ambiguous drama about guilt

Rating: 9/10 (21 March 2009)

I have to write about this movie because I read so many comments on Hanna being a monster. Nobody is a monster in this movie. The message of the movie is: We are all neither good nor evil, we are always a mixture of both. The world is not a black and white place, it's not even gray - it's multicolored. And if anyone sees Michael only as an innocent victim, what about not telling anyone about Hanna's secret? His statement could have saved her life.
Both protagonists  though in a totally different way - suffer from the same very human character flaw: They both have a secret they want to hide by all costs because they are ashamed of it. In order to hide this shame they both do things that are wrong. Their actions are somehow always human and understandable. (Whoever thinks he's above it suffers from an illusion.) They both eventually get eaten up by guilt and their lives take the course of their consequences.
This movie is a dark and ambiguous story that upsets our values of morality showing victims as possible culprits and culprits as possible victims. The question of guilt is not being easily answered here. This movie won't help you understanding life better but it will make you think about life and maybe your personal guilt.
On one side there is the law - our justice. But there is a second justice system within each of us: We judge and punish ourselves more appropriate than any court of law could ever do. Sometimes our own morality is even more radical and cruel than the one of the "law". When we judge ourselves, we often get "life" or even a death sentence - with no possibility of parole.
Even though I read the book and knew the story I was deeply moved by this movie. I did not give it a ten only because in my opinion the movie only partially succeeded in showing the devastating impact that Michael's first love experience had on all his upcoming relations.