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HANNA
D. -
THE GIRL FROM VONDEL PARK
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Review
by
Troy Howarth
Film:4
DVD:7
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| Hanna
(Ann-Gisel Glass) is the product of a broken home, and she goes
on a downward spiral into prostitution and drug addiction... |
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One
of the sleaziest of the Italian exploitation items of the 1970s
and 80s, Rino Di Silvestro's Hanna D. -
The Girl from Vondel Park is certainly never boring. The
film charts the downfall of angelic-looking Hanna, forced into
prostitution to support her mother's alcohol habit and ultimately
developing a nasty drug habit of her own. Di Silvestro doesn't
pull any punches in charting her degradation, opening the field
to copious amounts of nudity and the like. |
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The
film's major problem is typical of so many Italian exploitation
pictures: complete absence of detailed characterization. Despite
Di Silvestro's claims that he intended the film as a serious warning/message
picture, without any depth on screen to back it up it comes off
as a tawdry exploitation picture. There's nothing inherently wrong
with this in itself, but one gets the impression that Di Silvestro
is trying to have his cake and eat it, too. Hanna comes off as
a cipher, nothing more. It's difficult to fully empathize with
her, since she is painted in such broad strokes. While one doesn't
expect too much depth and heart in a film such as this, it still
works against the picture. |
The
cast does a competent job, though the performances are difficult
to appreciate thanks to the often goofy English dubbing. French
actress Ann-Gisel Glass (Rats:
Night of Terror) has the right look for the role,
but unsupported by the script and direction she gives a rather
blank performance. The best impression is made by Karin Schubert
(Cold Eyes of Fear, Black
Venus) as Glass' alcoholic, nymphomaniacal mother; she
overacts rather broadly, it's true, but she manages to inject
some real life into her scenes and makes the character appropriately
pathetic, even pitiable.
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Di
Silvestro (Women in Cellblock 7,
1973; Legend of the Wolf Woman, 1976)
directs with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. He brings no
visual style to bear on the proceedings and charts the various
degradations with the zeal of a documentarian. Still, the film
moves at a decent pace and has enough sleaze and action to keep
things interesting. It would prove to be his penultimate offering
as a director. Technical credits, including the rather bland cinematography
by the normally reliable Franco Delli Colli (What
Have They Done To Our Daughters?, 1974), are unremarkable. |
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Best
approached as sheer exploitation, Hanna D certainly delivers "the
goods," but you may want to hop in the shower after watching... |
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| Severin's
release of Hanna D. marks the film's
debut on DVD in the U.S. The 1.85/16x9 transfer looks very good
on the whole. There is some minor print damage — speckling, etc.
— but the elements are in very good condition and there are no
distracting authoring flaws. Some shots appear a bit soft but
this seems to have been a function of the cinematography. The
film is also completely uncut, retaining the abundant full frontal
nudity and other assorted "goodies" (including a shock close-up
of a female inmate having a vial of drugs removed from her anus!).
The mono English soundtrack is in good shape. The English dubbing
is pretty rough, however, making one wish that an Italian track
would have been provided as an alternative. |
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Extras are limited to a 42 minute on-camera
interview with the director. Di Silvestro, who passed away in
October of 2009, is incredibly intense as he discusses his philosophy
on cinema and the experience he had making Hanna
D. He makes some very inflated claims for the film and
his legacy ("My films are always envied") but there's little
doubting his sincerity. It's an interesting interview, occasionally
bordering on the frightening as the ashen-looking director begins
to rail about certain topics he clearly feels passionately about.
12/15/09 |
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