Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search
Multiple Screenshots In Posts

Anora (2024)

SeanC

By SeanC
in Movies

Recommended Posts

SeanC

SeanC

Sean Baker's latest film, the winner of the 2024 Palme d'Or, and poised to be his most commercially successful feature to date by some way, as well as possibly his big awards breakthrough. As someone who has liked Baker's work to varying degrees, but often come away with at least one prominent niggle about a given film (or, in the case of Tangerine, finding it mostly annoying but with an unforgettable ending), I would provisionally cite this as his best work to date. While not flawless (I might agree with the critique offered elsewhere that the middle of the film perhaps goes on a bit too long), it's funny, emotionally affecting when it wants to be, and centered on a great lead performance.

That performance is Mikey Madison (probably heretofore most recognizable to filmgoers for getting a memorably extended demise at the hands of Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as the title character, a Brooklyn exotic dancer who finds herself hired by Ivan, the immature son of a Russian oligarch. Embarking on an extended bacchanal that culminates in a marriage proposal, she soon finds herself in a sticky situation as Ivan's parents react poorly to their son's imprudent match and dispatch a frustrated subordinate and his two minions to help sort the situation out.

The above may sound like the film turns into a thriller, but that is not really the case. For the most part, Anora is set in a decidedly comic register, with Madison's brassy heroine and the henchman trio's antics supplying a fair number of chuckles, both from verbal and physical humour. As with Baker's other films, the details of the setting and of the lives of the characters feel very authentic, even when (as here) the scenario at times feels like a particularly ribald screwball comedy. The ending of the film cracks into a different emotional space, again powered by Madison and an affecting supporting turn by Yura Borisov, who quietly sneaks up on you over the course of the second half of the story. If Baker has always been concerned with America's working poor and strivers, here for the first time he brings the overarching villains of the piece into the picture: the ultra-wealthy, embodied by the Zakharov family.

  • Like 4
StatisticalOutlier

StatisticalOutlier

On 11/16/2024 at 5:31 PM, SeanC said:

an affecting supporting turn by Yura Borisov, who quietly sneaks up on you over the course of the second half of the story.

No kidding.  There was a great scene where Ani was talking to someone offscreen.  She and Igor were in the shot, but only a portion of her face, and all of Igor's as he watched the conversation.  Fantastic.

And, that fight in the mansion?  Epic. 

  • Like 1
StatisticalOutlier

StatisticalOutlier

And about the guy who played Igor--I spent the whole movie thinking he looks just like Mike Judge.  Then I looked him up and realized he was in this Finnish movie called Compartment No. 6 that I drove 50 miles on surface streets in Chicago to see.  And on the 50-mile drive back, I was really glad I'd gone.

If you like what he did with his part in Anora, you'll probably enjoy Compartment No. 6, too.

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Useful 2
Affogato

Affogato

I liked this well enough, I saw it a while ago and I remember not being overwhelmed by its brilliance.  I was bappy to have seen it.  I do absolutely get the American working class cleaning up after the oligarchs, whatever their immaturities, and the final outcome that doesn’t change much for anyone. Like real life right now. I wonder if this will be ine of the movies that is remembered fondly in retrospective lists. 
 

 

StatisticalOutlier

StatisticalOutlier

I was shocked when the producer said they made the movie for $6 million.  It was shot in 40 days, including ten shooting days just for the fight in the mansion

I really appreciated Sean Baker's speech (and his joke about the mess of footage he had to deal with as the editor).  He walks the walk--he shot this one on 35mm film, and it was shown on 35mm in some theaters.  Even though his first movie, Tangerine, was shot using three iphones.  But he did that not because it was all he could afford or whatever, but because he liked the look of what the iphone would produce--it was an aesthetic choice.

As for this movie, I found this quote from the cinematographer enlightening:

"We decided that the first part of this journey needed to convey a certain heightened reality, of youthful exuberance and vitality, via freedom of the camera and through color and warmth in the image, almost like a romantic comedy. For the second part, we determined to punctuate the dramatic change in the story by shooting with quite a different visual language, more like a gangster film and by shifting into a colder and more austere color palette."

https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/anora/

I was really happy when the Oscars showed just a quick cut of Anora screaming during the fight.  That must have been a wild ten days.

