Hannah Takes The Stairs

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 Takes The Stairs is a collaboration between the director and his tight-knit cast. Love interest number one is played by Mark Duplass, who directed the film festival hit The Puffy Chair; love interest number two is played by Andrew Bujalksi, whose has achieved critical acclaim to a near inexplicable degree for his own pair of comparably aimless dramas Mutual Appreciation and Funny Ha Ha). Love interest number three Kent Osborne has directed short films and TV programs. Hannah's roommate is played by Ry Russo-Young, the director of Orphans, another indie film which attracted attention on the festival circuit. Gerwig is a playwright. In addition to direction, writing, and production credits, Swanberg also shot the film himself using a hand held camera.

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.