The cinematography is brilliant, some of it (the seashore scenes in Israel) visual poetry. Donald Pleasance is superb as the smiling villain, a character he has done so well in other films. But on the whole, this movie is overwrought, overly long and a bit over the top. I've seen operas where people don't take as long to die as they do here. Are these real people and is this a true story? The closing credits lead you to believe that. But I was a little suspicious. It wouldn't be the first time Hollywood has used phoney "what happened to them" capsules in the closing credits to enhance a fictional story. I'm also impressed how Hanna keeps her lipstick perfect right through basic training, a parachute jump into enemy territory, riding with the partisans and being tortured. But then thats Hollywood I guess. Overall it's quite a watchable film despite these criticisms.
14 Reviews
Hanna Senesh: Israel's Joan of Arc
OCOKA31 January 2004
Hanna's War is the true story of Hanna Senesh, a Hungarian-Jewish WW2 resistance fighter, who would become Israel's "Joan of Arc. As a young person, she fled Nazi-occupied Hungary for Palestine, where she was recruited and trained by the British to serve as a commando.
After completing her training in Britain, she parachutes into Yugoslavia with a commando team to establish escape routes across the Hungarian-Yugoslavian border for downed British pilots. Her attempts to save Hungarian Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary, however, leads to her capture, torture and demise at the hands of the Gestapo and the Nazi-controlled Hungarian police.
The movie is based on the "The Diaries Of Hanna Senesh" and the book, A Great Wind Cometh, by Yoel Palgi. The scenes of Hanna being sadistically brutalized by the Gestapo and the Nazi-Hungarians is absolutely heart-wrenching and difficult to watch. Think of a cross between Joan of Arc and William Wallace of "Braveheart," and you have Hanna Senesh.
Maruschka Detmers renders an outstanding portrayal in this movie, although she is a little bit too pretty to come across convincingly as a resistance fighter and martyr.
After completing her training in Britain, she parachutes into Yugoslavia with a commando team to establish escape routes across the Hungarian-Yugoslavian border for downed British pilots. Her attempts to save Hungarian Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary, however, leads to her capture, torture and demise at the hands of the Gestapo and the Nazi-controlled Hungarian police.
The movie is based on the "The Diaries Of Hanna Senesh" and the book, A Great Wind Cometh, by Yoel Palgi. The scenes of Hanna being sadistically brutalized by the Gestapo and the Nazi-Hungarians is absolutely heart-wrenching and difficult to watch. Think of a cross between Joan of Arc and William Wallace of "Braveheart," and you have Hanna Senesh.
Maruschka Detmers renders an outstanding portrayal in this movie, although she is a little bit too pretty to come across convincingly as a resistance fighter and martyr.
Hanna's War
BandSAboutMovies2 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Based on The Diaries of Hanna Senesh and the biographical novel A Great Wind Cometh by Yoel Palgi, this movie tells the true story of Hannah Szenes, a Hungarian woman who was one of 37 Jewish soldiers who parachuted into Yugoslavia during the World War II to rescue Hungarian Jews about to be sent to Auschwitz. She was arrested, imprisoned and tortured, but refused to reveal details of her mission even when her mother was arrested and threatened. She didn't reveal any information about her fellow soldiers even when she was about to be killed by firing squad. She is considered a national hero in Israel, as her poetry is well-known and several streets are named for her.
Helena Bonham Carter was originally going to play Hanna and Peter Weir was going to direct before delays caused them to leave the film.
Instead, Dutch actress Maruschka Detmers was Hanna and Cannon boss Menahem Golan directed and co-wrote this movie with Stanley Mann (Meteor, Circle of Iron). Playing the man who would torture her for days, Captain Thomas Rosza, is Donald Pleasence. Ellen Burstyn plays her mother and the cast also includes Ingrid Pitt and David Warner.
And yes, Yehuda Efroni is in this.
Helena Bonham Carter was originally going to play Hanna and Peter Weir was going to direct before delays caused them to leave the film.
Instead, Dutch actress Maruschka Detmers was Hanna and Cannon boss Menahem Golan directed and co-wrote this movie with Stanley Mann (Meteor, Circle of Iron). Playing the man who would torture her for days, Captain Thomas Rosza, is Donald Pleasence. Ellen Burstyn plays her mother and the cast also includes Ingrid Pitt and David Warner.
And yes, Yehuda Efroni is in this.
Impressive and Shocking
Carlo Houtkamp20 March 2001
It sounds a bit awkward to call a film about war and holocaust shocking since many of us will know only too well of the horrors that war and violence brings. By using the adjective 'shocking' I do not intend to imply that I am surprised about the things told about in this film or that I was formerly unaware of them, it is just that I am very much impressed by the way in which this film shows how crazy and incomprehensibly horrific it is to kill each other off, either with or without a 'reason'.
