2. THEMES
Hanna The dark knight
The opening scene of the film
involves the joker committing a
crime. This immediately shows
themes of crime as he is robbing a
bank and using a school bus as a
getaway vehicle. This is similar in
the manner of violence to Hannah
however the opening scene of
Hannah was much more tranquil
and accepting of her violent act.
‘Hanna’ begins by a peaceful
introduction to the main character.
Here Hanna is seen in stealth mode
in the forest. This tranquility is
quickly shattered by her attack on an
innocent animal as she fires an
arrow into it. This could have
symbolised the start of the violence.
3. CHARACTERS
Both Characters are displayed as quite ruthless and not afraid to hurt people in order to complete a task.
The screenshot on the left shows Hanna shooting a dear after already killing it with an arrow. She
whispers “I just missed your heart” before firing a bullet into it. This was an unnecessary act but added
effect to our opinion of her character. The Joker is seen on the right to be sticking a bomb into a bank
workers’ mouth. This shows that he wants to show off about his crimes and does not go about doing them
discreetly. Hence why in the opening scene he robs a bank with a school bus.
4. DEVICES
‘Hanna’ uses exposition to give background information to the audience about the setting and the
characters of the story. This can be seen when she is in the forest. However, in the opening of
‘Hanna’ the audience doesn’t really get a clear idea of what the main character looks like. Whereas
a close up of The Joker (as seen below) gives the audience a look at what type of person he is and
this is emphasized by the fact that he reveals his mask to show this.
5. LOCATIONS
The location of ‘Hanna’ appears to be set in a very cold, remote area. This intrigues the
audience as to how she is living there and why. ‘The Dark Knight’ is set in the polar
opposite in a city. This suggests a fast pace thriller and fits in with the genre of crime
as there is often lots of crime in the city.
6. PROPS & COSTUMES
Props and costume add to the appearance of the character. Both characters are well
hidden in the opening scene until they reveal their identity at the end. This builds up
tension and suspense which is key in thriller films. Hanna uses more traditional
weapons like arrows and a gun whereas The Joker is more advanced and uses bombs in
the opening scene. This may give an insight into their background and/or how they will
come to use these types of props in the future.
