Le Battement d'Ailes du Papillon (Happenstance) (The Beating of the Butterfly's Wings) (2000)

64% of critics liked it
(36 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(6,848 ratings)

After a series of short films, writer/director Laurent Firode made his feature-length debut with this tale of coincidence, chance, and fate inspired by a variation of the chaos theory, which supposes that if a butterfly beats its wings in one part of the world, it could theoretically cause a… More After a series of short films, writer/director Laurent Firode made his feature-length debut with this tale of coincidence, chance, and fate inspired by a variation of the chaos theory, which supposes that if a butterfly beats its wings in one part of the world, it could theoretically cause a full-fledged storm thousands of miles away. Firode applies this theory to a disparate group of Parisians, opening with a young retail worker, Irene (Audrey Tautou), reading her horoscope on the train to work one morning. At the store, Irene has to deal with an elderly woman (Francoise Bertin) who wants to return a broken coffeemaker; as if that weren't enough, the dissatisfied octogenarian consumer has to put up with her impudent grandson, Luc (Eric Feldman). Amidst all the seemingly unrelated human activities in the film, cockroaches, bird droppings, and changes in the weather all conspire to bring the characters together -- or drive them apart, as the case may be. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Laurent Firode
Written By: Laurent Firode
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 31, 2000 Wide
On DVD: May 21, 2002
Studio: Lot 47 Films

Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Discreet, delicate and humane: a sweet butterfly of a movie that beats up a cinematic windstorm of life.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
A mild but engaging romance, the charms of which come at you sideways.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
It strives mightily to convince us that the Chaos Theory rules us, yet everything in it feels preordained.
Ray Conlogue, Globe and Mail
The idea, after all, is that people don't have free will, and who wants to watch puppets, however adorable?
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
It's a delight to watch the plot unfold, and to become aware of how a small, random action by one person can impact the life of another.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
An utterly delightful fable of romantic destiny.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
A gimmicky yet remarkably spry and overall enjoyable tapestry about the 'random interconnectedness' of life in general and romance in particular.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
Each little action, as we see, causes something bigger to happen, resulting in not exactly a tidal wave, but a happy sense of cinematic pleasure.

Read all 8 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Spencer S

I didn't get the feel that Irene was a hopeless romantic, or believed in horoscopes, just that those circumstances where part of the story. It was sweet, and the characters were humorous.
Leigh R

Kinda funny and sweet.
Curtis L

Fun to see how it all ties in to itself. It's neat to think about how most of the people you come into contact with have contacts that affect you later and vise versa.