You might be wondering why you’re seeing film reviews suddenly pop up on the AU review… well, ultimately it’s because of this film.
When Hanna was announced as the opening night gala of the 2011 Sydney Film Festival, a film which The Chemical Brothers scored, it dawned on me that there was a whole world of music we weren’t covering on the website: movie soundtracks. So every now and then you might just see a review pop up for a film that has a well known musician attached to it. Trent Reznor doing the soundtrack for Girl With a Dragon Tattoo? You can bet you’ll read about it here.
But the review won’t be just about the music, we’ll be reviewing the overall film – just giving as much precedence to the music itself as possible. OK, so now that this little piece of explanation is out of the way, let’s get to the film.
Hanna is a stylistically impressive action film directed by Joe Wright (Atonement). It follows the exploits of young Hanna (Saoirse Ronan, also known for her work in Atonement), who has been trained as an assassin by her father (Eric Bana), restrained in years of isolation. The reasons are unclear, but unravel themselves as the movie progresses – put simply: this girl has been given a pretty raw deal. We do find out her main objective early on, however: She must, for her father, kill Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). Why? Well even Hanna doesn’t know this part… she seems to know little more than the audience for the most part. And we do know little.
The way the film is structured seems to work against the film. We aren’t afforded the opportunity to become affectionate with the characters, because the by the time we find out the sort of information we need to make that connection, the moment has passed.
I suppose there’s more to it than that though… while the nature of violence being perpetrated by a 15 year old certainly makes for an entertaining watch, you’re always going to have to keep a certain level of distance from the character in order to accept it. Likewise, this inhibited the filmmakers from being as violent or profound as they may have been with an older character… well, so long as they wanted to avoid a R rating in America. Not that it was without its mature themes, of course… it was just no Leon: The Professional. Probably would have made little difference in the end, but I’m sure an UNCUT version will make the light of day at some point… I’ll let you know then!
The soundtrack is one of the strongest parts of the film. The Chemical Brothers truly deliver here, with the sort of stylisation rarely achieved in action films. Though it evokes similar sentiments, this is far from your average Hollywood score. The Chemical Brothers have masterfully toyed with the aural landscape to emphasise not only the intrigue and action, but the very style of the film as well.
Of particular mention are “The Devil Is In The Beats”, which you can find in the credits of the film – as well as during the club scene – and “Container Park”. You can listen to both below.
The cinematography and editing are also top notch: this is a film which looks as good as it sounds. Much like in Atonement, Wright shows himself off as a man who pays a great deal of attention to detail. During the films denouement, which takes place in an abandoned fairy tale theme park, I couldn’t help but think “what a cool set!” Let me just say it’s very rare for me to think anything like that in a film.
With help from The Chemical Brothers, Joe Wright (who helped form the company who do the visuals for The Chemical Brothers’ live shows) takes his audience on one hell of a ride. By the time it ends you don’t really feel like anything has been lost or gained from the experience, but you’ve certainly had a great time on the journey.
Review Score: 7/10
Hanna is released nationally on 28th July 2011.