 

  • Like 2
SoMuchTV

SoMuchTV

28 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

A movie starring a russian propagandist who filmed in russian-occupied parts of Ukraine gets wide praise at the Oscars just after the American president openly reveals himself as Putin's bitch. Somebody please wake me up from this nightmare.

Wow! I’m not the most popular culture savvy, but I do keep up a little bit, and I’m surprised I haven’t heard a hint about this. 

  • Like 1
StatisticalOutlier

StatisticalOutlier

On 3/3/2025 at 4:52 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

Even though his first movie, Tangerine, was shot using three iphones. 

Coming here to correct myself:  Tangerine wasn't his first movie; it was the first one that got a lot of notice.

And for those who watched the Oscars, he's 54 years old.  If somebody had told me the guy I was looking at was in his 30s, I would absolutely have believed it.

  • Like 1
AngieBee1

AngieBee1

51 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

And for those who watched the Oscars, he's 54 years old.  If somebody had told me the guy I was looking at was in his 30s, I would absolutely have believed it.

Same.  Nearly 60? He looks like he's in his mid-30s.

Really loved the film. It seems rare that a comedic film wins Best Picture. The Academy members has loosened up in recent years with "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" and "Green Book" receiving honours.

I was all in on "Conclave" and was pushing for it to sweep, but if it had to lose to anything I'm glad it was "Anora".

Constantinople

Constantinople

Anora is among the most boring movies I've ever seen. It shouldn't have been nominated for any Academy Awards much less won any.

The first 40 to 60 minutes are

  • Anora and Vanya fucking
  • Anora and Vanya drinking
  • Vanya cracking "jokes" that are only funny if you're drunk and the one making them
  • Anora watching Vanya play video games

That one of them is a stripper/escort and the other is the son of a Russian oligarch doesn't make either one of them any less inane. I can't imagine having a conversation with either one of them beyond "Some weather we're having". Unfortunately walking out would have bene misinterpreted as being prudish.

The first part of the movie was a scene from Annie Hall

Quote

 

Alvy Singer (Woody Allen): (approaches two people on the street)

Alvy Singer: Here, you look like a very happy couple, um, are you?

Woman: Yeah.

Alvy Singer: Yeah? So, so, how do you account for it?

Woman: Uh, I'm very shallow and empty and I have no ideas and nothing interesting to say.

Man : And I'm exactly the same way.

Alvy Singer: I see. Wow. That's very interesting. So you've managed to work out something

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nDtYgdzcCog

 

As a 25 second scene it's amusing. As the first 40%(?) of a movie that runs over 2 hours, it's intolerable.

With the possible  exception of Igor, the remaining characters are no better. Most of them, like Vanya, are also clowns. Unfortunately we see quite a lot of them when everyone's arguing at Vanya's parents house and after Vanya runs away. 

The search for Vanya becomes the most tedious unintended "homage" to After Hours I've ever seen. Scenes go on far too long or are superfluous or both. It's a bad sign while watching a movie that you're wondering, How did this win Best Editing?

It's also a bad sign when you can't wait for the annulment because you want the movie to end. I've watched several 3+ hour movies in the last 6 months. Even with Spartacus, which has too many scenes of soldiers walking around, I never checked the time. This interminable movie runs for 2 hours and 19 minutes and feels so much longer.

The actress who played Anora wasn't bad, but she in no way made her character interesting or elevated this shit material. How this is worthy of Best Actress or even a nomination I cannot understand. If this really was one of the 5 best performances by an actress in a leading role, movie audiences are in trouble.

However, this movie and the Bechdel test inspired me to create a test of my own.

It's a red flag when a major character is so boring you can't imagine a 5 minute chat with them without running away screaming. It's fatal when that's the titular character.

