''Hanna K.'' is a 1983 drama film directed by

Costa-Gavras Konstantinos "Kostas" Gavras (; born 12 February 1933), known professionally as Costa-Gavras, is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for political films, such as the political thril ...

, starring Jill Clayburgh and

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...

. The film was an attempt to depict the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in human terms.Cheryl A. Rubenberg. "Israel and the American National Interest, A Critical Examination". University of Illinois Press, 1986. . p 340

Plot

''Hanna K.'' is the story of Hanna Kaufman, a child of

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivors and an American-Jewish immigrant to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, who is a court-appointed lawyer assigned to defend a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

, Salim Bakri, accused of terrorism and infiltration. Salim claims that he was trying to regain possession of his family house. Hanna saves him from a jail sentence, but he is deported to Jordan. Salim eventually returns, is jailed for illegal immigration, and he again asks for her services. Hanna investigates the story and discovered that Salim's family home is now a tourist attraction in Kafr Rimon, a settlement built and lived in by Russian Jews. Bakri's former village of Kufr Rumaneh has disappeared except for a few stones and trees. The state's attorneys offer Hanna a deal: if she drops the proceedings, they will arrange for Salim to become a South African citizen, and he can then return to Israel and try to get his property back. Hanna is confronted with the fact that one legacy of the Holocaust was the dispossession of the Palestinians while her colleagues attempt to persuade her of the merits of the arrangement for Salim with the argument that Israel must be "defended" even if Palestinians are denied their rights.

Reception and controversy

Pro-Israeli groups were concerned about the film's sympathetic depiction of the Palestinian issue. An internal memorandum was circulated by B'nai B'rith advising members about arguments which can be made against the film. ''Hanna K.'' opened in several American cities and played for a short time to negative reviews, and then was abruptly pulled from circulation by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

the American distributor of the film. Costa Gavras personally advertised the film in ''The New York Times'' at a cost of $50,000. Universal forbade him to use ads prepared for the film.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called it a "large, soggy dud" with ill-drawn characters and "dopey dialogue."

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...

said in a '' Village Voice'' review that "as a political as well as cinematic intervention, then ''Hanna K.'' is a statement of a great and, I believe, lasting significance."

Legacy

In her 1986 book ''Israel and the American National Interest, A Critical Examination'' Cheryl A. Rubenberg said that the film was a departure from the entertainment industry's traditionally sympathetic stance, as found in films and television docudramas such as '' Exodus'', '' The Chosen'', ''

A Woman Called Golda ''A Woman Called Golda'' is a 1982 American made-for-television film biopic of Israeli Prime Minister of Israel, Prime Minister Golda Meir directed by Alan Gibson (director), Alan Gibson and starring Ingrid Bergman in what would become the fina ...

'', and '' Entebbe.''

References

External links

* * {{Costa-Gavras 1983 films English-language French films English-language Israeli films 1983 drama films Films directed by Costa Gavras Israeli–Palestinian conflict films Films scored by Gabriel Yared French drama films Israeli drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s French films English-language drama films