No. 34 (2022) HAPPENING (LEVENEMENT) April 23rd.

 

Film No. 34 (2022)  April  23rd.  4.50 PM   Cinema 5.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"There is no risk if you're already pregnant". (The last words Anne wants to hear from friend Maxime's lips).

When The Venice Film Festival concludes and announces their premier award, The Golden Lion, I take notice. THE WRESTLER (2008), ROMA (2018)and THE MAGDALENE SISTERS (2020) stand out as rich, generally intimate, thought proving films. 2021's winner, LEVENEMENT (Happening) matches the brilliance of a good many of its predecessors. This period (60's) drama is a history lesson (French abortion laws) which gives an excruciating but intimate personal journey into a world no girl should have to endure. It's film-making to make audiences squirm. And for a bloody good reason!

This event, or happening, powered into author Annie Ernaux's young life as a Rouen literature student in the early 60's. She became pregnant aged 23 and had no intention of going full term. An abortion was illegal in 1963. Aged 60, Annie wrote of the trial she endured. L'Evenement (published 2000) is the title of the short semi autobiographical novel (128 pp) Annie wrote. This film is the depiction of this life event. Ernaux, director Audrey Diwan and writer Marcia Romano collaborated with the brilliant Anamaria Vartolemei to create a film of rare intimacy. 

Weeks are marked off on screen. We are never in any doubt about the ticking clock that is Anne's pregnancy. Our admiration for her determined focus on her single objective, no matter one's personal moral views, is ongoing. Vartolemei encapsulates all the aesthetics a film of this power provides. We live with Anne through every intimate moment in HAPPENING. Anamaria never flinches with each confronting scene. It's a stunning performance. 

Finally, there are some significant male moments in HAPPENING. France, like most of society in the 60's was dominated by male influence. Two doctors, show compassion of conflicting sorts. Anne's father is loving but fades in the shadows of mother, Gabrielle's influence. Maxime (the fling that led to her pregnancy) has the maturity of many pampered young men of the time; he's an ally but not a help. Then there is Jean, a young man who becomes Anne's saviour. He thought he could truly help, so he did. 

NOWHERE SPECIAL, PIG, HIVE and HAPPENING, they tell personal, intimate stories about good, determined people who live life with great integrity. I feel privileged to have seen these films all within months of one another. 11GUMS.