Her opposite number Dirk Bogarde once described it as “The Look”: the mysterious, cat-like gaze of actress Charlotte Rampling’s grey-green eyes; deep wells of emotion and grief. Rampling was 71 when she made Hannah and her gaze may well be deeper than ever.
Hannah’s world collapses in slow motion when her husband is imprisoned. Denying us and Hannah information, filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro puts us in her shoes – she refuses to face the facts. Pallaoro captures her life, precariously balanced between reality and denial, in carefully composed shots.
The filmmaker described this work as an ‘existential Giallo’ – a type of Italian thriller. The tension lies not in what happened, but in what this elicits in Hannah’s mind; restrained behind Rampling’s eyes. Only during her acting lessons can Hannah tentatively express what lies hidden there.
Film details
- Countries of production
- Belgium, France, Italy
- Year
- 2017
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2018
- Length
- 95'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
