Review of the film Hanna

            In the forest, a hunter pursues her prey. She stalks and tracks movements using the bare trees and brush to hide her presence expertly. The male reindeer does not sense her until it is too late. An arrow slams into his chest and he is off, sprinting through the snowdrifts, but death is certain. The hunter follows, her stride assured and quick. The animal breaks out of the trees onto an ice field and eventually collapses. Drawing near, the hunter pulls her pistol and takes aim. We are somewhere near the Artic Circle where ice and snow prevail and silence is only broken by the shot entering the heart of the downed, wounded beast. “I just missed your heart.”

The problem with Hanna is not the journey the new film by Director Joe Wright (Atonement) takes its audience on, it is the fogginess of its destination. The action moves at a frenetic pace and when there is a lull in the action, which isn’t often, the story pops with beautiful scenery, people and dialogue. It leaves us gasping for more, except, there linger questions—why the rush and where are we being taken?

            These questions come, but the velocity at which the conflicts of the film are happening leave little time for ruminations. The frenzied camerawork of the cinematographer and thumping score by The Chemical Brothers make it hard to concentrate on anything other than the action occurring right before our eyes.

Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is 16 and has lived in the forest close to the Artic Circle for as long as memory serves her. She has been raised solely by her father (Eric Bana) with survival skills unusual to most—Hanna is an expert in martial arts and shooting, multilingual, and has a memory of general knowledge that would make an encyclopedia blush. Her father used to be an agent for the CIA but deserted his position long ago. He and Hanna are major persons of interest to many international organizations and especially to agent Marissa Weigler (Cate Blanchett) who has a bloody past with Hanna’s father and Hanna herself. There is a button that her father unearths connected to a tracking beacon that will allow Marissa to locate their position instantly. Hanna stares at the device for a long time, but we know she will eventually press the button—she is ready, dying, to see what will happen. So begins Hanna’s journey out into the world beyond the forest.

There are elements of fairytales here, Grimm’s to be precise—dark and bloody but also whimsical and beautiful. Hanna is a heroine in peril, not helpless pointedly, who must face many trials and obstacles both within and external. She is a young woman without a true sense of self, but through these tests outside of the forest she begins to realize what she is. The boundaries of her being are pushed and prodded, bringing with this knowledge both heartbreaking and events brutally final. However, we are left wondering about Hanna and her cast of characters long after the credits roll—for what purpose did the film go to so much trouble? What really did Hanna realize beyond the simple facts of her own origins and propensity for violence? Why does Hanna create such a character and the very beginnings of her true life only to snuff it out with a black screen?