MovieChat Forums > Breach (2007) Discussion > Don't you feel a little sorry for him?

Don't you feel a little sorry for him?

posted 18 years ago by Kubrick_Reincarnated
136 replies | jump to latest

I do realize that the way Hanssen was portrayed in Breach could cause sympathy for him, and I realize that Hanssen was a pretty cold hearted bast****.

But throughout the entire film, I felt no sympathy for this man at all (mainly because he caused at least 3 murders).

However when I read that he spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, I was horrified. Here is a man who knows that he will have only 1 hour a day of human contact for the rest of his life. All for what? For violation of the Espionage Act which he pled guilty to. For $1.4 million in U.S. secrets that, in the end, didn't do that much damage (or at least visible damage).

So far, I don't think he deserves 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. Then I come to another reason he was imprisoned: For the lives of at least 3 people. However, Robert Hanssen didn't kill these people directly. And even murderers don't get 23 hours of solitary confinement a day.

In the end,I guess that when you kill an American, you get a life sentence without possibility of parole. But when you double-cross America, you get a life sentence without possibility of parole and 23 hours/day of solitary confinement.

What do you think?

"Heavy lies the crown."
Jack Nicholson, The Departed

[–] billyblackwood 13 years ago

He should of been executed. One bullet!
Would save the taxpayers a lot of money.
Waste of oxygen and a TRAITOR.

[–] smfilm 13 years ago

First
Hanssen revealed US intelligence assets that resulted in their deaths. He gave away secrets costing untold billions of taxpayer money and billions more to patch up the damage he had done. People have died. The long term security of the US has been compromised for decades in ways which may play out for decades to come.

He undoubtedly deserves the worst punishment we can legally give him.

Second
He is in ADX Florence Colorado, where he is isolated from the world and other people by design. He gets one hour a day of time away from his cell in a concrete courtyard known as 'the swimming pool'. He is still isolated except for whatever guards take him to and from. In his cell he has a black and white TV that shows religious and educational programming, and concrete stool, desk, and bed, and stainless shower and toilet. He sees the sky from the pool and an interior courtyard from a 4 inch slit window in his cell.

That is his entire life.

A former Warden of ADX Florence has come out saying that the inmates there are so isolated that it amounts to creating a hell on earth and he believes it fits the definition of cruel and unusual punishment.

So it looks like he is receiving the worst punishment we can give him.

I'm glad he is where he is and I don't feel sorry for him or bad about it for one second. I hope he's thinking about all the people who died and the safety of US citizens he compromised and all the work and hard earned money he wasted of people like you and I while he's sitting on his concrete slab looking through his 4 inch window for everyday of his life.

screw him

[–] chailey 12 years ago

Hanssen revealed US intelligence assets that resulted in their deaths. He gave away secrets costing untold billions of taxpayer money and billions more to patch up the damage he had done. People have died. The long term security of the US has been compromised for decades in ways which may play out for decades to come.

He undoubtedly deserves the worst punishment we can legally give him.

ITA
He's lucky not to get the death penalty (which he certainly knew was a possibility as he mentioned it in a letter to his KGB handlers). His actions did result in deaths, not only in the case of the Russian "assets" but in whatever information those assets could have gotten us. He apparently didn't do it for money and he didn't do it through idealism--as far as anyone can tell, he did it for a sense of excitement and simply because he could. He didn't have the excuse of youth, or naivete--he went into it with his eyes wide open.

The investigation into the possibility of a mole also unfairly targeted a CIA officer whose life was turned upside down for more than a year when he became a suspect.

[–] ricandersen 12 years ago

His lack of cooperation is why he was moved to a Supermax prison facility, which keeps him isolated from the general population.

[–] Jerry-137 12 years ago

Just for everyone's information. He is in a "SuperMax" prison in solitary confinement, period. That doesn't mean in that one hour out of a day he can communicate with anyone as that one hour is in an outdoor exercise cubicle. He cannot communicate with anyone else or he would lose that priviledge for a period as punishment. So the only humans he can talk to are the prison guards he may see when he's moved from his cell.

Most people in supermax prisons are too violent for normal prisons, have a history of escape, considered somewhat mentally ill and migh hurt himself or others, due to the type of crime committed he would his life would be in jeopardy, and/or in case of spies who have knowledge of national security secrets.

I agree with the OP that this many years later he should be considered for transfer to a communal prison. I don't think he would release any info because they would put him back in supermax (now that he knows the punishment). It could be they think he might be killed in general population prison due to him being a traitor.

**********************
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[–] teelions 12 years ago

When in solitary, that includes his one hour of recreation. That is, the one hour out of the cell is spent in the yard by himself.

[–] shempXIV 11 years ago

It's a little difficult to work-up any sympathy for a guy that's:

1) a traitor...and it's not like he did it for any "moral" or political reasons but FOR THE MONEY.

2) his actions led to the deaths of at least three people, perhaps more.

3) Worst case scenario: If there HAD been a war between the USA and the Soviet Union, who knows how much harm his actions could've caused.

Finally, our non-hero acted so high-and-mighty Holy and the fact of the matter was that he was a whore, a two-faced bastard.

I'll feel sorry for someone that deserves it, thank you.

[–] franzkabuki 11 years ago

"I do realize that the way Hanssen was portrayed in Breach could cause sympathy for him".

Showing a character as a complex human being with different dimensions to his personality doesn't necessarily mean he should be sympathized with - even if, for a moment or two, the on-setting despair of being at the of one's rope is made rather palpable. And what's really so sympathetic about this Hanssen guy, anyway? He does seem to form some manner of bond with our bland, mouth breathing boy toy of a protagonist, but so what? Other than that, he's a borderline religious looney and an uptight, somewhat delusional control freak. A fascinating character, but hardly much likeable. And of course he knew the rules of the game, so no reason to pity him for his ultimate fate.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] chrismrrw 10 years ago

I hate human suffering, and it's worse when someone does something in a fit of jealousy or anger, but this guy betrayed individuals and his country (and implicitly, its allies) for 22 years. Surely he must of had plenty of soul searching during that time, and he could see for himself what happens to people who are caught for espionage.

Maybe he just became addicted to the whole idea of having a secret and knowing something others didn't know. I know I'd be a paranoid wreck if I worked for a secretive service and was actively betraying them and costing lives and compromising national security.

The famous British double agent, Kim Philby, sold high level secrets to the soviets but apparently his motivation was that socialism/communism was the greater good for the world (although he was badly disappointed by it when he ended up living there).

My point is that at least he had some degree of moral conviction that he was doing something for what he thought was the greater good. Hanssen seems to have done it for pure personal gain and for 22 years must have known what the penalty would be.

He's really only got himself to blame for his greed and perhaps arrogance.

[–] Neo1599 10 years ago

[–] goldpink23 9 years ago

I just watched Breach and I'm NOT even a little bit surprised by people on IMDb feeling sorry for Robert Hanssen.It seems as if SOME Americans(Yes! You read that correctly,Americans)and non Americans always feel sympathy towards people who are traitors(ONLY to America) and talk about the United States as if it's the WORST country EVER.The second country(according to SOME of them) seems to be Israel.Although for SOME,Israel is the worst and America comes in second.

[–] 9 years ago

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