  • Like 6
Wiendish Fitch

Wiendish Fitch

I thought Anora was fine, but absolutely nothing to write home about. Yes, I did like how it was the anti-Pretty Woman, and seeing Ani tell off those awful people was rewarding, but other that... meh? No, it isn't as an infuriating a Best Picture winner as Crash (and thank the heavens Emilia Perez didn't win), but... really? This won over Wicked, Conclave, or even The Substance?

Speaking of which, someone on Twitter snarked that Mikey Madison's Best Actress win was basically the plot of The Substance. 

 

  • Like 1
  • Applause 1
Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

10 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I thought Anora was fine, but absolutely nothing to write home about. Yes, I did like how it was the anti-Pretty Woman, and seeing Ani tell off those awful people was rewarding, but other that... meh? No, it isn't as an infuriating a Best Picture winner as Crash (and thank the heavens Emilia Perez didn't win), but... really? This won over Wicked, Conclave, or even The Substance?

Speaking of which, someone on Twitter snarked that Mikey Madison's Best Actress win was basically the plot of The Substance. 

 

Yup. I have nothing against Mikey, but Demi Moore was robbed. If the Oscars wanted a surprise Best Actress win, why couldn’t it at least been Cynthia?

  • Like 2
Chyromaniac

Chyromaniac

I saw Anora when it was first in theaters, and I thought it was terrific.  It just felt "real" in a way that I hadn't seen in a movie in a long time, or in any other from 2024.  Like, obviously the story is fantastical - but I felt the characters were reacting to the events largely in ways that "real people" would.  With Mikey Madison in particular, if I hadn't known otherwise, I might've thought that she just was that girl.  I think that speaks to her talent as a performer, as well as Sean Baker's ability to help craft the role (and the story overall) through his writing, directing, and editing.

So as far as the awards go, I think they were earned.  That's not to say I didn't also enjoy Wicked, or The Substance, or most of the other nominees that I was able to catch - they were just good in different ways from Anora, just as Cynthia's or Demi's performances were good in different ways than Mikey's.  To put it another way, yes, it's a cliche to say that it's "an honor just to be nominated."  But that does mean that they were all "award worthy" - at that point, whoever wins is kind of academic.  

  • Like 3
slowpoked

slowpoked

I caught this now that it’s on Hulu, and it was a good movie, but nothing that blew me away as a BP winner. Definitely has great acting from Mikey and Yuri. Sean Baker succeeded in making villains out of the oligarchy, but to me the most irritating villain was Toros. He’s acting like the world owed him favors just because he failed to babysit his spoiled big baby - the tow truck, the way he attacked those young people in the diner who couldn’t care less about his plight, the way he kept on interrupting the judge on why he’s letting Ani speak (hello, she is the OTHER PARTY to the divorce, of course she can speak!), etc.

A part of me wished that Ani called their bluff and didn’t get on that plane, especially after realizing her husband is just one big spoiled brat who couldn’t care less about her. I’m sure if she ran away from the plane, Igor wouldn’t chase after her. He had that slow realization those are horrid people when they think Vanya didn’t have anything to apologize for while they were signing the divorce papers.

This has been loosely compared to Pretty Woman, and I see the similarities. But in terms of movies about strippers and sex work, I honestly found Hustlers the more compelling movie in terms of highlighting their plight. Anora was a young 23 yr old who still had the world ahead of her, despite what happened. In Hustlers, the strippers are mothers supporting both their kids and elderly parents. That is their life. It also went deeper into the world of stripping in how they had to train Constance Wu to be a much better stripper (“drain the clock, not the cock”).

But Hustlers never made any traction in the Oscars, even though I think JLo deserved a Supporting nom,  and Jessica Pressler an adapted screenplay nom. So what do I know?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

  • Like 2
AngieBee1

AngieBee1

3 hours ago, tv echo said:

Out of curiosity, I checked Anora's box office numbers - its domestic (US) opening number was only $550,503. Its domestic opening number in the UK was only $479,884. So it's pretty amazing that it got so much awards recognition in the US and UK...

The people voting on awards aren't necessarily paying to see the films; they get screeners, go to screenings, some studios even rent out a local cinema and during set showtime a member can show their guild card and watch the film.

