"Hanne" is a German television movie from 2018, so not brand new, but relatively new, and this one runs for 1.5 hours pretty much exactly and the director here is Dominik Graf. he is considered by many one of Germany's best filmmakers, but having seen a lot of his works I cannot agree at all. This one here does not change my opinion, bit I will get to that in detail later. The script is by Beate Langmaack, who is also pretty experienced and has written screenplays for decades. The title character is played by Iris Berben and I always thought looking at her popularity and that really everybody knows her here in Germany and that she is/was the President of the German Film Academy for example that she was very overrated, one of the most overrated German actresses because honestly I feel as if she plays almost the same exact character every film she is in. So in terms of being overrated, it kinda fits that she worked together with Graf here. This is the story of a successful businesswoman who is enters retirement and at the very same day that is also her last day at work she has an important doctor's appointment where she is told that something is not right with her blood. (It's a Friday.) And that she will be informed about the details on Monday. Now I wondered how realistic this is because what the doctor actually could tell on Friday was virtually nothing and I have a feeling it would not have happened like this in reality. They simply would have invited her on Monday instead of giving her these torturing news, also with the pretty ridiculous comment not to google what could be wrong with her. Even if it is accurate. And told her on Monday what exactly is going on and what the next steps will be if there should be any. And this sort of failure in terms of premise already is a crucial deal-breaker for the negative side because her entire journey (i.e. her entire weekend) is based on this idea.
What happens during the weekend is okay to watch then, but also not particularly interesting. Basically, it felt for the most part that they were just trying to convince us and show us how much Berben's character still feels and acts like a woman considerably younger her age. She goes dancing with a much younger female friend, she has a one-night stand with an old love etc. It's a tendency that you see in many Berben movies. It does not feel like quality filmmaking at all. The part with the dead chicken I am not too fond of either with the hillbillies. It added almost nothing. Or when she cooks it and of course the security woman that shows up (with a gun, woohoo crime drama!) knows exactly how to prepare a chicken to cook it. What a coincidence! And what is even more crucial to me is that really basically every other character she meets during her journey was more interesting than Berben's the way she portrayed her. Still it must be said that it is not her fault only. The character was really not written particularly interesting I must say overall and probably not too many could have made it work despite the really baity idea behind it. But it says a lot that this movie did not attract any awards recognition at all. People clearly saw through the shallowness and half-baked attempt at creating emotions. It's not a good movie at all. And they apparently honestly thought they did a good job here because at the very final scene (as expected), it is an open ending and they do want us to think and care about what is going to happen. Still the entire potential cancer plot felt as shallow as its introduction honestly. Even if she has leukemia, this does not mean she will die, let alone die within weeks, even if it could happen of course, but it is far from the rule. The smile on the doctor's lips indicated anyway that she may be fine mostly, but it's just my interpretation. And no comment on her showking up at the doctor's house when he is dressed up as a clown and celebrates a kids birthday party. Or of course, Berben's character getting the news that exact weekend, which is also her very first weekend as a retoree we shouldn't forget that, that she will be a grandmother soon. This is just ridiculous all the stuff that happens this weekend. It does not feel like an authentic story or authentic characters, which is a pity because even if I am not big on Berben, I think the cast has a handful talented supporting actors in it like Knaup and Möhring (the lesser known, but maybe better) and with a better script and had their characters not been written so poorly (and maybe with a better lead), they could have turned this film into a quality watch. This way it is just one of many that did not work out well because basically they relied completely on the protagonist's recognition value and this does not cut the cake for people with good taste in films. By the way, the chapter announcements also felt fairly cringeworthy I would say, but it's not the first time Graf has done stuff like that. Shows really how serious this film takes itself while certainly not delivering the artistic achievement to justify this approach. Thumbs-down. Not recommended.
What happens during the weekend is okay to watch then, but also not particularly interesting. Basically, it felt for the most part that they were just trying to convince us and show us how much Berben's character still feels and acts like a woman considerably younger her age. She goes dancing with a much younger female friend, she has a one-night stand with an old love etc. It's a tendency that you see in many Berben movies. It does not feel like quality filmmaking at all. The part with the dead chicken I am not too fond of either with the hillbillies. It added almost nothing. Or when she cooks it and of course the security woman that shows up (with a gun, woohoo crime drama!) knows exactly how to prepare a chicken to cook it. What a coincidence! And what is even more crucial to me is that really basically every other character she meets during her journey was more interesting than Berben's the way she portrayed her. Still it must be said that it is not her fault only. The character was really not written particularly interesting I must say overall and probably not too many could have made it work despite the really baity idea behind it. But it says a lot that this movie did not attract any awards recognition at all. People clearly saw through the shallowness and half-baked attempt at creating emotions. It's not a good movie at all. And they apparently honestly thought they did a good job here because at the very final scene (as expected), it is an open ending and they do want us to think and care about what is going to happen. Still the entire potential cancer plot felt as shallow as its introduction honestly. Even if she has leukemia, this does not mean she will die, let alone die within weeks, even if it could happen of course, but it is far from the rule. The smile on the doctor's lips indicated anyway that she may be fine mostly, but it's just my interpretation. And no comment on her showking up at the doctor's house when he is dressed up as a clown and celebrates a kids birthday party. Or of course, Berben's character getting the news that exact weekend, which is also her very first weekend as a retoree we shouldn't forget that, that she will be a grandmother soon. This is just ridiculous all the stuff that happens this weekend. It does not feel like an authentic story or authentic characters, which is a pity because even if I am not big on Berben, I think the cast has a handful talented supporting actors in it like Knaup and Möhring (the lesser known, but maybe better) and with a better script and had their characters not been written so poorly (and maybe with a better lead), they could have turned this film into a quality watch. This way it is just one of many that did not work out well because basically they relied completely on the protagonist's recognition value and this does not cut the cake for people with good taste in films. By the way, the chapter announcements also felt fairly cringeworthy I would say, but it's not the first time Graf has done stuff like that. Shows really how serious this film takes itself while certainly not delivering the artistic achievement to justify this approach. Thumbs-down. Not recommended.
