Hanna D. - La ragazza del Vondel Park

This hilariously inept Italian movie was obviously, uh, inspired by the German art film "Christiane F", which was about a young teenage junkie and prostitute. If you like "Christiane F.", you will probably hate this though because it's almost an unintentional parody of that film. On the other hand, if you find the German film rather heavy-handed, moralistic, and depressing, this is frankly a lot more fun.

"Hanna D." is played by Ana-Gisel Glass, who looks too old to be a young teenager (she was actually about twenty) and too healthy to be a junkie. This is no doubt for the best, however, since she spends a lot of her screen-time butt-naked and/or engaged in various sexual situations. Glass surprisingly went on to a long career in Germany, but her only previous credit was as one of David Hamilton's barely-legal model/actresses in "First Desires". 'Hannah's" booze-soaked mother meanwhile is played by veteran European sex star Karin Schubert (who ironically later dove into hardcore porn to support her own drug habit). Schubert, and the woman who dubbed her here, should have shared some kind of special alternate Academy Award for this hilariously overwrought performance. There's plenty of sordid stuff here--prostitution, anal drug smuggling, murders, gratuitous sex, gratuitous showers, topless dancing, prison scenes, shooting up, ad infinitum--but it's hard to take any of this seriously. From the opening scene featuring a school-uniform-seduction-on-a-commuter-train (which I imagine went over like gang-busters in Japan), to a ridiculous scene where "Hanna" gets in a fight with her pimp and then goes into the next room and takes all her clothes off for no apparent reason, to the laughable finale containing the most unconvincing drowning in the history of the dramatic arts, it's 90 minutes of sheer cinematic ineptitude.

The incredibly generic plot has "Hanna" torn between her brutal pimp and a nice guy she falls in love with. Although credited to "Axel Berg" this was actually written and directed by the infamous Italian Rino DiSivestri, who gave the world "Werewolf Woman" and "Deported Women of the SS". I actually liked his first film "Woman in Cellblock 7", however, and I understand he actually received letters of thanks from real prostitutes for his movie "Red Light Girls". I can't imagine ANYBODY recognizing themselves in this movie though even if it was allegedly inspired by "real events". But what a hoot!

The ultimate in sleazeploitation, walks familiar lines to Christiane F, yet this is more sleazy and shocking. Some of the in your face 'of all the nerve' scenes will upset some, as our young teen, Hanna D, the girl from Vondell Park, injects, and spreads her legs for dirty old men on trains, her place of business, as shown in the first scene. The next boarding is a depraved middle aged couple, where Hanna, sitting up straight, all dressed up, scholarly, beret and all, is stroking a doll. How sick can this movie get? This is only appetizers. Hanna's pimp, well played, is doing her mother. Hanna ends up doing him, and moving house, where he gets her working in pornographic movies. Then our lovely hapless Hanna falls in love. Trouble yes. Figure the remaining storyline out. Hanna D is nothing more than a dubbed sexploitation skin flick, if you will, with audacious scenes of tasty nudity and sex, while others shock (especially the injecting). That's what this film is out to do, shock, if be more, slutty, sleazy, shocking than Christiane F. On that level, it succeeds, but does not constitute a good movie.

The action of "Hanna D.-La Ragazza del Vondel Park" by Rino DiSilvestro takes place in various seedy areas of Amsterdam.20-year old Ann Gisel Glass plays a young woman who visits her alcoholic mother(Karen Schubert who would later star in porn films to support her own drug addiction)and begins to delve into the world of prostitution and heroin addiction.The film mixes delicious sleaze with drama as Hanna D. meets many drug addicts and goes berserk from goes drug withdrawal symptoms.There is plenty of sex and full-frontal nudity in "Hanna D." and some nasty drug usage,but if you want realistic Italian drugsploitation flick watch "Amore Tossico"(1983)first.7 anal drug vials out of 10.

...so says the blurb on the Australian video cover of this film. Hanna D appears to be some sort of homage to the former, much more superior German film.

Set in Amsterdam, this Italian film was dubbed into English for its release in English speaking countries. It is about a girl named Hanna, borne of a troubled, uncaring and womanising alcoholic mother (the mother gives an appalling, extreme performance). We have to make the presumption that the virginal Hanna starts to sell her body thanks to the troubles she has had endured due to her parents' separation some years earlier. A man who eventually takes her virginity, becomes her pimp, and introduces her to heroin saves Hanna from some rampaging prostitutes, angry with her after they believe her to be encroaching upon their territory. Hanna eventually meets another straight-laced man, with both characters literally falling instantly in love. You see them about 1 minute later ca-noodling in the streets of Amsterdam, having just met on a ferry! Eventually, this 'troubled' relationship results in some strange (illogical, actually) dramas with the pimp. Indeed, there is no logic to the story's progression, and the acting... it's REAL bad, sadly not even bad enough to be considered 'good'.

The Italians often take old ideas and re-jig them into something else - with a tendency to make things more explicit or extreme. This has been seen in various Giallo productions, and it can be seen here. Everything that was largely implied in Christiane F is made explicit. There is a copious amount of full-frontal nudity, and what appears to be close up shots of real drug injecting. We discover new ways of injecting drugs - under the tongue, in the scalp, and even under the eyelid. As was the case with scenes in Christiane F, you even see Hanna experiencing a drug withdrawal, complete with chunky vomit and some pretty ridiculous acting. And there is an unforgettable scene of a woman retrieving a small vial of drugs from her jail mate's anus - these are scenes that stay with you, but for all the wrong reasons.

To be fair, it is not unreasonable to expect an Italian 'remake' to be pretty over the top. Hanna D sure is over the top! On the one hand it is amusing and silly, and on the other you might think 'why did they even bother'.

This film did not appear to have had a wide release back in the 80s, and it is not hard to see why. It was released in Australia back in the mid-80's some time, and has had some exposure in parts of Europe and North America. This film is to soon receive a DVD release.

Hanna D is an Italian take on the German movie Christiane F. It resolves around the young girl Hanna who come from an abusive home and have to turn to the street to support her mother and herself.

The movie is not a very well made one. There's actually a lot of parts in it where you just have to assume what's happened. Maybe some reels ended up missing since after all it was cult legend Bruno Mattei who edited this thing together. It also seems like they either had extremely short time to make this or just very small patience to get things right.

Even though it has it's errors if you look at how it's made it still is about the darker side of life for lost youngsters and becomes an interesting movie if you can look past it's many flaws.

The movie is also very exploitative and sleazy, so if that's not something you think you can enjoy then pass up on this movie.