Happenstance (2000)
"Le battement d'ailes du papillon" (original title)

How, thanks to what's known as the "Butterfly theory" (a random series of unlinked events), can a young woman and a young man meet ?

Director:

Laurent Firode

Writer:

Laurent Firode

Stars:

Audrey Tautou, Faudel, Eric Savin

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Audrey Tautou	...	Irène
Faudel	...	Younès
Eric Savin	...	Richard
Nathalie Besançon	...	Marie
Lysiane Meis	...	Elsa
Irène Ismaïloff	...	Stéphanie
Eric Feldman	...	Luc
Frédéric Bouraly	...	Bobby
Franck Bussi	...	The Waiter from the Philosophic Cafe
Marina Tomé	...	Julie
Félicité Wouassi	...	The Vigilant
Antoine Coesens	...	The Clochard
Saïd Serrari	...	The Pickpocket
Lily Boulogne	...	Luc's Mother (as Lili Boulogne)
Gilbert Robin	...	The Destiny Man

Storyline

Chance, volition, and the large effects of tiny causes swirl through Paris on a single day. A clerk born 11 March 1977 hears her horoscope on the way to work: today she'll meet her true love, but she must be patient. Before the day ends under a full moon, twenty lives intersect time and again in unpredictable, connected ways: a jilted lover holds a souvenir pebble, a stolen coffee maker looks suspicious at a Metro stop, a yellow rain slicker is passed on as a gift, lettuce causes a bicycle accident, a leaf betrays an habitual liar who's just told the truth, and an Algerian waiter, also born 11 March 1977, sees a bug cross a tablecloth. Magical sand from the Sahara is in the air.

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Plot Keywords:

rain | love | coffee | coffee maker | waiter | 

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Taglines:

Merde happens.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Lot 47 Films [us]

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

21 June 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

Happenstance

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films des Tournelles, Les Films en Hiver, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 97 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original French title translates as "the flapping of a butterfly's wings". In Hong Kong it was titled Amelie 2, to capitalise on the success of Audrey Tautou's breakout movie Amélie. Although Happenstance predates Amelie by a year, the two were released in reverse order in most non-French markets.

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Quotes

The Destiny Man: You see, every detail, every gesture, as slight as it may be, reveals an infinity of truths and thus has an endless repercussion and grandiose effects.

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Connections

References Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

User Reviews

This jewel of a film really shines

The fluttering of butterfly wings in the Atlantic can unleash a hurricane in the Pacific. According to this theory (somehow related to the Chaos Theory, I'm not sure exactly how), every action, no matter how small or insignificant, will start a chain reaction that can lead to big events. This small jewel of a film shows us a series of seemingly-unrelated characters, most of them in Paris, whose actions will affect each others' lives. (The six-degrees-of-separation theory can be applied as well.) Each story is a facet of the jewel that is this film. The acting is finely-tuned and nuanced (Audrey Tautou is luminous), the stories mesh plausibly, the humor is just right, and the viewer leaves the theatre nodding in agreement.