  • Useful 1
Chyromaniac

Chyromaniac

(edited)

That $550K opening was from just 6 theaters in October, for a 2024 best $91K per screen average.  From there Neon did a gradual rollout, and eventually made $53 million worldwide off a $6 million budget.  No, Anora was not a huge movie with the general public - but Neon did a good job of getting it in front of the audience for this film.  And, I feel like the buzz that Anora built up with those art house crowds in late fall is at least part of what put it on the radar of awards voters.  Of course, being Palme d'Or at Cannes was a big factor as well.

Edited by Chyromaniac
SlovakPrincess

SlovakPrincess

Yeah, I dunno about this movie ... the idea for the story is intriguing, but giving the characters interesting personalities would've helped.  Everyone was just kind of unpleasant and shallow.  

And in the case of Ani, kind of contradictory.  Vanya was obviously a useless, spoiled child from the get-go, and Ani seemed pretty street smart, so it was uncharacteristically naive of her to marry this shallow, immature doofus on a whim and then be surprised when he let her down.  Vanya was both very poorly written and miscast as a character -- I just didn't buy Ani falling for him or trusting him enough to marry him.  

The very ending scene with Ani and Igor's henchman-with-a-heart-of-gold character was also kind of an eye-rolling moment for me.  I really like the actor and think he did a good job, conveying a lot with a facial expression.  But I wish they had left it at him giving her back her ring and expressing sympathy.  

It just kinda dragged, too.  And we didn't need 10 explicit scenes ... like, we get it!  sex work!  lots of sex!  Sexytimes!   Ok, great, can we maybe develop these characters more?    

  • Like 4
slowpoked

slowpoked

9 hours ago, SlovakPrincess said:

It just kinda dragged, too.  And we didn't need 10 explicit scenes ... like, we get it!  sex work!  lots of sex!  Sexytimes!   Ok, great, can we maybe develop these characters more?  

I guess, maybe, that’s the point? That all their “connection” is just sex, and so we shouldn’t have been surprised when Vanya just casually said bye to Ani and said their whole encounter, including their marriage, was “fun.” 
 

I agree with you that Ani should have been more cautious and not reckless about the whole thing. But she’s also 23 years old, and while she may have thought she was in love with Vanya, she also probably saw him as her ticket out of HQ. Remember how she was so shocked when she found out who Vanya’s father was, and how she was bragging to her friends at the club how she seemingly hit jackpot.

I also agree with you on the ending. I think the perfect ending would have been Ani’s closeup of her sad face looking at Igor after he handed her the ring back.

  • Like 2
StatisticalOutlier

StatisticalOutlier

(edited)
14 hours ago, SlovakPrincess said:

Everyone was just kind of unpleasant and shallow. 

In a thread about Sean Baker's previous movie, Red Rocket, I posted this:

Quote

I have nothing in common with any of the main characters in [Red Rocket], and am generally disgusted by most of their life choices, but I was somehow relating to these aliens on human terms.  It's impressive that Sean Baker can pull that off.

https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/125317-red-rocket-2021/#findComment-7243161

I felt the same way with Anora, and with The Florida Project and Tangerine, as well.  I don't know how he does it.

About the ending, this is from a story about the ending.

Quote

Baker said that "Mikey and I talked a lot about motivation and intent for that scene, and meaning, and we came up with something ourselves. But we also, in those conversations, said, 'I don’t think we’re never going to state it ourselves, what we’re feeling.'"

https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/anora-ending-explained-sean-baker-mikey-madison-emotional-scene-1235063913/

 

Edited by StatisticalOutlier
  • Like 1
SlovakPrincess

SlovakPrincess

(edited)

I really liked The Florida Project, haven't watched Tangerine yet but the trailer looks good.  

I do think Mikey Madison did a great job with what she was given ... but what she was given was a character that wasn't particularly interesting and had a bunch of crazy stuff happen to her because she fell for a guy who was aggressively uninteresting.  

I gave the ending more thought and I admit I probably missed the point of the very last scene and what they were trying to say there.  

Edited by SlovakPrincess
  • Like 1

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...