Mubi Monday: Happening (2021)

Based on a 2000 novel by Annie Ernaux, and set in 1960s France, this is a film that takes viewers back to a time when women found themselves struggling to access the option of abortion after falling pregnant during the wrong time of their life. Good job that is an old-fashioned and harmful scenario that has been consigned to the dustbin of history, eh. 

I am, of course, being a bit facetious. I decided to watch this film now because of the recent events that have unfolded int he USA, but that country isn’t the only one that seems determined to stop women from having a choice in what happens to their own bodies. There are many other countries that make it difficult, including some that are hypocritically criticising the USA right now.

Anyway, let’s get to the film itself. Anamaria Vartolomei plays Anne, a young woman who finds out that she’s pregnant. That isn’t what she wants, because it could affect her studies, and subsequently affect the rest of her life. But finding anyone to help her proves to be very difficult, especially with the legal penalties that could punish any medical professional for even hinting at abortion as an option.

Directed by Audrey Diwan, who also helped adapt the source material with a few others (including Marcia Romano as her main co-writer), this is a drama with a strong point to make, and it features at least two scenes that will make many viewers wince, especially female viewers. While those scenes feel shocking, they also feel sad and disturbing because of the circumstances surrounding them. Nothing is here JUST for shock value. It’s all showing the desperation and difficulty of a pained young woman seeing people around her close off options that will allow her to reclaim her life as her own.

There are many other people involved in this cast, and all do a good job, but the focus remains firmly on Anne, which rests the entire movie on the young shoulders of Vartolomei. So it’s a good job that Vartolomei is so great as the lead character, being presented as an absolutely normal and “non-special” woman who tries to keep herself balanced while her world whirls and tilts around her. She is, deliberately or not (and I think it is deliberate), almost a blank page for others to project things on to, someone who is defined by one moment that creates a chain reaction that may be impossible to stop. She is one woman, she is all women, although I am very well aware that there are many others who would have an even tougher time if pregnant and aiming to regain bodily autonomy and control over their own destiny. But there are still enough moments of massively depressing familiarity here for anyone who has ever felt their world shrinking around them as they stretched out to find life-saving assistance from anyone nearby.

Maybe more of a lesson than a full movie experience, Happening is no less worthwhile because of how it is presented. In fact, it’s arguably more worthwhile, it’s a film that has standard moments of drama to simply string everything along in between the moments that it’s really designed to showcase.

I’m not sure if this will work for anyone who has a very strong “pro-life” stance, but you should try to get them to watch it anyway. Because we need to keep trying to convince people to care about human lives post-birth as much as they care about fetuses that they somehow imagine wearing little hats and booties.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)

I approached Portrait Of A Lady On Fire with no small amount of trepidation. Nothing to do with what could or couldn't be in the film (I actually had no idea), but more to do with the overwhelming praise it had already received from all corners. That sometimes sets you up for a disaster. What if you like it, but don't love it? What if you don't like it? Everyone should form their own opinions about art, but when your opinion is contrary to that of almost everyone else it can lead to some creeping insecurity about your own perception and filters.

I can breathe a sigh of relief now, because Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is very good indeed. Phew. I might still get into some interesting conversations, however, as I couldn't see how it garnered QUITE the level of praise that has been heaped upon it.

Written and directed by Céline Sciamma (I have previously enjoyed Tomboy, although others have found that one a bit problematic), the film tells the story of a young painter (Marianne, played by Noémie Merlant) tasked with painting the portrait of a young woman (Héloïse, played by Adèle Haenel) who is due to be married to a gentleman from Milan. Héloïse has previously refused to be painted, she really isn't keen on the marriage that has been arranged for her, something set up rather hastily after the death of her older sister, and that means Marianne has to observe her subject more closely, pretending to be a companion as she observes everything that she hopes she can then use to create the portrait. She is helped in her scheme by Sophie (Luàna Bajrami), a young maid who seems happy to help, especially as the artist and unwitting subject spend more time together and form a stronger connection.

There's certainly plenty to enjoy here, with the lead performances being right at the top of that list. Both Merlant (destined to be played by Emma Watson in any English-language remake, surely) and Haenel doing superb work with a script that conveys more with the silent moments than it does with the actual dialogue. Bajrami is equally good, and her small role is expanded for a couple of important and interesting scenes, and I was pleased to recognise Valeria Golino in a strong supporting role, playing the Countess/mother of Héloïse.

Sciamma has a great eye, composing many of the scenes in a way fitting for a film about an artist striving to create a piece that would become her most important work. A recurring vision is particularly striking, and shown again towards the end in a context that shows how things were being foreshadowed, and the film often feels as if it is made up of firelight and shadows (one of the main posters even takes a frame from one specific moment that does this best).

Thematically, this is surprisingly simple stuff. The other things that are mixed into the plot (appreciation of great art, the sub-plot involving the maid) easily fade into the background when the focus returns to the central relationship between Marianne and Héloïse, and the love that blossoms between them. Which again puts most of the success of the film on the shoulders of the leads.

Beautifully shot and put together, perfectly cast, and fairly flawless throughout, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire deserves your time and attention. The only thing going against it is the fact that it feels a bit too much like a trip through well-trod territory for most of the runtime.

8/10