oscar@utcsrgv.UUCP (Oscar M. Nierstrasz) (10/02/83)
Hanna K. (Costa-Gravras, Costi; France; 1983; 108m) * 1/2
Costa-Gavras has finally shot his bolt, it appears.
Famous for movies like "Z", "State of Siege" and "Missing",
Costa-Gavras has a reputation for making political thrillers
about hot topics. With "Missing" he concentrated much more on
the people involved than in the politics of the situation that
they were trapped by. In "Hanna K." he does so again but with
far less success.
Ostensibly, "Hanna K." is about the plight of Palestinian exiles.
Jill Clayburgh is a defense lawyer for one of these "non-
citizens" who has entered Israel illegally, presumably to claim
the land his family once owned. The state, however, claims that
he is a terrorist, having been captured in the company of terror-
ists at one point.
Fine and dandy, if Costa-Gavras wants to make a film about this,
then *please* let him do so. Instead, however, he natters on and
on about Hanna's relationship with her estranged husband, with
the prosecuting attorney (by whom she is pregnant!) and (eventu-
ally) with Selim, the defendant.
I am reminded of a sequence in Syberberg's epic film "Our Hitler"
("epic" in being 7 hours long!) where Hitler's valet is inter-
viewed. The valet, presumably, would have some very interesting
tidbits to impart. Instead he talks at *great* length about
Hitler's shoes, what he liked for breakfast, how his shirts had
to folded, and so on. In "Hanna K.", Costa-Gavras plays the part
of Hitler's valet.
Other problems: Jill Clayburgh can't act, never has and never
will. The dialogue is all in English and is all uninspired.
Very evidently English is not Costa-Gavras' native language. (He
is a French citizen born in Greece.) The film's political aware-
ness has all the clarity and profundity of a mud puddle left
after a summer shower. The occasional anthropological excursions
into bazaars and religious sites are irrelevant and unenlighten-
ing. The story is weak, uninteresting and transparent. The
parallels between the political and the personal relationships
are facile: I imagine Hanna's French husband is the British who
left Palestine, her lover is the Israeli government, Selim is ob-
vious and Hanna is Jerusalem herself. I wonder who the baby is
supposed to represent ... ?
A major disappointment. Instead, go see "Z" for the fifth time
and reminisce.
Oscar Nierstrasz @ utzoo!utcsrgv!oscarmartillo@ihuxt.UUCP (Yehoyaqim Shemtob Martillo) (03/21/84)
Many reviews of Costa-Gavras' new movie, _H_a_n_n_a _K., have ignored the fundamental offensiveness of this film. _H_a_n_n_a _K., _M_y _M_i_c_h_a_e_l, _T_h_e _L_o_v_e_r and several other recent films and books represent the rebirth or persistence of an old and popular genre of antisemitic pornography. In this pornography, a dashing non-Jew typically rapes or seduces a Jewish woman. The sexual conquest has always been a metaphor for the subjugation or annihilation of the Jewish people. Usually, there is an implication that the Jewish woman is atoning for some sin (e.g. deicide) committed against non-Jewish people. Arab Jews (like my family) find the story of _H_a_n_n_a _K. offensive because Arab Muslims are historical oppressors of Jews just like Germans, Poles or Rumanians. Jews have no reason at all to feel guilty about the treatment of Arab Muslims in Israel. Just as the archetypical Black-hating Southern Red-Neck is supposed (unlike the ordinary southern white laborer) never to have seen any crime in raping black women, Arab Muslims have considered raping Jewish women perfectly permissible behavior. The black community would find extremely offensive a movie in which a Black female attorney had an affair with a Red-Neck client suspected of taking part in a lynching. A truly daring and original theme for a book or movie would have described an Arab women who rejected Islamic fanaticism and bigotry and who showed her disgust at Islamic culture by taking a Jewish lover at risk to her own life.