harwin.kuntkes@student.uva.nl

Calling this movie a 'feelgood love story' wouldn't sum it up. Hannahannah has far more to offer than the love story at it's core. First of all, there is the perfect casting in all roles, without exception; Maria Kraakman and Antonie Kamerling are gorgeous and credible as the lovers, with Kamerling giving a powerful, all time best performance, while Kraakman proves the best choice for portraying the offbeat loner Hannah. Tanja Jess and Kees Boot provide layered support as a troubled middle-class couple and Barry Atsma makes the most of his over the top role as a mentally challenged/comedic sidekick. The story is a textbook example of a romantic drama, but sometimes feels a bit like an emotional roller-coaster, due to it's highs and lows, drama and comedy, tears and happiness in such a short amount of time. In result, the viewer may feel a bit detached from the characters and their quirky natures. One can't help to think a 'kick in the butt' for any of the main characters would be a good idea. Fortunately, towards the end, the writers of Hannahannah seemed to have the same idea, as the bundle the wide array of emotions into a satisfying conclusion. Although certainly no perfect movie (the dialog is sometimes a bit out of place and some scenes seem abundant or end as soon as things are getting interesting), Hannahannah is worth more than one viewing. Especially dutch viewers will feast on the banquet of recognition, the sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt use of dialog and the apparent skill in direction and photography. Enjoy!

Although enjoyable and sometimes hilarious, this movie is poorly founded on a string of unbelievable characters and slow plot development while the emotional baggage seems to be referenced but not visualized. It obviously isn't a mainstream film, but even for art-house it is trying to be too mainstream-focused and it underestimates its audience in doing this. The movie is perfect for a dark Sunday afternoon, but don't expect it to get you in a more positive mood, for this, the film is treating its material (even the comedy) to heavily. Maybe the movie is best reviewed in comparison to its two protagonists, Rannva and Barba; both coated in glamour and good looks, but ultimately shallow, empty and pretentious.

When I saw Noi Albinoi my thoughts were immediately with the film Bye Bye Blue Bird. It seems that the cinema that emerges from the different minority Scandinavian communities (Bye Bye Blue Bird comes from the Faroer Islands and Noi from Iceland) has similar aesthetics. The isolation and mental state of the inhabitants is brought in a similar way in both films; the characters are set against a heavy emotional background, while the operatics of the plot forces these characters into a farcical framework. I can't say I'm a big fan of this variation of minimalism. It's certainly funny and charming in some moments, but for instance Bye Bye Blue Bird suffered from its uneasy and badly thought-out comedy-outbursts. The thing about Noi is that it is a vehicle for a great cast of unknown gems: especially the main character is overwhelming as a teenager who is dreaming of the great unknown, but settles for his own isolation of the icy north of Iceland. Unlike with Blue Bird, Noi manages to give the comedy and the farce a superb balance powered by the both tragic and surreal surroundings of snow, darkness and (once inside the houses-) postmodern collage. This is pure cinema; a movie to be treasured.