Big Screen Peter: Hanna

Editor’s note: Peter Lewis has agreed to use whatever it is you call his writing style to provide some measure of analysis to those folks who still go to a theater to see a movie.

review by Peter Lewis

From the outset, with its unnervingly beautiful opening sequence followed by the garish, New Wave title shot, there’s a shaky, dystopian flare throughout “Hanna.”

This unreality is masterfully brought to the fore not only by Joe Wright’s direction, but by the eery score by The Chemical Brothers.

The film follows Saoirse Ronan as Hanna, a peculiarly gifted teenager raised in the far reaches of Finland by her father, Erik Heller. Sequestered in this forest preserve for her own safety, Hanna lives a spartan existence.

The audience, like Hanna herself, knows only that Marissa Viegler, a CIA Operative played by Cate Blanchett, wants her dead. As a result, all pastimes are utilitarian and every daily act is suffused with a foreboding dread, as Erik constantly reminds Hanna of her precarious position in this world. Sooner or later, Hanna will have to look out for herself.

While Hanna is nominally aware of her situation, her existence still features moments of aspiration. She daydreams, about music — something she’s never heard in her life — her mother, fairy tales and more. And if there is something beyond reproach in this film, it’s the way with which this duality between innocence and cold, detached cynicism is handled.

As the film moves forward, the audience, much like the titular character, is continually subjected to a back and forth between blissful moments of tranquility and abrasive disorientation that perfectly encompasses this unnatural experience.

On the surface, Hanna is really a pastiche, mixing (obvious) thematic elements from classic films like “The Bourne Identity” and “The Professional” (or perhaps even “Kick-Ass,” depending on your take). Yet, it is still a compelling thriller.

It is certainly held together by the musical orchestration and Wright’s direction, but what further separates it from a mixed-homage is the titular performance by the young actress Saoirse Ronan. After her show-stopping turn as the snotty Briony in “Atonement,” her success as an otherwise unimposing tactical assassin is nothing short of amazing.  Her shocked visage and radiantly white locks grant her an inexplicable accessibility that is not only compelling, but particularly suited for a character that is indeed an odd twist on the tabula rasa concept.

In a few scenes the audience glimpses Hanna’s fascination with The Brother’s Grimm.  Her own story is not far from that mark. As the final scene unfolds, it becomes obvious that more than anything else, Hanna is a fairy tale. Not the white-washed, Disney concept, but the truer, grittier old-world tales that didn’t shy away from conflict, death and tragedy. These compelling stories were tangible, purposeful examples of the dangers the world held. They were part of the process of patiently transforming guileless youths into discerning adults.

And like parents for generations prior, Erik tried to prepare Hanna for what would come as best he could. At one point in the film, Marissa asks him “Why now?” He responded simply, “Children grow up.” He understood that, sooner or later, children must find their own way through the world. And at some point parents always become spectators in that process, just hoping the child might find a safe path.

By blending the sublime and surreal to such great effect, “Hanna” turned out much better than expected, in more ways than one.

• Hanna is playing at the Carmike 14 and the Malco Cinema 12 in Fort Smith, and the Malco Van Buren Cinema. Link here for time and ticket info.

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