is unique!!!

Another film that give value to the Roe vs Wade viewpoint that abortions should be legalized. The film is just above average. The most outstanding aspect of the film was the music composed by the talented duo Evgueni and Sacha Galperine (they contributed the music of Zvyagintsev's "Loveless"). Congratulations to Audrey Diwan for choosing their appropriate music. It is probably the original novel that gave the appropriate name of actress Sandrine Bonnaire's character as "Gabrielle" (which recalls Angel Gabriel.)

The film is more sophisticated than the Romanian film "4 months, 2 months and 3 days" (2007) and the US film "Never, rarely, sometimes, always" (2020) because the poor girl has a legitimate and a very honorable goal in life.

Annamaria Vartolomei gives a hypnotic performance in Happening. She has a wide eyed look of being worried throughout that never wavers. Her problem is that she is unable to concentrate on her student lectures, where she is constantly berated by the lecturer for not listening and often being told she will fail her exams if she does not do better. The truth is, she's pregnant and this is France in the 1960's when abortions are illegal and can lead to a prison sentence. Anne does not want to be tied down to being an unmarried mother and is determined to find a way to abort the foetus. She wants to enjoy her youth and what follows is difficult to watch at times. A really wonderful performance that dominates the screen and could have been boring in lesser hands.

This was really a perfect time for me to watch this film. The intensity and desperation conveyed in the film speaks for itself.

I had no idea what the plot of this was about, just saw it advertised on an indie theater and bought tickets. Turns out it is a topical showing of a film about the struggles that this woman had to go through when abortion was illegal in France. Somebody needs to show this to the backwards Supreme Court justices that want to overturn Roe v Wade.

I'm glad I saw this film. I have no idea if I'll ever get another chance to watch it but it was absolutely worth the watch.