Released: April 8th,
2011
Rated: PG-13
Distributor: Focus Features
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett,
Tom Hollander
Directed by: Joe Wright
Written by: Seth Lochhead, David Farr
Personal Bias Alert: big Saoirse Ronan fan, likes electronic music
7.8 of 10
The
fairy tale element runs strong in this one.
You wouldn’t expect that if you saw any of Hanna’s print advertisements, and even the trailer quickly abandons
the idea after a mystical opening. It’s
much easier to sell action, people understand that quickly, than to try and
explain Hanna’s arthouse blend of
coming-of-age drama and science fiction thrills.
The
screenplay, which appeared twice on the Black List (an annual list of the best
unproduced screenplays in Hollywood), is the kind of dense, ambitious piece
that gets kicked around for years before finding the right combination of star
and director to get a green light.
Saoirse Ronan signing on as the waif-like assassin got the ball rolling,
and her recommendation of Joe Wright, who previously directed her to an Oscar
nomination in Atonement, got the film
a healthy enough budget to see out its off-kilter vision.
Wright is well-known
for his prominent visual style, and he throws everything he can at the
fantastical story of a young girl fighting to escape the clutches of the CIA. He plays with lighting simply for the awe
factor (see the incredible escape scene early in the film), and employs his
trademark tracking shots on several occasions.
Wright isn’t an action movie director by trade, and it shows in how
unconventionally he presents these sequences.
All of them work and are made more engrossing by their originality,
eschewing the hip, quick-cutting jerkiness of most modern action in favor of
meticulously choreographed, long fights.
The other odd element
of these action scenes, namely that a young girl continuously bests grown men
in hand-to-hand combat, is an overt nod to its fairy tale aspirations, but a
closer look reveals that the action itself is only a B-plot to a more
traditional fable. Hanna is primarily a tale about growing into the adult world, where
you make bonds and encounter complications that leave you bewildered and
overwhelmed. Ronan as the titular
character is perfectly cast, with a body not yet sprung into a woman’s but with
a face that can encapsulate the pain and the joy of being alive. Her performances have long exceed her years,
and this may be the best of her childhood work.
All these elements
make for a rather fascinating film, but not an even one. At times, the fairy tale elements overpowers everything
else, and anyone craving a solid explanation for what exactly is going on will
likely be disappointed. Hanna is a piece that’s content with indulgence. Some have labeled this as pretention, but don’t
mistake Hanna’s grasping reach for a
film that lacks goals.
Anyone who has seen Hanna is likely wondering when I will get
to the film’s score, because it’s a prominent, make-or-break component. Done by the electronic dance duo The Chemical
Brothers, it blends the film’s elements into kookily loud beats, driving the
action forward and carrying much of the weight when it comes to keeping the
fairy tale-feel front and center. The
most prominent song, The Devil is in the Details, is even hummed by a character
throughout, and this inescapability is what makes it so divisive. It’s a bold score, to say the least, and some
people will just never be into electronic beats. No matter your personal taste, what’s undeniable
is how complimentary it is to the film’s ambitions.
Hanna
is
a film that puts itself out there, and because of that has attracted some
strong sentiments. However, its supporters
haven’t coalesced into a singular fandom, and without a strong cult status, it’s
likely to become forgotten.
Other
Notes:
Ø I
didn’t even mention how awesome Erica Bana, Cate Blanchett, and Tom Hollander
are.
Ø Speaking
of Hollander, he has quite a knack for playing characters that subtly unsettle
you.
Ø “Did
she turn out as you hoped?” “Better.”