The first part of the film focuses on Hanna's successful participation in the Hungarian resistance. Maruschka Detmers would never have won an Oscar for this performance, due to inconsistent directing, but still her acting is solid enough and she has enormous charisma. She is cast very well as Hanna and immediately has our sympathy. Her very beautiful looks help, of course, but that has nothing to do with her being simply a good actress, playing a good part.
Certain inconsistencies keep occurring in Hanna's War. I sometimes get the idea director Menahem Golan (often despised for The Gianni Versace Murder) was in a rush and should actually have allowed a few more takes per scene. On the other hand, I am very thankful he made this impressive and thought-provoking film and as I am very positive about it, I think he did a good job.
The second half of the film is the most interesting and tragic one. It focuses on Hanna's suffering (beware of Donald Pleasence's scary portrayal of the cruel and sardonic captain Rosza) and intensely shows the injustice and horror that comes with hate and violence and war. I receive Hanna's War, especially the second half, as a strong anti-war film and for that alone Golan deserves credit. It is also this second half in which Maruschka Detmer's talent comes out, creating a character which goes into film history as one of the most speaking, strong and tragic ever portrayed. It is also great to see Ellen Burstyn, whose appearance and acting style always remind me of Romy Schneider, who -had she been alive and cast- would have made a similar effective contribution to Hanna's War.
The tragic impact of the second half and the desperate tension which is sometimes replaced by hopeful prospects and good news lead to a number of final scenes which show something so unexpected, so moving and poetic in its tragedy that it hit me like a bomb and left me in tears. And when I realized once more it wasn't even fiction, it all actually happened, I found myself in even more tears. The image of Hanna portrayed by Maruschka Detmers will be in my mind forever.
The first part of the film focuses on Hanna's successful participation in the Hungarian resistance. Maruschka Detmers would never have won an Oscar for this performance, due to inconsistent directing, but still her acting is solid enough and she has enormous charisma. She is cast very well as Hanna and immediately has our sympathy. Her very beautiful looks help, of course, but that has nothing to do with her being simply a good actress, playing a good part.
Certain inconsistencies keep occurring in Hanna's War. I sometimes get the idea director Menahem Golan (often despised for The Gianni Versace Murder) was in a rush and should actually have allowed a few more takes per scene. On the other hand, I am very thankful he made this impressive and thought-provoking film and as I am very positive about it, I think he did a good job.
The second half of the film is the most interesting and tragic one. It focuses on Hanna's suffering (beware of Donald Pleasence's scary portrayal of the cruel and sardonic captain Rosza) and intensely shows the injustice and horror that comes with hate and violence and war. I receive Hanna's War, especially the second half, as a strong anti-war film and for that alone Golan deserves credit. It is also this second half in which Maruschka Detmer's talent comes out, creating a character which goes into film history as one of the most speaking, strong and tragic ever portrayed. It is also great to see Ellen Burstyn, whose appearance and acting style always remind me of Romy Schneider, who -had she been alive and cast- would have made a similar effective contribution to Hanna's War.
The tragic impact of the second half and the desperate tension which is sometimes replaced by hopeful prospects and good news lead to a number of final scenes which show something so unexpected, so moving and poetic in its tragedy that it hit me like a bomb and left me in tears. And when I realized once more it wasn't even fiction, it all actually happened, I found myself in even more tears. The image of Hanna portrayed by Maruschka Detmers will be in my mind forever.
You hear the inappropriate music score more often than you feel the plot.
mark.waltz6 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is the film that deserved to be made to have it story told, but unfortunately the way it is developed ultimately is its undoing. It's the story of the title character, a smart and well-bred young woman who devotes her existence to helping Hungarian Jews avoid the Nazis. It could easily have been told in a two-hour running time instead we got that recurring musical theme as people just doomed to march around while nothing seems to be happening on screen. Maruschka Detmers is attractive and feisty as the heroine, being given an award in the opening scene yet all of a sudden running out of the room and is declining it when she is confronted by the local law. The scene really makes no sense as it appeared that she was being arrested, but she just bolts leaving everyone remaining including her mother Ellen Burstyn perplexed.
When the film shows Hannah in action, it is quite good, and Detmars is quite commanding. The resistance fighters was a collective group were men and women, adults and children, young and old, all did what they could to keep the Nazis from pulling off their evil plans. Donald Pleasence and David Warner are quite chilling as the Germans whose menacing ways are written on their face. Burstyn sadly is greatly wasted. Is that, even with its tense atmosphere, the photography often makes it claustrophobic, and the film becomes a missed opportunity that certainly could have been done better.
