A well done, but sad, tale of fragile humanity...

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2009)

I recently picked this up due to the interesting and rather unusual storyline: a young man has an affair with an older woman and short though it is, the woman disappears. 8 years later, the young man, studying to be a lawyer, is shocked to discover that one of the defendants in a Nazi war crimes trial is none other than Hanna, the woman he was "in love" with. The early scenes contained much nudity and sexual content, though I will admit some of it was tastefully done, especially when it proved that the young Michael was very inexperienced with women, and it also pointed out the somewhat selfish nature of the older woman, who could be given into compassion and tenderness when the call arises. Which is the first glimpse into what I will term "fragile humanity:" When the selfish needs of the individual are met, some are more open to bestowing "gifts" or "favors" on those who please them first. Obviously the young Michael's inexperience with women led him to a failed marriage and the most important travesty this movie has to deal with: Michael had secret knowledge that would have saved Hannah from a life in prison sentence due to her role in the Nazi prison camps. I find it incredibly difficult to believe that Michael had not used that secret to keep this woman from spending 20 years in prison (For those confused by the whole 20 years vs. life in prison sentence, Europeans take a different view of life in prison than Americans do. 20 years is the maximum sentence for a life in prison case). I ALSO find it hard to believe that Michael doesn't seem to feel something, ANYTHING for Hanna after what he's shared. It's as if he's punishing her himself. Hanna's tale is indeed a sad one, and once again we see her readiness to atone for her sins for her part in the death of 300. However, the one young lawyer does make a DAMN fine point: there were hundreds of death camps all over Europe? WHY just these six women put on trial? It becomes painfully obvious that Hanna's illiteracy is one small part of the problem: the other women decided to use Hanna as a scapegoat so they could all get reduced prison sentences.
All this aside, it was a very sad story and a heartbreaking one as well. It forces us to question people's motives and decide for ourselves the best course of action for our lives. Hanna is unfortunately forced to pay for her mistakes, and we clearly can see the major point of this movie: sometimes our smallest of choices can spiral us out of control and leave us feeling trapped, as if we have no choice but to carry on. It is one of the most extreme and devastating lessons about life we can learn, but also proves that humanity has very strong instincts to survive, and deep down it's obvious that Hanna felt she had no other way to survive with the secret she's held for many years. The acting was quite emotional; it's obvious the actors/actresses understood the emotional depth and contents of their roles. A powerful statement this movie makes, but left me puzzled at WHO was the bigger monster: Hanna, or the man who kept her secret and allowed her to serve a life sentence for her small part in the Nazi war crimes. It also makes me stop and examine a piece of history that I was obviously too young to be a part of.