When I originally watched Audrey Diwan's extraordinary film, “Happening”, earlier in the year, I immediately thought it was an important film, but never did I expect just how important it would be only a fortnight later. For those that are unaware “Happening” shows the dangers involved for a woman in seeking an abortion when such a thing is illegal. Thankfully, these are troubles from the past and we as a society have moved on and understand the importance of women having the ability to choose just what happens to their own body.....ahem.....two weeks after I watched “Happening” the United States Supreme Court voted to overturn the result of the 1973 “Roe vs Wade” case, which was historic for its recognition of an individual's right to terminate a pregnancy. That right has now been taken away from the majority of women in the USA, and the period-set “Happening” has sadly become very relevant and timely.
Anne is a bright young student with a promising future ahead of her. Her dream is to write, however those dreams are threatened when she falls pregnant in 1950's France, where abortion is illegal. Although she wants a child later in life, Anne doesn't want one now at the expense of “her” life, so resolves to act, no matter the risk, and the risks are huge.
I was totally blown away by Audrey Diwan's “Happening”; it is such a powerful film, but it is also an incredibly difficult watch. Diwan pulls no punches when it comes to showing the risks involved in obtaining an illegal abortion, including a number of very graphic and confronting scenes that will have you squinting at the screen. While these moments are full on and incredibly tough to watch, that is the whole point. The viewer needs to understand just how bad and dangerous and painful it can get for the woman, so if these scenes were watered down to make it easier on the viewer, the impact would be lost. The film is an adaptation of Annie Ernaux's autobiographical book of the same name, that deals with her own experiences with abortion back in the 1950's. Diwan and her co-screenwriter Marcia Romano have done an excellent job at adapting the book and creating a film that is filled with immediacy, tension, heart and understanding, without it making it feel like a political or “message” film. The entire film is from Anne's perspective, she is in every scene, so Diwan needed an actress with an ability to go through a large range of emotions quickly and believably and she struck gold with the casting of Anamaria Vartolomei, who is just extraordinary. In just a few short scenes she is able to project an intelligence and carefree attitude in Anne, feeling at her lightest when chatting with her friends. She is serious at her studies and determined in fulfilling her potential as a writer. This is immediately shattered the moment she hears that she is pregnant, as her focus strays from her academia and totally on to how she can terminate her pregnancy. I was particularly impressed by Vartolomei's ability to express her character's sudden lack of focus, as well as her fear which continually builds until its outright panic, as she understands just how much trouble she is in. She also does an excellent job of making us feel her isolation from the rest of her, once comfortable, world. So strong was the law on abortion that even her best friends retract in fear when Anne finally breaks down and confesses her secret, which ultimately leaves her feeling even more alone.
Diwan and her cinematographer Laurent Tangy have chosen to shoot “Happening” in the square 1.33 ratio which, as I have said on here before, is great at making dramas more intimate as the height of the frame means a facial close-up can be that much closer, exposing the intensity of emotion in the character's eyes. The majority of the film has been shot hand-held, with a large amount of the time the camera actually being behind Anne, as we follow her on her journey, which I thought was a brave choice. The colour palette leans towards cooler images, thanks largely to the fact that Anne is regularly dressed in blue. It is a beautiful looking film, but here the story is more important than a few pretty pictures. What I was impressed most by in Diwan's direction was her ability to make the audience feel exactly what Anne herself is going through. There were times when I was wincing, or closing my eyes, or even feeling physically ill (and I am a big, tough guy who never flinches whilst watching horror films!). I don't just mean the extreme scenes though, I also think Diwan does a great job of making us feel Anne's isolation and fear, while also increasing the tension in the film at the same time. While I would always describe “Happening” as an intense drama, at times it plays like a thriller (particularly as Diwan highlights regularly where exactly Anne is in her pregnancy, getting closer to when an abortion is physically impossible), with the final fifteen minutes just excruciating to sit through.
Another thing Diwan excels at is exposing just how hard women have / had it in a repressed society such as France in the 1950's. When your virginity was held in the same esteem as your school scores, and anyone who may have had sex prior to marriage being stained by the “honour” of being called a slut or easy. Just imagine the outrage if they were then an unwed mother?!? Diwan makes the observation that all this repression and the social stigmas caused because of it, can only be a dangerous thing as all it leads to is a group of horny girls with no way to relieve themselves; eventually something has got to give. “Happening” also really opened my eyes as to just how dangerous, this time from a legal perspective, abortion was for women, or the people that attempted to help them. When Anne quietly pleads to her doctor for help after the initial confirmation that she is pregnant, he immediately says “You can't ask me that. You can't ask anyone that!” in a stern, serious but respectful manner. When she then tries another doctor, he is furious and does the unthinkable by giving her medication which would strengthen the embryo (thus making it harder to abort) but under the guise that it will help her menstruate. When Anne finally does find someone to help her, their meeting is so clandestine that it felt like something from the French Resistance. You cannot help but feel for poor Anne, as her situation is just horrific, and no matter which way she turns it is forever life altering.
With all the doom and gloom of the film, I want to mention the brief moment where Audrey Diwan finally (and smartly) lets the audience breathe. With Anne at rock bottom and desperate to find a solution, she receives a visit from one of her friends who admits to her that she too has had a sexual relationship, and that the only reason she isn't pregnant is because she was lucky, nothing more. It is a small moment but you can see Anne (thanks again to Vartolomei's excellent performance) feel that little bit lighter and less alone. This scene is immediately followed by a brief moment when Anne visits her parents and gets happiness out of watching them heartily laugh at something on the radio. This moment of happiness is broken when Anne is about to leave and tightly hugs her mother; straight away her mother senses that something is wrong, and from her on in, the film becomes very intense.
This now brings me to the incredibly confronting scenes of “Happening”, which there are three, but I will only talk about the first two. Due to the theme of the film, I'm sure you can probably guess what they involve, but I liked that Diwan covered both scenes differently. The first is when Anne attempts to abort the fetus herself via the use of a knitting needle. Diwan shows Anne grabbing the needle (so we have an idea of its size) and then has her examining her downstairs parts via a mirror, however she leaves the actual act to our own imagination, instead focusing entirely on the pain and apprehension on Anamaria Vartolomei's face. Combined with an effective use of sound effects, it makes the entire scene incredibly difficult to sit through. As a man I found this scene almost impossible to watch, that it makes me wonder just how hard it would be for a woman. The other scene is when Anne goes to see a black-market abortionist, and this time Diwan shoots the scene in real time, without any cuts, with most of it playing out over Anne's shoulder, as if from her point of view. You totally feel the anxiety of the moment which increases as we know she cannot make any sound for fear of being found out, while knowing just how much pain she is in during this procedure. Both these scenes are very uncomfortable viewing, but the third one is possibly the worst!
Overall, I was so impressed by Audrey Diwan's “Happening”; while it is incredibly hard to watch at times, after two viewings of the film, I think it is something of a masterpiece. Whilst it is saddening that since its release, the film has become so relevant, I loved the fact that Diwan never pulled any punches in regards to the controversial elements of the story. Through Diwan's confident but sensitive direction and Anamaria Vartolomei's impressive performance, “Happening” is able to successfully make the audience feel all of the pain, fear and isolation that Anna is going through. It is a hot-button topic, but Diwan is interested in the human element behind it all, rather than making a big political statement. Whilst it is a hard film to recommend due to how confronting it can be, personally, it is my favourite film I have seen this year up until this point. “Happening” is a brilliant and important film.
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