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Hannah Takes The Stairs
R1 - America - Genius Products Review written by and copyright: Rob Fields (30th March 2008). |
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The Film
 Okay, I’ll be the first to admit it. As soon as I got the e-mail listing what titles I needed to be on the lookout for – and saw this one in the list – the first thing that came to my mind was, “Okay, this is probably going to be a Hannah Montana title.” I say this because there were mostly family titles on the list. Still, I decided to go to one of the websites where I sometimes buy my DVD's and punched in the title. A smile quickly came to my face when I saw that “Hannah Takes the Stairs” was definitely NOT a Hannah Montana title, but an INDEPENDENT FILM!! My two favorite magic words these days. I just got back from seeing a bunch of these such films at the 32nd Cleveland International Film Festival. I’m finding that I enjoy these a lot more than the big budget Hollywood releases. For one thing, you know that the filmmaker has really put his heart and soul into making an independent film. It seems to me that Hollywood just doesn’t do that. It feels like the quality of a Hollywood movie is just not there. It feels like Hollywood is saying that movies are a dime-a-dozen. Okay, maybe Hollywood might crank out a few good movies every now and then. The last couple of Hollywood movies I saw just didn’t do it for me. At the Cleveland International Film Festival, I saw many independent and foreign films. I enjoyed a great deal of them, because I felt the quality was much better. The films were, for the most part, the full uncut versions. These were shown the way the filmmakers wanted you to see them, and were not subject to the MPAA. Sometimes you actually see big-name Hollywood actors doing them, which give me a new respect for the actors themselves. For the most part, the cast is mostly made up of unknowns. “Hannah Takes the Stairs” is made up of such a cast. Now, let’s see how the film fares. “Hannah Takes the Stairs” (1:23:42) – Hannah (Greta Gerwig), a restless college grad, spends a hot Chicago summer trying to figure it all out. Full of ambition and indecision, she’ll try to find a crush who can keep up with her and a project that will keep her stimulated, but she may just leave a trail of broken hearts. Also stars Mark Duplass, Kent Osbourne, Andrew Bujalski, Todd Rohal, and Ry Russo-Young. I must say that the characters are definitely interesting. Each one has their own unique personality. They do some of the craziest things, but it works when it comes to this film. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Some of the things that the characters talk about, it would almost seem like they’re drunk. They’re not, however. It could be these conversations that keep the interest factor up. After looking at the literature I received with this DVD, I can understand why. The dialogue is NOT SCRIPTED. Hey, it works. For all some people could know, the lines could very well have come from a real script. I also like the approach taken here. When watching this film, it almost seems like you’re watching this work of fiction in documentary fashion. The downsides? The only one I have here is that I felt Hannah’s issues weren’t totally resolved. But then that’s part of life. In some cases, almost no one can truly have their issues resolved. This didn’t take away from my total enjoyment of the film, however. That’s good. My final word: For those of you who want to check out an independent film and want an inaugural film to start with, I’ll throw this one your way as a recommendation. But, even if you don’t like it, don’t make it your only one. I used to be a person who would only watch the big budget Hollywood releases. My friend Brad kept on me until I finally agreed to watch some with him. Believe me, you WILL notice the difference between Hollywood and independent films. If “Hannah Takes the Stairs” were to be my first independent film, I would notice that the quality is better. I would know right away that Hollywood didn’t make this movie. These were things that I first understood. I wanted to see more, so I started going to the Cleveland International Film Festival year after year. Imagine what seeing this – and other – independent films will do to you? As for you who are still only interested in watching Hollywood movies, watch this film (or any independent film) – keeping an open mind. I DARE YOU!!
Video
The film is presented in an anamorphic widescreen format (1.85:1 ratio). The picture looks excellent. For an independent film, the colors stand out really well. The Weinstein Company/Genius Products did a great job on the transfer, since the picture is free from pixels and grain. This film is shot using digital video, so there are no traces of film grain to be found here. There is a chapter selection menu in case you want to go to particular point in the film.
Audio
The film features an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack. There are optional English and Spanish subtitles available (for the film only). The audio definitely sounds like a film festival type film. The mix definitely doesn’t blow you away. It certainly doesn’t fill the whole room. But the dialogue is heard with perfect clarity. You almost may think that it comes out of the center speaker. In truth, you won’t really know which side is which unless you go up to your speakers and listen for yourself first-hand. There isn’t much along the lines of a musical score, but it works for this movie.
Extras
Genius Products has released this film along with a feature-length audio commentary track, a featurette, a short film, a deleted scenes segment, production diary spots, and the film’s theatrical trailer make up the extras here. Below the extras are explained in greater detail. The extras have no optional subtitles. There is a feature length audio commentary track by writer/director Joe Swanberg and actors/co-writers Greta Gerwig (Hannah) and Kent Osborne (Matt). Since the people who will view this film don’t have access to my notes, they’ll find out soon enough through this option that the film is entirely unscripted. The track itself is very informative and you learn about some of the other cast members and other bits of trivia. Definitely worth the listen. There is a "Behind-the-scenes" featurette which runs 6 minutes and 59 seconds. Here you see various shots of the cast just laughing it up and having fun while making this movie. Some of them are talking about other things in general. In some cases, this could also double as the blooper reel. At times, you hear the director talking to his cast while he’s shooting them. A short film is included. "Thanks For the Add!" (2006) runs 4 minutes and 43 seconds. Greta asks Kent if she can borrow his cell phone. She calls her boyfriend and just rambles on. Like “Hannah Takes the Stairs”, the dialogue is probably improvised. "Deleted Duges" is a reel that runs 6 minutes and 39 seconds of deleted scenes. There are no menus for selections. These are mostly scenes featuring Rohal’s character ‘Brian Duges’ – hence the name of the feature. The "SXSW Film Festival" video production diary spots features these 5 spots: - "Day 3: Mic" runs for 1 minute 13 seconds – Greta gets a microphone placed into her shirt by a tech guy she is unfamiliar with, and she is NOT happy about it. - "Day 5: Erection" runs for 1 minute 29 seconds – Greta and Kent are told they need to go into the bathroom for a scene. And Kent now has a problem. - "Day 12: Duplass" runs for 1 minute 11 seconds – Mark and Andrew are about to shoot a fight scene when he gets a call on his cell phone. - "Day 16: McGriddles" runs for 1 minute 16 seconds – Andrew and Kent are talking about a blog in which Joe is called ‘McGriddles’. - "Day 20: Rohal" runs for 1 minute 11 seconds – Four cast members are having trouble with their instructions from the director. Rounding out the extras is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 53 seconds.
Overall
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