Hanna

Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) shifts gear with this audacious espionage thriller that updates The Wizard of Oz via The Bourne Identity, interlacing virtuoso action sequencing with the storytelling logic and visual aesthetics of fairytales. Fearless, exacting and beautiful, sixteen-year-old Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) lives in the enchanted wilds of northern Finland with her father Erik (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent who is training her to be an assassin. She has a single target in view - the wicked, and suitably witchy, intelligence operative Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). Setting forth on her predestined revenge mission, Hanna's transition into the wider world is plagued not only by the seriously nasty villains who pursue her and the unexpectedness of the terrain she encounters (from the Moroccan desert to the metropolis of Berlin) but also by the limits of her training. While Erik has prepared her as a warrior, he has neglected to equip her with the skills to navigate the unpredictable topography of human behaviour and emotion. Nominated for an Academy Award^® for her role in Wright's Atonement, Ronan's performance as the tenacious teenage heroine is a revelation, and her sharp thinking and cool energy are perfectly accentuated by The Chemical Brothers' breathless score.

Australian Premiere

Guest  Cate Blanchett

This film is classified M

• Director's Bio Joe Wright was born in London. His career as a director started in television. His feature-film debut, Pride & Prejudice, and his follow-up, Atonement, were both critically-acclaimed box-office hits. Hanna is his third film.