Happenstance (2000)

Happenstance:

A French movie that uses the concepts of the butterfly effect to explain and chart the course of a set of different people as their actions have deep rooted effects on the strangers around them. This is like one of those Hollywood movies with a large cast that never meets but brushes through each other in subtle ways (’Magnolia’, ’Traffic’ etc). The problem with ’Happenstance’ is that it just too self aware about what it is trying to be, afterall it is the director telling and not the viewer realising what is happening, which makes this a weak technique.

Other such movies are usually about a certain more relevant subject matter (’Traffic’ is about drug trafficking, ’Crash’ about racism and immigrants etc), while ’Happenstance’ is a about nothing more than how people effect others without actually meeting or knowing them. Audrey Tautou’s presence here also means its cute and there is a love story about her meeting a stranger, but this is stronger as concept rather than a successful execution.

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