YOUNG. SWEET. INNOCENT. DEADLY.Ā
17-year-old Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), trained by her father (Eric Bana) into a killing machine, finds herself on the lam once a ruthless agent (Cate Blanchett) gets wind of her whereabouts. Joe Wright is reunited with Ronan from Atonement (2007) for a very different movie, a well-paced thriller set to a dynamic score by The Chemical Brothers. Certainly over-the-top in the way it turns young Hanna into a John Rambo, but Ronan is credible every step of the way and the film benefits from its locations, which include snowy Finland, Morrocco and the Spreepark in Berlin. It also has a weird sense of humor, with Blanchett as sort of a wicked witch.
2011-U.S.-Germany. 111 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced byĀ Marty Adelstein, Leslie Holleran, Scott Nemes. Directed byĀ Joe Wright. Screenplay: Seth Lochhead, David Farr. Music: The Chemical Brothers. Cast: Saoirse Ronan (Hanna), Eric Bana (Erik Heller), Cate Blanchett (Marissa Wiegler), Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng.
Trivia: Danny Boyle and Alfonso CuarĆ³n were allegedly considered for directing duties.Ā Later a TV series (2019- ).
Last word:Ā āThe story has a lot in common with fairy tales like ‘The Little Mermaid’ or ‘Hansel and Gretel’: thereās a family living in a wood cabin in a forest and rites of passage unfold in the story. The child has to go into the world and experiences and meets evil which has to be overcome.Ā One of the things I really enjoyed about ‘Hanna’ was the liberation I felt in making a fantasy ā and I think you can stretch the limits of plausibility as far as you like as long as thereās kind of an emotional credibility to the story.” (Wright, The Telegraph)
