Saw Hannah Takes the Stairs, another mumble-core about romance. This one follows Hannah, serial monogamist at large. She starts off breaking up with her friendly but ambition-less boyfriend who recently quit his job (and his band) to find something that he enjoys. This freaks Hannah out and it's on to the next romance for her. Her central problem of not being able to settle down is spelt out fairly explicitly in one of the final scenes in a conversation with her next new boyfriend. We abruptly close on a shot of the two of them in the bath. We hope the best for them, but the sharp cut to credits leaves us uncertain.
This film was not as funny or ingenious as the other films I've seen in the genre and it has the feel of heavy improvisation. This almost always works and when it works it feels like a high-wire act, barely sticking its landings and not falling into ridiculousness only by the greatest care. The drunken half-sentences that riddle the script (much of the film takes place in cheap, echo-y living room parties) reveal the characters' inner thoughts more succinctly (if not more articulately) than full sentences. The film has an artfully guileless feel (which is of course carefully contrived) which will probably annoy some (the eternal handheld camera started to get to me too, by the end,) but is refreshing and sufficiently different to entertain me.
No comments:
Post a Comment