45/13
Once word reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as her parents head to New York to annul the wedding
Line of Events
Anora, a young prostitute from Brooklyn, impulsively meets and marries the son of an oligarch. IMDb editor Arno Kazarian previews 12 films he will screen at the 2024 New York Film Festival, including Anora and the dangerous and strangely erotic Mercy. At the Cannes Film Festival press conference, Mikey Madison said director Sean Baker played different sexual positions with his wife, producer Samantha Quan, to show the actors what he wanted them to do. In the Las Vegas scene, the character refers to “McCarran Airport”; although Las Vegas International Airport was known as McCarran International Airport for decades, its name was changed to Harry Reid International Airport in late 2021. Igor: PLEASE! STOP! SCREAMING!.
Featured in Spotlight: Anora (2024)
In Anora, Sean Baker continues to explore the darker corners of life and its inhabitants that we usually prefer to ignore. But this time the scales have been tipped higher. In a beautiful parallel between director and subject, the vast increase in production value (this is a Universal film) goes hand in hand with the fortunes of his new protagonist. While Mikey, the central character in Baker’s previous film, Red Rocket, rode his bike around a rundown rural neighborhood, Anora can travel on private jets and stay in obscenely lavish penthouse suites. Her workplace is also spacious and luxurious, like a strip club. Such an increase in scope and budget comes with higher stakes and higher risks, but that doesn’t seem to faze Baker. In fact, this may be his most reliable film to date.
In many ways, Anora feels like a familiar, modern archetype
She’s a prostitute at ease and good at it. She knows what she wants, and all her clients seem to get the job done. Even when the rebellious Russian playboy Vanya shows up at her club, he seems to get it too. Sure, she’ll come back to him and provide a little extra service, but he’ll be happy to pay. Yes, she’ll come back tomorrow, but he’s got the money. Yes, she’ll be his girlfriend for a week, but she’ll haggle over the price. But when she suddenly (but inevitably) goes too far and proposes marriage in Vegas, we can see that she’s in deep.
Sometimes it’s hard to understand
What does she see in him? Maybe just the promise of a completely different life. As in all Baker’s films, there’s unease and tension everywhere. Her characters are so vulnerable, yet so scatterbrained and stubborn, that you never relax. When terrifying Russian thugs show up to force the wedding annulment, Anora couldn’t be less intimidated. Much of the film is devoted to this conflict – a battle of wills – and this act is a masterpiece of black comedy. Again and again, tense and sometimes violent moments are punctuated by a hilarious reaction, a joke or a transition to a later moment.
Yes, Anora’s tantrums, constant stupidity and relentless screaming can be ear-splitting
But there is always empathy with her, her behavior is completely understandable, her performance (by Mikey Madison) is unforgettable. While you might expect what is essentially the story of a doomed marriage to sound leaden, Anora is a truly sensual film, beautiful and lively to look at and listen to, unabashedly exciting, full of energy and flashes of unexpected comedy. I rarely felt it running out of steam, despite its length. I was always waiting (and sometimes dreading) what the next scene would bring.
(40)