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![]() Hannah and Love Interest Number One wear swim goggles. IFC Films Suggested ReadingHannah Takes The StairsFrom Marcy Dermansky Or Hannah and Her LoversGuide Rating - ![]() Young independent director Joe Swanberg's third film opens with Hannah (Greta Gerwig), naked in the shower, and ends with Hannah, naked in the bathtub. Both times, she has company. A smart girl, pretty, with short blond hair, interesting birthmarks, and hipster glasses, the young college graduate is a genuine heart breaker--albeit an unlikely one. Hannah works at a small production company in Chicago where she unintentionally creates havoc with her smitten co-workers. She plays the trumpet. Frequent nudity (both female and male) notwithstanding, Hannah Takes The Stairs is not a slick, sexy film -- far from it. Swanberg's improvised, low budget, digitally shot film is comprised almost entirley of aimless conversations, replete with awkward silences and random non-sequiturs. We are frequent witness to Hannah and her artistically inclined friends sitting around: at work, at parties, in their unfurnished apartments, sitting around all the time, saying and doing nothing much. Hannah also waits for the bus. The unexpected appeal of this seeming non-story is cumulative; what begins as a maddening portrait of a microcosm of liberal, well-educated white kids (with the occasional ethnic friend) steadily grows on you. Much credit has to be given to Gerwig's understated and lovely performance; Hannah's "chronic dissatisfaction" is easy to recognize and emphasize with, especially when she is at her worst: selfish, manipulative, and self-pitying. ![]() Hannah and Love Interest Number Two sit on the couch. IFC Films This insular group makes a posse, perhaps the next generation of filmmakers to look out for. They've got talent and drive and a tightly focused interest in capturing day-to-day life as they live it. Here's hoping their lives get a little more interesting. Suggested Reading |
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