SCENES OF THE CRIME BLOG-A-THON: Hanna

22nd January 2013

By Robert Mann.

If you were to think of director Joe Wright the films that would most likely come to mind would probably be British period dramas like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement or American biographical music drama The Soloist. It’s highly unlikely that you would think of a teen assassin thriller such as Hanna, a film that seems about as far removed from his previous works as one could possibly get. Yet this most unlikely of directors has taken on this most uncharacteristic of film projects and all the indications ahead of the film’s release are that, despite him seeming like a rather odd choice, he is also a very right one. The reason for his hiring as director is simple. According to Wright, he was specifically requested by star Saoirse Ronan, who had previously played one of the leading roles in Wright’s Atonement. It’s certainly quite a prestigious directorial job for him as before he came on board, the project – which has been in development since writer Seth Lochhead wrote the original story and script on spec while in the writing programme at Vancouver Film School back in 2006 and has been listed on the Black List, an annual list of the best unproduced screenplays of the year, in both 2006 and 2009 – having had such directors as Danny Boyle and Alfonso Cuarón attached to direct at some point in its development.

And, on its release in the states a month ago, the film received a generally positive response from critics, thus affirming that Wright was indeed the right man for the job. With Hanna being Lochhead’s first feature length script, his only previous work being the 2005 Canadian short One of Those Days or: How Do I Get a Mark on My Forehead, some may question whether or not he is truly up to the job of producing a script for a film of this magnitude but any worries can easily be allayed by the acclaim that has already been bestowed upon the completed film by everyone from Brian Casilio, the Vancouver Film School writing instructor who, six years ago, had been assigned to mentor the then student Lochhead in an assignment to develop his outline for a feature screenplay into a treatment and who knew upon first laying his eyes on Hanna that she was a beautiful thing, to the film critics that have granted the film a 71% fresh rating on online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Co-writer David Farr, who later made changes to his original script, meanwhile, is also making his feature debut with this film, his only previous writing credits being for seven episodes of BBC TV series Spooks, the kind of writing demonstrated in that series suggesting him to be very capable of doing this kind of film. Looking at the basic premise some may be quick to come to the conclusion that this is just a teenage version of the Bourne movies but Hanna really is so much more than that. Describing it as a harrowing action filled fairy-tale, Wright has actually admitted that the script, which was written by Lochhead after completing a backpacking trip around Europe, scared him and in Saoirse Ronan he has a leading actress who really definitely has the capability to translate this scariness to the screen, being someone who really can hold her own, her versatility having been demonstrated by her performances in such films as The Lovely Bones and The Way Back in addition to Atonement.

Not only that but he also has an impressive supporting cast with Ronan appearing alongside the likes of Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett. So, Joe Wright was scared by the script for Hanna and the response thus far has been generally positive but will you moviegoers also find the story to be unnerving and more importantly will you actually find the movie as a whole to be truly worthy of the positive acclaim it has been receiving?

At first glance, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) might just seem like an ordinary sixteen year old girl but her innocent appearance hides a dark and sinister secret. She has spent her entire life living in a remote forest in the wilds of Finland with her ex-CIA agent father Erik Heller (Eric Bana) and has been raised by him to become a stone cold killer. Her entire upbringing has been geared towards making her a deadly weapon to serve one purpose – kill Erik’s former CIA handler, corrupt agent Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), who years ago murdered Hanna’s mother – and the time to use her has finally arrived. Embarking on a well rehearsed plan to get to Marissa, Hanna allows herself to be captured by the CIA who then proceed to take her to a secret facility in Morocco.

There, Hanna encounters a woman claiming to be Marissa and she swiftly carries out her mission before fleeing the facility into the vast desert above. Little does Hanna realise though that the woman she killed was not actually Marissa but a body double and the real Marissa is now out to get her at any cost. While on the run through the desert, Hanna encounters the kindly Sebastian (Jason Flemyng) and Rachel (Olivia Williams), who are on holiday with their children Sophie (Jessica Barden) and Miles (Aldo Maland). Sebastian and Rachel take Hanna in, giving her the first taste of true childhood she has ever experienced and, despite Sophie thinking her to be a freak, she finds herself making the first and only friend she has ever had.

As Hanna is enjoying herself for the first time in her life, however, Marissa has hired sadistic gun for hire Isaacs (Tom Hollander) to capture her while she relentlessly tries to track down Erik, who, believing Marissa to be dead at Hanna’s hands, is heading to a rendezvous with his daughter. With Isaacs closing in on her, Hanna soon finds her state of temporary bliss threatened as her past puts those she now cares about in mortal danger. Going it alone once again, Hanna heads towards a fateful encounter with the woman she has been trained to kill and discovers some dark secrets about her own past that will change everything she has ever known about herself.

If you have been feeling starved by the lack of original offerings in cinemas lately, Hanna will definitely be a film that holds a lot of interest for you. While some of the themes that the film deals with perhaps tread slightly familiar territory, the overall product is without a doubt one of the most unique and original things to be seen on the big screen so far this year. If you’re expecting this film to be the latest American style action thriller you will be find that it will completely defy all your expectations as it is actually a very different breed of action thriller than you may be used to seeing, one that is truly bizarre and has a distinctly European feel to it, so much so that if often comes across more like a film made by Luc Besson than one directed by Joe Wright.

