It’s been a while since I’ve felt compelled to blog, however this film has knocked me off guard and captured me.
Before going to watch Hanna all I knew is that it had Cate Blanchett in it and music by ‘the chemical brothers’ which as it turns out was the best set up. I had not seen any trailers, I had no idea what the film was going to be like. As it turns out, glorious!
This review is going to be entirely spoiler free as always with these types of finds, I feel that the film should be seen by anyone who is interested.
The basic premise is this, A young girl named Hanna is trained by her father at survival skills and in combat. We later learn he is a spy or an agent of some sort caught up in a plot that endangers both his and his daughter’s life. He then sends his daughter on a mission to save them both.
On the surface this might not appear to be very interesting but it’s the atmosphere of the film. The shooting style of the director, the desperate situations, the bewitching scenery, and most of all the soundtrack. I found that the soundtrack made the film so engrossing, every note played for atmosphere perfectly in synch with the timing of the events, woven intricately during the softer scenes and played harshly to compliment the action sequences. To the very end a masterpiece.
From one high point to another, the acting . I feel the film was cast wonderfully right from the leading actresses down to each side character. In particular Saoirse Ronan for being convincing as a 16-year-old killer, I can’t really think of any young actresses that could pull of this part as well as she did in this film. I’d say it was a flawless performance!
Camera work, oh boy, the camera work. Transitional shots, 360 degree rotation shots, shakey cam, point of view shots. Usually I’d class a mixture of these things as being a total nightmare but it’s handled so well in this film. Moments of stress are accentuated and the mixture of these camera effects leads to an overall sense of unease and claustrophobia which just further adds to the intense atmosphere of the film as a whole.
So in summation. Brilliant acting, amazing direction and a superb soundtrack all add up to make one of the few films I’ve seen in a very long time to have such a deep and profound impact upon me since ‘Let me in’.
This is Pudding signing off and saying ‘I just missed your heart.’
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Tags: film
