Review - Hanna (2011 - Dir. Joe Wright)

I doubt that Hanna is an obscure film at the moment, but it will be in a few years time. I usually really struggle to write film reviews, but in the case of Hanna there is just so much to say and speculate about. For a relatively mainstream release it's just so strange.

The whole thing has the feel of a gritty East German drama, but then has elements of commercial science fiction and a sniff of those pretentious films they show on the Sky Arts Channel. The German actors use a trademark deadpan delivery with absolutely no sense of humour and the American/British actors follow suite and attempt to act in a German style. Despite the straight delivery there are some really funny moments.

The story is an essentially weak version of the plot of X-Files Season 9, but weirdly they cast a Scully look-a-like as the uber-villain (Cate Blanchett). An Evil Scully sounds like an attractive prospect, but like everything in Hanna it ends up really weird, with Scully talking in a false southern drawl and charging about like some deranged storm-trooper. Bizarrely, Scully recruits a sweaty football hooligan type and a gang of authentic eighties style skinheads to help her chase Hanna across Europe and North Africa for no apparent reason other than the fact that skinheads always make good bad guys.

Hanna looks bemused throughout and I'm not sure Saoirse Ronan was acting or whether she was actually bemused. To be fair, she'd never left the forest for her whole life so she has every right to feel a little confused at the goings on around her. I could go on all day, but to summarise the other highlights; the British family are pure quality, there's some Crouching Tiger kung fu action done in an Eastern Euro style, the Chemical Brothers' soundtrack, Hanna's date with the Spanish boy, the fact that she just appears in places with no explanation and some arty camera effects which evlkeith will hate. And best of all, there's lots and lots of Heike Drechsler style running from virtually everyone on the cast.

Confused? You probably won't be much wiser after you've watched the film, but it's easily my favourite film of the year, possibly for all the wrong reasons.

7/10

Doccortex

If you like this you could also try:
Essential Killing, Crying Freeman, Sanctuary, Leon.