Hannah (2017) Reviews

• When do you realise guilt?

  icekube-550692018-07-10

  Hannah is a woman well beyond her prime. She partakes in an avant garde drama class. She works as a house maid to a rich, probably, Parisian family's household. With a, maybe, stay-at-home wife and a blind young son. Back in her apartment, Hannah cooks dinner for herself and her husband. Fish. She and her husband dines before the TV. A sordid little apartment suitable for two sordid little people. A scruffy dog. Last dinner, it turns out! Next day, the couple drives to a prison and the husband is admitted. For what crime we're never told. Hannah keeps working, keeps attending drama classes. She has no friends. She talks to no one. A woman bangs on her door one evening. She wants to talk, "mother to mother". Simon, the faceless woman's son, is wetting his bed now. Isn't Hannah responsible? For what? After visiting a bath, Hannah is told that her membership has been revoked, not expired. It has been revoked! Why? At young black woman really tells the entire story while riding the Metro, but not in the way she thinks. She tells her lover, also riding in the same Metro car: "Did you ever love me?" "You should have told me what you wanted from the start". Hannah is riding in the same Metro car and hears the young woman. And she is reminded. The words uttered by the young woman should really have been Hannah's. Hannah rides the Metro to Michel, her estranged son whom she calls every week but never get any replies from. Her grandson, George, Michel's won, is having a birthday and Hannah has baked Michel's favourite cake. But Hannah is not welcome at the house when she arrives. George runs out to meet his granny but is told to go back inside by Michel. The cake Hannah baked with such aching love isn't welcome and the present she bought is wasted. Michel tells his mother off. "You're not welcome here!" Hannah's utter desolation in a women's restroom after the rejection is horrific. A handy man comes to Hannah to take a look at a leak from the apartment above and needs to move a cabinet. An envelope is stuck to the back of the cabinet. Hannah picks it up when the handy man leaves. She looks at what's in the envelope and we see the contents in Hannah's face. And we know why Hannah's husband is in jail. We know why Michel hates his mother and won't let Hannah meet her grandson. Hannah confronts her husband in jail and he turns and leaves. And the utter desolation of Hannah and her entire life is terrible. Charlotte Rampling is perfect as Hannah. A woman who never really envisioned, when she was young, the life she would have in her old age. Like most of us have no idea.

• This is a real art film - lonely, desolate, subdued, yet unresolved.

  MichaelFab2018-09-02

  A very subtle, evocative independent film, with an existential atmosphere recalling Ingmar Bergman's works. It's a quiet, serene picture of beautifully composed scenes, creating an ambience of seclusion and isolation. We experience the lonely life of a woman who has been rejected by everyone in her life, except her only outlet, a theater group she is involved with. Some, inexperienced with artistic films, may not appreciate its somber nature. And it's definitely not for those expecting a complete narrative. The film is one big question mark of what happened to her, left up to the viewer's interpretation. Hannah is a homage to Charlotte Rampling, who should have received more nominations for this performance, and who I hope will receive an achievement award for her career.

• Watch it for the devastating performance from Charlotte Rampling

  paul-allaer2018-04-23

  "Hannah" (2017 release from Italy; 95 min.) brings the story of Hannah, an elderly lady. As the movie opens, we see Hannah and her husband go about their daily routine, and then it becomes clear that something is up, before we know it, Hannah's husband is getting ready to be dropped off at a prison. What is going on here? At this point we're less than 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, who previously gave us the equally excellent "Medeas". Here Pallaoro goes one better yet, and looks at how an elderly woman deals with the consequences of her long-time husband going to prison. The first issue is of course, what did the husband don exactly? The answer is given in subtle hints at various points in the movie, but one might even argue that it isn't all that relevant, as indeed the focus is on Hannah. She tries to make the best of a terrible situation, and continues to provide support to her husband. When she goes to visit him in prison, she musters a smile when he appears, to which he snarls "Why are you laughing?". Just chilling. And what to say about this extraordinary performance (yet again) by Charlotte Rampling? As she continues to age gracefully (she is now in her early 70s), she continues to find (or be offered) roles that are challenging and rewarding (check out also 2015's $5 Years, and this year's Red Sparrow). "Hannah" premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival to immediate critical acclaim (Rampling won the Best Actress award). I happen to catch this during a recent family visit to Belgium. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at in Antwerp, Belgium was attended quite nicely, somewhat to my surprise, given that this is not the most joyful of films. If you are in the mood for a great character study of an elderly woman dealing with difficult issues, I'd readily suggest you check this out. It's doubtful at this point that this will get a US theatrical release, so look for it on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.

• If you enjoy...

  iceman888692018-07-01

  Anything that has to do with watching paint dry, you might like this movie. If you enjoy watching someone sitting at a table while drinking a cup over coffee staring at the wall for five minutes, you might like this movie. If you enjoy watching people walk a flight of stairs, basically, just walking, you might enjoy this movie. You are watching the most boring person on the face of the earth do their routine for what ever reason they are doing it until the camera just stops following them. If this is suppose to be "art". I hate art.

• slow, quiet with little exposition

  SnoopyStyle2018-11-19

  Hannah (Charlotte Rampling) accompanies her husband who surrenders to be imprisoned. She befriends her neighbor's autistic child. She becomes more isolated as even own family shuns her. This is a slow, quiet character study. It's strictly for the arthouse crowd. Honestly, I got to the hour mark and couldn't figure out if anything is happening on the screen. I decided to watch from the beginning again. This film is not one for expositions. There is nobody explaining anything. One follows Hannah around doing stuff. It needs to declare what is going on at the beginning so that the movie is even marginally interesting. Rampling is a master and that's mostly what's worthwhile on the screen. Otherwise, it's a plot quiz that demands one's attention and rarely gets mine.