When the film shows Hannah in action, it is quite good, and Detmars is quite commanding. The resistance fighters was a collective group were men and women, adults and children, young and old, all did what they could to keep the Nazis from pulling off their evil plans. Donald Pleasence and David Warner are quite chilling as the Germans whose menacing ways are written on their face. Burstyn sadly is greatly wasted. Is that, even with its tense atmosphere, the photography often makes it claustrophobic, and the film becomes a missed opportunity that certainly could have been done better.
Outstanding film about outstanding person with outstanding performance.
haganthomas-116 August 2006
As a another reviewer states Hanna's War is an outstanding film about an outstanding person, Hanna "Anniko" Senesh, who would become the Jewish Joan Of Arc. Unfortunately I diverge in opinion not agreeing that Miss Detmers as the lead is too beautiful to be taken seriously as a resistance fighter. In truth for me her performance is not held back by her beauty but makes it all the more stark in the terror of the sadistic brutality as a resistor she faces. Maruschka Detmers performance is brave, poignant, heartfelt or understood, and totally believable. In other words for me "In the zone." from the opening credits. If you would like to learn about the suffering of someone else for something they believe in and be impressively entertained give Hanna's War with Maruschka Detmers a try. My hat is off also to Ellen Burstyn as Hanna's mother a much well known and famous actress who could have made effort to walk off with the film. In that it is a team effort perhaps of two actress' but not an All About Eve situation.
Good story, bad direction
Shaiel18 April 1999
I'm sorry to disagree because I really love the story and the heroine. The movie tells a spectacular story. It's hard to make a movie as good as the story of Hannah Senesh, so it is understandable that it falls a bit short. It is worth watching and could be a good tool to teach children with. There is a scene or two of brutality but the honor of this young paratrooper, a model for feminism decades before there was such a thing as politically correct, comes through despite the failings of the director and writers.
A totally under-rated, fantastic movie - Be entertained: watch it. :)
rjr11884 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I do not want to add any spoilers to any reviews & will try not to.I did not read all previous ones. Watch it for its entertainment, historical, factual, appeal. Previews help; some seem to avoid watching or looking for them. Any movie needs to be someone's interest, genre', "cup of tea", & when not that.. why write something negative about a non interest? Hanna's War rates 11 stars out of 10, for me. I first saw it years ago- I was not let down by a preview nor the movie. I very much feel it will be the same for you. Check the run time,and enjoy. I truly think you will. Netflix also has a related movie/DVD.. Blessed is the Match,.. (wish there were more than 1000 words available for writing...)(1st IMDb review..)ps- still hopeful of count: the ending is nothing short of phenomenal.
Brilliant WAR filim
drunkenfilthybeast1 September 2021
One of the rare films that could show the brutality of the Nazi regieme
for a movie audience...outstanding cast ie Donald Pleasance makes
a great Nazi, also in Great Escape II the untold story and the original
great escape as a POW..
Hannah's Bore
Wizard-813 October 2011
Schlockmeister Menahem Golan must have been real passionate about this project, because he not only produced the movie, he directed and co-wrote the screenplay. However, I am pretty sure the movie would have been a lot better had he simply stuck to producing. Although the movie runs about 150 minutes, in all that time I never got a good idea why Golan felt the central character had a story worth telling. She's just shown in one guerrilla mission before getting captured and spending about half of the running time in jail. Plus, the movie never gets into the head of this character, revealing what she really feels and thinks. It doesn't help that the musical score is awful, an electronic score that at times sounds like it's ripping off the song "What A Feeling" from the movie FLASHDANCE! I guess the movie looks okay for a limited budget, but acceptable production values will only take you so far.
Hanna's war.
pj-hofsteden5 October 2006
this movie is a masterpiece a story of a young woman during the war , and it really happen , not exactly as the movie , but it is a great story , i was impress by this film ,the acting and the story where great i like this film because it is a true story it's Giff me a feeling that i was there and i feel sorry for the ca-rector that Maruschka Detmers is playing because who wants to end here life that way. i recommend that everybody have to see this film , special the young ones and ma by the learn something from this film. This film you can compare whit the movie soldier from orange or any real story that happened in the WW2.
The brutaliy of war!
iadams10 March 2019
Great Movie
Michal-144 December 1998
The best movie I have ever seen!!!
mps-51 September 1999
I find this movie the best movie I have ever seen, because it reflects the inner strength of a young girl during the second world war. The movie is impressive, not least because it actually happened. It reminds me of the story of Anne Frank.
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