By Francisco Silva -
The best thing about Sean Baker's Anora is how he subverts the trope by not addressing it at all and shifting the point of view to the sex worker instead of the men around her. Ani (Mikey Maddison), short for Anora, is a bubbly and cheerful stripper in New York when she's requested to spend time with a rich Russian client, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). The two hit it off, and Ivan ends up requesting that Ani spend more and more time with him until they get married in Vegas. When his family finds out, Ivan runs away, leaving Ani with three brutish gangsters to look for him before his powerful and influential parents land in the United States.
Anora is divided into two parts. The first half is a charming fantasy about indulgence. Ani is happy to play the role of the girlfriend, for a price, of course, but is easily charmed by Ivan’s lavish lifestyle. There are no repercussions in this world. They can be as unpredictable as they want, and in the end, a group of maids will come and clean everything. Then there’s the second half when the reality comes crashing in. Ani still believes Ivan is the boy she married, so it comes as a surprise when he runs away and leaves her with three dangerous men – that Ani expertly deals with using a mix of street smarts and hyper-awareness.
What is impressive is how slowly Anora reveals itself to be a film about class difference. The final confrontation with Ivan’s family puts Ani in a situation where her street experience won’t work, forcing her into a position of powerlessness. There’s a moment when reality comes down crashing like an avalanche when he learns that lesson we always knew—there is no justice when facing people with enough money to buy power.
Baker is an interesting filmmaker. His films focus on the outcast – trans people, a single mother living in a motel outside of Disneyland – but they are injected with this joy for life and rarely feel patronising. His camera lingers like cinema verité, often shot on an iPhone for more of that true-to-life feeling. He’s not there to exploit their misery but to give them some time to shine. And that’s where Anora stands out. Baker doesn’t just give her voice; he lets Maddison flesh out that character with so much intensity that she bursts through the screen. She never feels completely lost (apart from that scene at the end when the reality of her status hits her in the face) because she’s the result of her own experiences – a person who always had to make do with the hand dealt to her, fight for her own financial independence. She is resilient because anyone in her circumstances would be.
Baker’s observation is only heightened by Maddison’s career-defining performance. Our favourite of the year, she’s somewhere between Giulietta Masina and Shirley MacLaine. Her performance is so pitch perfect that it uncovers the film’s only misstep – in the last scene, a tender moment between Ani and one of the gangsters is broken by Ani doing something I found utterly out of character by her and Maddison’s standard. Just a tiny moment that reminded me that this film was written by a straight man, and some impulses are hard to let go of.
It doesn’t take away from the film’s power. Anora is a joyful masterpiece.
Verdict: 4.5 out of 5
Like an Adriana-centric episode of The Sopranos directed by John Cassavetes
Ticket giveaway – Mickey 17
LSJ and Warner Bros. have five double passes for the upcoming sci-fi comedy Mickey 17.
From the Academy Award-winning writer/director of “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho, comes his next groundbreaking cinematic experience, “Mickey 17.” The unlikely hero, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living. In cinemas March 6. Watch the trailer here.
For a chance to win one of the passes, email your LawID details to journal@lawsociety.com.au with the subject line MICKEY 17 by 9am on Tuesday 6 March.
