I'll also join the chorus. I tragically missed the first few minutes, something I hate to do as it throws off the rhythm of the entire film, but the film remained strong in spite of this setback and before long it had me transfixed. I'd contribute to the praise of the film, but mostly I'd be repeating everyone else: the sophisticated mise-en-scene, the intelligence of the sound design, the score, etc.
I definitely liked the fairy tale dimension of the film, something which was present throughout but never overplayed. It's incorporated so deeply into the film and its modern setting that for the most part it manifests primarily in the tone of the film. Only occasionally does it take on more obvious manifestations, like the "witch is dead" postcard, the forest setting, and the theme park finale. The result is a film which feels both contemporary and archetypal -- like the reinvention of the fairy tale rather than a clumsy allusion (the way I tend to regard the use of Pinocchio in
AI). It also situates the improbabilities of the action genre in a framework which accepts improbability with open arms, making such flights of fancy organic and meaningful. I'm also fascinated by the implications of FerdinandGriffon's reading, although I'm afraid I can't contribute much to what he said.
While I wouldn't argue that the plot is pretty thin, I don't see it as much of a problem. We get only a vague idea of why Hanna exists and what happened in the past, really no more of an understanding than Hanna herself has. In fact, I would have preferred it if they cut a few of the perfunctory explanations they provided, which do little to help the plot and which weaken the film's more enigmatic qualities.
My primary criticism is that the film's technical prowess feels uneven, with some shots or even whole scenes getting phoned in. This particularly stood out in some of the action scenes: while many made excellent use of cohesive editing and long take choreography, others felt more rushed and jumbled. They surpassed most flurried action movies we see nowadays, but by comparison they looked weak and incoherent. Mostly these sprung up toward the end of the film. I actually really liked the most disorienting scene, her escaping from the underground facility, which deliberately plays upon this confusion to place us into an incomprehensible, fractured, frantic landscape.
Also, while I agree that
Hanna is less derivative, I don't think for a moment that
The American is trying to emulate an action film.
I loved the establishing shot in the sequence where the family that Hanna befriends is being questioned and everyone is set up in an individual shipping container staged like a diorama. That would have been a throwaway shot in most films.
God, yes! Absolutely stunning. I don't have much to add, but it bears repeating.
I'd just like to mention that I've long been interested in the idea of an arthouse action film, as Domino called it earlier. I suppose the idea first occurred to me when I watched films like Franju's
Judex and Lang's
Ministry of Fear, which transform the traits of dime-store pulp into poetry and atmosphere. I thought, why couldn't the same be done with other undervalued genres? It seemed to me that the action genre was a rich strain which remained largely unexplored, at least in this context. One could draft a script with a plot like any action movie; the plot is beside the point. But one shapes the story to permit for an exploration of the genre, writing in settings and circumstances ideal for compelling set pieces. Granted, plenty of films already have this in mind, but they seldom if ever push the boundaries and explore the pure visual/aural potential of the material that the action genre provides. Think something almost avant-garde in its singularity, but which doesn't seem out of place in its context, like the funhouse in
The Lady from Shanghai.
Hanna is the first film I've seen to try anything like this. Plenty of action movies have their moments and their beauty, but one almost never sees self-consciously artistic approaches to the material except in the form of parody.
Hanna maintains these unique qualities throughout its running time, marries them to the unexpectedly appropriate style of fairy tales, and builds a film which derives its power and tone from those qualities unique to the action film. It does this with more restraint than I would (which suits the film, though it leaves whole reservoirs of potential untapped). It's also deeply invested in its characters and, to a lesser extent, its story. Still, it strikes me as an execution of the same principle I had in mind, and I think it excels at what it's trying to do.
One question, though: As I said, I missed the beginning of the film, so I was wondering about something. At the end of the film Hanna sees a deer in the wolf tunnel in the theme park. It seemed likely that deer appearances book-ended the film, with one at the very beginning. After all, she's living in a forest and there's mention later of her having killed a deer. Is my assumption correct? I appreciate anyone who can give me some insight into what I missed.