Hannah Takes The Stairs

Mumblecore has officially hit it big. Well, at least big by super low-budget indie standards. It's a vital moment in the genre's lifetime. Just as it's beginning to morph in cinephile public opinion from a mere festival trend to a popular movement expressing the voice of an entire generation, Hannah Takes The Stairs arrives in theaters offering the best of the best in terms of talkie talents. Directed and edited by Joe Swanberg but listed in its opening credits as "A Film By Joe Swanberg, Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, Andrew Bujalski, Ry Russo-Young, Mark Duplass, Tod Rohal, and Kevin Bewersdorf," the movie is a true collaboration between the Mumblecore maestros who've emerged in past 10 years. Beyond the basic script comes endless improvisation and added elements, creating something of cohesive tone but unique character voices. Each actor disappears dramatically into their roles. More so than ever before, we're tricked into feeling like we're watching authentic people and not performers in crafted parts.

Gerwig stands out most notably in a passionate and utterly complete turn as Hannah, an emotionally complicated, sometimes unlikable girl who is inescapably drawn to the thrill of new romance. She gets tangled up with men and loses her sadness in their newness only to grow bitter and guilty once the "realness" settles in. It's a pretty hideously accurate peek into the life of a 21st century serial dater and Gerwig plays the part too beautifully to express. She makes something epically emotional out of a conundrum so small in the grand scheme of things. Her climactic realization of her destructive behavior and subsequent decision to continue the cycle anyway is chilling and heartbreaking in a way that few films are. She's wounded and raw in a way that's neither softened by that signature Sundance quirk nor falsened by synthetic Oscar-bait grit. She is just utterly real to us. There's no getting around it.

Mark Duplass, Andrew Bujalski, and Kent Osborne are also likable and charming as the many men of Hannah's life. Perhaps they crumble a bit too readily at her feet, but each one still creates an enjoyable and understandably appealing partner for Hannah. In the end, we realize they've been lured in and then swatted down like flies. But until then we root for them and for her. It's a rarity that someone can behave so badly and still be sympathetic. We feel badly for the rejected men but still remain fascinated by Hannah and her hurtful impulses, still hoping she'll do better next time.

Hannah Takes The Stairs may not be the best of the Mumblecore flicks so far, but it feels like a further evolution toward perfecting the style into something more universal and concrete. Nonetheless, this is probably Swanberg's best yet and another jewel in the Mumblecore crown. There's no other avenue of media with such delicate, honest, and strikingly uncompromised depictions of the current twentysomething demographic of college kids and post-grads. It's art in imitating life in the greatest, most satisfying way.

Grade: A