Hanna
Regal Union Square Stadium 14, April 12, 2011
Movie #22 for 2011
When I think about director JOE WRIGHT I remember how much I loved Atonement and always seem to blank out how myeh I found The Soloist.
SAOIRSE RONAN (Atonement, The Lovely Bones) is Hanna, a young girl (I think she’s supposed to be seventeen, but she looks about twelve) trained by her father ERIC BANA in snow-covered isolation to be an assassin. When she’s ready, she takes on the intelligence operative big gun (CATE BLANCHETT) who forced them into hiding. Along the way, Hanna meets a family caravanning across Europe and starts to make her first human connections.
Although I liked the idea behind Hanna and how it turns revenge/espionage thriller gender roles all about, a lot of the world of the film didn’t make sense to me. Almost like the creative team were determined to make something so far removed from traditional revenge/action films that they got all turned about. The writing, direction and editing are uneven - sometimes really great and sometimes bewildering. In the hands of lesser actors these characters would have been so very, very painful rater than merely confusing.
Much of the direction seemed hinged on the soundtrack from the Chemical Brothers - so much so that it starts to feel like a string of music videos. And although clever foley sound and lighting are used effectively to begin with, they’re quickly overdone. (Over)using a full arsenal of filmic tricks, Wright created a highly stylised aesthetic that is stylish, certainly, but also alienatingly myeh.
