Hannah

The movie Hannah is about those who live without friends. Hannah is the wife of a criminal who because of his crime is a victim. Hannah can't sleep. She is in an impossible situation, but there seem to be no redemption.

What crime has he committed? Why is Hannah met with hate?

More can't be told, it should be felt.

The movie tells fragments of a story without explaining. You'll hav eto sit back and guess.

This is therefore not a film for everybody. It's a movie for those able to feel what loneliness and compassion, and even empathy towards someone who are living a life she didn't choose.

There's a lot of Hannahs around.

Still I would have liked this film to have more of a plot. But Charlotte Rampling is faultless and riveting in her display as Hannah. She' really one of the best, and has deserved the prices she won for this role.

Twenty minutes into the movie I realized that I didn't know where it was going and that it gave me not enough clues to be ever figured out. But I kept on watching Rampling. Enjoying every moment of it.

Is it too much to ask for a plot?

Hannah for me was a slow burn descent of one person's life in denial. Shot beautifully and conveys a lot of raw emotion with its stoic acting by Charlotte Rampling.

I personally felt this was a well shot film with some fantastic cinematography.

"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.

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.