Blessed is the Match: The life and death of Hannah Senesh (Roberta Grossman 2008): USA

Reviewed by Jesse Solomon. Viewed at the 2009 Santa Barbara Film Festival.

There were a few things that really surprised me about Blessed is the Match: The life and death of Hannah Senesh. First of all I had originally thought I was at the screening of “Living with Big Cats,” but after a few minutes of footage of Hungary in the 1940s, I decided I probably wouldn’t be seeing any big cats anytime soon. Secondly ,documentaries do not usually capture me attention; I’m the kind of person that cannot sit through a film if someone spoils the ending, especially if it is a documentary with an already obvious conclusion. Thirdly, I had never heard of the Hungarian Jew Hannah Senesh, played wonderfully by Meri Roth, who was a member of the only Jewish rescue mission assembled during World War II.

This documentary, directed by Roberta Grossman, follows the life of the Senesh family, an upper class Jewish family living in Budapest, Hungry. Hannah’s father was a playwright and died at a young age and her mother was left to take care of her two beautiful children Hannah and Giora. From early childhood on Hannah was an extremely articulate girl, dictating poetry to her mother even before she could write. In the years before WWII Hannah decides to become a Zionist, disregards her high marks in school, and moves to the soon-to-be-established country of Israel to work on a farm. When WWII breaks out in full force, Hannah joins a resistance group whose mission is to rescue as many Jews as possible and build up a resistance army in Eastern Europe. At one point in the film they interviewed one of her friends who said when asked why she was doing this daunting task Hannah replied, “For my country and for my Heart.” Throughout her life Hannah kept diaries, writing exceptional poetry and short stories which were eventually published as a best selling series. Her story is almost a parallel one to Ann Frank, who tries to stay hidden and alive while Hannah is just trying to fight and save those who are suffering. It is an extraordinary story about someone who truly fought for what she believed in, and it was also extremely refreshing to look at this horrific period of time through another lens, a view of hope.

This documentary was so extremely interesting, there was not one moment when I thought I knew what was coming. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It is narrated beautifully, with the music of the time playing to highlight certain emotional events, and interviews with the surviving few who knew Hannah during her life. I recommend this film to anyone looking for a truly inspiring story about a girl who gave all she had for her country and her heart.