What sets it apart from the many other assassin themed thrillers out there? Well for starters, it is as much a drama about Hanna rediscovering her lost childhood as it is an action thriller about her mission to kill Marissa. These are two things that might not normally go together but here blend together perfectly, the contrasting aspects of the plot not conflicting with one another but rather making for one cohesive and effective whole as each aspect is seamlessly intertwined with the other. And the film delivers brilliantly in both aspects. As an action thriller, it delivers a number of superbly staged raw and edgy action sequences that are stylish and different with excellent and sometimes imaginative cinematography frequently providing a unique and refreshing perspective on the action. The action proves exciting and thrilling and the sequences are really enhanced by the pumping soundtrack provided by British electronic duo The Chemical Brothers, their off kilter music score perfectly complementing the film’s bizarre look and feel, not only in the action sequences but also in the slower more character orientated scenes. Many of the sequences are very loud and work fantastically for it but Joe Wright achieves some just as effective results through scenes of calm silence.

For instance, the film’s deceptively calm opening gives way to a display of Hanna’s hunting skills in which she makes the hunt look like a picnic in the park – the barren snow and ice covered forest of the opening scenes making for a suitably frosty and remote setting for the hunt – and on more than one occasion a still silence is abruptly ended by the loud sound of a gun firing, sound being put to great use throughout this film, whether it is the sound of things that are actually happening within the film or the fantastic musical accompaniment that really kicks the film into a higher gear. The film also delivers excellently as a drama, Hanna’s personal emotional journey being every bit as interesting as her mission and all the action that comes with it. While, when she is dispatching those who stand in her way, she often comes across as a cold and merciless killer – a character who, if anything, we are to be terrified of – in the scenes that explore her attempts to rediscover her long lost childhood, we see that deep down she is just a child and one who wants to live a normal life free of the violence that has been thrust upon them her entire life. In these scenes she is a very warm and sympathetic character and one that many may really be able to relate to on some level.

After all, we live in a day and age where children are routinely encouraged to grow up far too quickly and as a result often miss out on truly experiencing what it means to be a child. With this, whether intentional or not, the film features a certain subtext, one that is surprisingly pertinent to the real world, particularly considering how rife violence is in the media and thus how much today’s children are exposed to it on a day by day basis. There is real beauty to be found in the journey that Hanna undertakes as well and for every scene in the film that proves unsettling or terrifying there is another that proves sweet and almost enchanting.

The success of all of this can of course partly be attributed to Seth Lochhead’s script which really is hard to find fault with. For starters, the complicated storyline which unfolds as the film progresses – at first we know that Hanna is being trained for something but not precisely what she is being trained for and why, these things being revealed piece by piece as the film progresses – has a perfect narrative flow and constantly holds the attention, little that happens on screen failing to be interesting or engaging. The plot also provides some major food for thought, dealing with some very poignant issues that may inspire debate and conversation some time after the film has ended and you have left the cinema.

Just as importantly, the dialogue and character development are pretty much spot on too, the conversation on screen ringing authentic and really grabbing the attention – as well as proving occasionally funny, the film delivering a number of moments of light relief, often courtesy of Jason Flemyng and Olivia Williams’ hippie parents – while a whole host of bizarre and colourful characters fill out the plot, each one very well developed with plenty of depth. These things give the cast a lot of great material to work with and, from them, come a succession of great performances, each one better than the last. As Hanna’s ‘father’, a man who brings new meaning to the term tough love, Eric Bana delivers a very intense performance but one that doesn’t overshadow the other performances, his character often being more like a background figure than a major player.

Jason Flemyng and Olivia Williams provide some great light relief as the hippie-like parents who Hanna encounters, while Jessica Barden, playing their complete opposite daughter who values materialism and is obsessed with celebrities, also proves very amusing. Not only does Cate Blanchett nail her character’s broad American accent but she is unwaveringly convincing as a cold and threatening personality, someone you definitely wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of, making her character’s obsession with cleaning her teeth seem positively menacing and putting on an almost sadistic smile that makes us believe that her character really enjoys what she is doing. As the other main baddie of the piece, Tom Hollander delivers a real scene stealing turn through his completely unrecognisable turn as an extremely twisted and very quintessentially European mercenary, the way he whistles a simple, seemingly unthreatening tune, conveying a sense of pure evil subtly but effectively, creating a far greater sense of menace than the most over the top performances could ever do. The real star, however, is of course Saoirse Ronan.

Not only does she handle the action superbly but she shows great versatility in her performance, flawlessly balancing the two sides of her character’s personality, as a calm and longing child, being incredibly sweet and innocent, while, as an unstoppable killer, she is subtly threatening, conveying a look of someone who could effortlessly kill everyone in just one cold gaze. Everything about her performance is note perfect and she makes easy work of carrying the film, not that she needs to do it alone with all the other great performances on display here. Of course, mention must also go to Joe Wright who has played an essential role in making this film what it is. His direction, as well as his collaborations with everyone else involved in making the film, has crafted something truly original and something that is also very good too. Finishing on a somewhat similar note to that that it starts on, Hanna is a film that is hugely enjoyable, genuinely moving and significantly poignant in equal measure. If you want true originality from a film you will find it here and you find so much more as well.

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