‘Happening’: Study of a young woman’s dilemma

Above: Annamaria Vartolomei stars in the French film "Happening." (Photo/IFC Films)

Movie review: "Happening," co-written and directed by Audrey Diana (from the novel by Annie Ernaux), starring Annamaria Vartolomei, Sandrine Bonnaire. Screening at the Magic Lantern Theatre. 

For a film to be considered good, it’s not necessary to tackle the important topics of the day. It’s enough to be well-directed, well-acted and perhaps even well-intentioned.

But when a film is all of that and it does involve, say, a moral issue … well, then you have a film that goes beyond the question of whether it’s merely good. The question then becomes one of importance.

And few topics today, other than the ongoing war in Ukraine, are more important – and hotly debated – than that of abortion. It was on Jan. 22, 1973, that the United States Supreme Court – in its landmark Roe v. Wade decision – ruled 7 to 2 that women in the United States, and not the government, have the right to decide whether they will have an abortion.

According to a leaked draft of an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, and corroborated as genuine by Chief Justice John Roberts, the current makeup of the court, which is heavily conservative, appears ready to overturn Roe v. Wade – thus bringing the issue back to the forefront of public consciousness.

The possibility of this occurring gives added context to the French film “Happening.” Directed by Audrey Diwan, and co-written by Diwan and Marcia Romano, “Happening” is an adaptation of the 2000 novel by noted French author Annie Ernaux.

A fictional representation of Ernaux’s own experience, Diwan’s film – known as “L'événement” in French – concerns Anne, a young woman attending a boarding school and studying literature. The year is 1963, and abortion is illegal: Anyone performing one, or having one, faces time in prison.

When we are introduced to Anne (played by Annamaria Vartolomei), she is just realizing that she is pregnant. When a doctor confirms her condition, she asks him to help her, meaning – without saying so exactly – that she wants him to abort the fetus. But he refuses. And so begins Anne’s sojourn to find a solution to what she considers to be a life-changing problem.

It’s hard not to sympathize with her. The daughter of a working-class couple, Anne has ambitions to rise above her social station. To that end she works hard, making her one of the top students in her class. But even though she has her own small group of friends, she is resented by others – and not just because she is intelligent.

As the film makes clear, 1963 was not a particularly woman-friendly time in France (nor in the United States either, though that’s a whole other movie). The popular concept of early ’60s France, at least as portrayed in the movies of that decade, was one of easy sex. But that’s certainly not Anne’s experience.

Diwan only slowly reveals just how Anne got pregnant, but we do see her acting like many young people of any time – dancing, drinking and flirting. Yet while such behavior once was – at least traditionally – admired in men, women who do so in Anne’s world are subject to insults. And shame.

Even worse, the prospect of being an unwed mother would very likely ruin any chances of Anne’s achieving her life aims, particularly of pursuing a career. So as she seeks help, not knowing where to turn, she grows ever more desperate – which is especially disheartening when even her closest friends turn away from her.

Diwan captures Anne’s struggle without resorting to any sort of melodrama. In fact, she does very little to make Anne seem even likeable. But in any event, that’s hardly necessary. In the hands of actress Vartolomei, Anne never feels less than human – someone who, in a world of strict limitations, is struggling just to find her way.

Diwan does include a scene that many viewers may find too graphic to watch. But even that has an actual point: Whatever your view on abortion, whether you belong to the right-to-life crowd or believe in a woman’s right to choose, the issue isn’t likely to disappear – no matter what the current court decides.

For that reason if no other, it’s too important to simply look the other way.