Hanna's War

The cinematography is brilliant, some of it (the seashore scenes in Israel) visual poetry. Donald Pleasance is superb as the smiling villain, a character he has done so well in other films. But on the whole, this movie is overwrought, overly long and a bit over the top. I've seen operas where people don't take as long to die as they do here. Are these real people and is this a true story? The closing credits lead you to believe that. But I was a little suspicious. It wouldn't be the first time Hollywood has used phoney "what happened to them" capsules in the closing credits to enhance a fictional story. I'm also impressed how Hanna keeps her lipstick perfect right through basic training, a parachute jump into enemy territory, riding with the partisans and being tortured. But then thats Hollywood I guess. Overall it's quite a watchable film despite these criticisms.

It sounds a bit awkward to call a film about war and holocaust shocking since many of us will know only too well of the horrors that war and violence brings. By using the adjective 'shocking' I do not intend to imply that I am surprised about the things told about in this film or that I was formerly unaware of them, it is just that I am very much impressed by the way in which this film shows how crazy and incomprehensibly horrific it is to kill each other off, either with or without a 'reason'.

The first part of the film focuses on Hanna's successful participation in the Hungarian resistance. Maruschka Detmers would never have won an Oscar for this performance, due to inconsistent directing, but still her acting is solid enough and she has enormous charisma. She is cast very well as Hanna and immediately has our sympathy. Her very beautiful looks help, of course, but that has nothing to do with her being simply a good actress, playing a good part.

Certain inconsistencies keep occurring in Hanna's War. I sometimes get the idea director Menahem Golan (often despised for The Gianni Versace Murder) was in a rush and should actually have allowed a few more takes per scene. On the other hand, I am very thankful he made this impressive and thought-provoking film and as I am very positive about it, I think he did a good job.

The second half of the film is the most interesting and tragic one. It focuses on Hanna's suffering (beware of Donald Pleasence's scary portrayal of the cruel and sardonic captain Rosza) and intensely shows the injustice and horror that comes with hate and violence and war. I receive Hanna's War, especially the second half, as a strong anti-war film and for that alone Golan deserves credit. It is also this second half in which Maruschka Detmer's talent comes out, creating a character which goes into film history as one of the most speaking, strong and tragic ever portrayed. It is also great to see Ellen Burstyn, whose appearance and acting style always remind me of Romy Schneider, who -had she been alive and cast- would have made a similar effective contribution to Hanna's War.

The tragic impact of the second half and the desperate tension which is sometimes replaced by hopeful prospects and good news lead to a number of final scenes which show something so unexpected, so moving and poetic in its tragedy that it hit me like a bomb and left me in tears. And when I realized once more it wasn't even fiction, it all actually happened, I found myself in even more tears. The image of Hanna portrayed by Maruschka Detmers will be in my mind forever.

One of the rare films that could show the brutality of the Nazi regieme for a movie audience...outstanding cast ie Donald Pleasance makes a great Nazi, also in Great Escape II the untold story and the original great escape as a POW..

Hanna's War is the true story of Hanna Senesh, a Hungarian-Jewish WW2 resistance fighter, who would become Israel's "Joan of Arc. As a young person, she fled Nazi-occupied Hungary for Palestine, where she was recruited and trained by the British to serve as a commando.

After completing her training in Britain, she parachutes into Yugoslavia with a commando team to establish escape routes across the Hungarian-Yugoslavian border for downed British pilots. Her attempts to save Hungarian Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary, however, leads to her capture, torture and demise at the hands of the Gestapo and the Nazi-controlled Hungarian police.

The movie is based on the "The Diaries Of Hanna Senesh" and the book, A Great Wind Cometh, by Yoel Palgi. The scenes of Hanna being sadistically brutalized by the Gestapo and the Nazi-Hungarians is absolutely heart-wrenching and difficult to watch. Think of a cross between Joan of Arc and William Wallace of "Braveheart," and you have Hanna Senesh.

Maruschka Detmers renders an outstanding portrayal in this movie, although she is a little bit too pretty to come across convincingly as a resistance fighter and martyr.

This is a movie in my lifetime, that truly left a mark. For the passion of life, and the evil that works to prevent it.