Everyone Has Reversals

Story Lessons, Big and Small (Warning: Spoilers!)

August 12, 2007

It's People, People

Saw Breach last week, and thought it was a tight, exciting spy thriller. No mean feat, considering it's based on the true story of Robert Hanssen, the biggest betrayer of CIA secrets in recent memory.

As a story, it almost shouldn't work. From the outset, we know this guy's doing wrong. And we know he's going to get caught (the movie isn't coy; we open with the press conference announcing his capture). Even the manner of Hanssen's downfall is fairly pedestrian -- one last dead drop.


Breach works because Robert Hanssen is one interesting sonovabitch. The man is a jumble of contradictions: an asshole boss, and a mentor. A devout Roman Catholic family man who attends mass regularly, with a behind-closed-doors lust for Catherine Zeta-Jones and a fetish for sharing sex tapes of he and his wife in bed. He's a paranoid egomaniac... and a man who desperately wants to be able to trust.


This mucky puddle of goo that is Hanssen's character is the draw of the film, and the source of all tension within it.


Just goes to show: if you've got an interesting character, you've got the meat of a story.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Jennica said...

And on a personal note... I'm going to have to be a bit flexible with my (already only once a week, I know) blogging for a while. I've got two projects in active development, and I'm moving at the end of the month. Sorry, mea culpa, my bad, 'n' all that. One day things will be normal again... one day!

8:11 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, Is your name Jennica Harper? If so, could I have your email I wanted to send you a poem.

5:30 p.m.  
Blogger Jennica said...

Hey, anon... yep, that's me! The question is, who are YOU? :)

If you visit my personal/writing website jennicaharper.com you can will my email address. Looking forward to hearing from you.

10:39 p.m.  
Blogger Kerry said...

As much as I agreed with you than Hansson was a fascinating character, I felt that the focus of the film didn't explore him sufficiently. His bundle of contradictions couldn't even begin to be sorted out with the story presented from Eric O'Neill's point of view, and therefore I never understood where Hansson came from. Of course I acknowledge really understanding Hansson would have been impossible, but I would have liked to have a start.

7:03 a.m.  
Blogger Jennica said...

This is such a tough one. I get where you're coming from, Kerry. For me, I'm more and more resisting that idea that a person can, in some way, be explained. For example, I'm really grateful that the film didn't delve into whatever moment/event caused Hanssen to snap way back when. Instead, he is simply multiple things at the same time -- which almost seems truer to human beings to me. In a way, I see this movie as being about that very thing -- our wild contradictions.

12:20 p.m.  

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