The film Hannah Takes the Stairs, released in 2007 and directed by Joe Swanberg is the story of a woman who tries out many different relationships while trying to find the perfect fit (IMDb). The movie is shot like a documentary, with a very casual camera angle which makes it seem like you aren’t even watching a film. I believe the film gets its name due to the “stairs” that Hannah climbs throughout her relationships. She begins at the bottom, with a man who is unemployed, and makes her way to the top, with a man who she can play the trumpet in the bath with.
The movie begins with Hannah and her first boyfriend, Mike, who are in the bath. Mike is currently unemployed, but Hannah gets dressed and heads to work, where she messes around with her two bosses, Matt and Paul, by throwing a ball at them. Mike shows up smiling and asks around to see where Hannah might be, and he calls her to surprise her. She ignores the call. He enters the room where she is with her bosses, and he asks to take her to lunch. She seems embarrassed that her boyfriend came, but her boss invites him to a party that they are having. That night, Hannah is drinking in between her boyfriend and her boss, the man she is clearly attracted to, Paul. She tells her roommate and trusted friend, Rocco, that she wants to dump Mike. The next day, after a lot of convincing, Hannah goes to the beach with Mike. While there, they have a nice time, but as soon as they get home, Hannah starts freaking out. Mike breaks up with Hannah, repeating that he’s not upset, and she chews her ice, loudly. The next scene starts with loud music and a clip of Hannah dancing hysterically with Rocco. They come home, lay half naked on the floor of their apartment in front of a fan, but eventually switch to a cold bath. The next day at work, she is informed that her boss Paul wrote a book. She’s overly thrilled. She invites him to come up to her apartment to meet her roommate, but the Rocco quickly leaves the two alone. They bond, and the next day at work, they kiss. Eventually they start becoming this clingy mess, where they pee in front of eachother and cuddle while watching some kid go crazy outside. Matt, Hannah’s other boss, becomes annoyed by this, as he most certainly should. Hannah eventually hangs out with Matt alone and they have a nice time. While hanging out, Hannah learns that Matt plays the trumpet, just like herself. She invites him over to play with her. The next scene shows Hannah’s attempt to distance herself from her current boyfriend and boss, Paul, as he tries to say cute things to her and she tries to get him to leave. She now begins to hang out with Matt more and more as Paul becomes more and more involved with his book. She even talks about how unavailable Paul has become and how much it bothers her. She discloses to Matt that she believes she has chronic dissatisfaction, and states that she does not want to use Matt. She eventually cheats on her Paul with Matt. The next day, she dumps Paul, and she’s back in bed with Matt. The film ends with Hannah and Matt in the bath together, both playing the trumpet. A majority of the film is Mumblecore, which is described by Alex Ferrari as, “fairly raw, , natural acting and usually non-scripted dialogues or improv. They’re stories about real life, about personal relationships and non mainstream topics, most commonly of adult beings in their 20s, 30s and 40s”. According to Nick Dawson, “Hannah Takes the Stairs is a lot more linear and conventional than Swanberg’s previous work, despite the fact that it was almost entirely improvised”. I found it fascinating that this film was improvised. That gave me a newfound appreciation for the actions and the characters they portrayed throughout the film. IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841108/ Alex Ferrari: https://indiefilmhustle.com/mumblecore/ Nick Dawson: http://filmmakermagazine.com/1278-joe-swanberg-hannah-takes-the-stairs/#.WIlkjfkrK01
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