71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (2005) Plot Summary Explained

The college student's breakdown is triggered by a combination of frustrations: he's low on cash after finding the ATM out of order, he's in a crowded bank with a long line, and when he tries to jump ahead, another customer aggressively confronts him. These mounting pressures cause him to snap. He retrieves a gun he had previously won in a bet (a stolen pistol) from his car and returns to commit the shooting before taking his own life.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the student stakes his watch against a stolen pistol during a game with friends, establishing his access to a weapon.

• college student
• bank shooting
• gun
• violence
• trigger

The characters are connected through chance encounters and proximity on the day of the shooting. The Romanian boy, taken in by an adoptive couple, is left in their car outside a bank where the retired man has come to visit his daughter who works there. The college student, frustrated by the out-of-order ATM, enters the same bank. Their convergence creates the tragic circumstances where the shooting claims multiple lives including the retired man's daughter.

Foreshadowing: The intertitles at the start reveal the mass killing, hinting that these separate storylines will catastrophically intersect.

• Vienna
• characters
• connection
• bank
• intersection

After the Romanian boy's story gains media attention, a married couple looking to adopt him takes him in. On the day of the tragedy, the wife leaves him in the car outside the bank while she runs errands. The boy's fate during the shooting is not explicitly shown, but he is present at the location when violence erupts.

Foreshadowing: The couple's adoption storyline builds throughout the film, creating hope that is shattered when they bring the boy to the site of the massacre.

• Romanian boy
• adoption
• Vienna
• street life

The film uses a non-linear structure that begins with intertitles describing the mass killing, then unfolds through flashbacks showing the events leading up to it. This approach creates a sense of fatalism and impending doom, turning the entire viewing experience into an examination of how chance circumstances converge to produce tragedy. The audience knows the outcome from the start, which shifts focus from what happens to how and why it happens.

Foreshadowing: The opening establishes the dark, inevitable tone that pervades the entire narrative.

• opening
• structure
• intertitles
• non-linear
• flashback

The retired man visits the bank primarily to see his daughter, who works there. He initially pretends to collect his pension, but his real motivation is connecting with his daughter, who is too busy with work to give him attention. His presence at the bank places him directly in the path of the tragedy.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show his loneliness and his daughter's neglect, establishing why he seeks her out at her workplace.

• retired man
• daughter
• bank
• loneliness

The college student stops for gas and finds the ATM out of order, leaving him low on cash. This simple mechanical failure sets off a chain of frustrations. When he enters the crowded bank, his impatience grows as he waits in line, and his confrontation with another customer about cutting ahead becomes the final trigger that leads him to retrieve the gun from his car.

Foreshadowing: The ATM malfunction is presented as a minor inconvenience that escalates into catastrophic consequences.

• ATM
• frustration
• cash
• bank
• escalation

The gun the student uses is a stolen pistol that he wins in a bet during a game with friends. During one round of gambling, he stakes his watch against the pistol, demonstrating the reckless youth culture and the normalization of violence among his peer group. This establishes that he has easy access to a weapon.

Foreshadowing: The game night scene explicitly shows the student acquiring the pistol through gambling.

• pistol
• stolen
• bet
• game
• weapon

The married couple in the film is trying to adopt a young girl, representing their desire for family and parenthood. Their struggle to adopt highlights themes of hope and social challenges. When they take in the Romanian boy after his story receives media attention, it appears they may have shifted their adoption efforts toward him, giving the boy a chance at a better life before tragedy strikes.

Foreshadowing: Their adoption storyline runs parallel to the main narrative, offering a brief glimmer of hope that is ultimately overshadowed by the violence.

• adoption
• couple
• family
• Romanian boy

The student is not portrayed with a clear political or personal ideological motive. His actions appear to be an impulsive, desperate reaction to accumulated stress and frustration rather than a planned attack. The film presents him as a young man overwhelmed by daily irritations, financial stress, social confrontation, and emotional isolation, who channels his rage into violent action. The randomness of his victims underscores the senseless nature of the tragedy.

Foreshadowing: The film offers no explicit warning signs, making the violence feel even more random and shocking.

• motive
• frustration
• impulse
• senseless violence

The security worker performs routine pickups at a bank but is depicted separately from the main tragedy. His storyline illustrates the everyday struggles of ordinary people, marital tension, financial stress, and the search for solace through prayer. While present in the bank's environment, he is not directly involved in the shooting itself, representing another threads of urban life intersecting with the central event.

Foreshadowing: His routine bank work establishes the setting but doesn't directly connect to the shooting.

• security worker
• bank
• tension
• prayer
• marriage