In the film Anora, a sex worker named Anora “Ani” Mikheeva (played by Mikey Madison) at an upmarket club in New York falls in love with Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian tycoon, but what seems a fairy tale soon becomes a nightmare in Sean Baker’s comedy-drama Anora. Gippsland Times reporter Stefan Bradley and film critic Tom Parry discuss if Anora is truly worth seeing as it’s won a number of accolades.
Stefan Bradley: Anora won Best Picture at the Oscars, probably the most prestigious award in all of cinema. That makes it the best movie of the year, right Tom? Personally, I’d say it’s a 7/10 at best. Good, but not great. Winners from recent years include Oppenheimer, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Parasite, which I think were all better than Anora. And I think some other movies I watched last year were superior. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga did not get a single nomination – robbed!
Tom Parry: My opinion of the film is higher than yours – I absolutely enjoyed Anora and wholeheartedly believe it deserves the Oscar. The more I reflect on it, the more I want to revisit it – which is similar to my feelings towards Oppenheimer. Mikey Madison won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Anora/Ani and rightfully so; she’s fantastic, as are all the other smaller players, especially Yura Borisov as the Russian henchman Igor. And Mark Eydelshteyn inhabits the role of a spoilt, goofy man-child very well – he was entertaining and fascinating to watch.
SB: All the performances, but especially Madison’s, were sensational. She achieved the physicality and emotion of the role handily. The soundtrack, the look and the direction was very well done. My main annoyances is how meandering the film feels at times. Some scenes just go on for so long. It’s about 140 minutes – I’m sure it could have been trimmed to a tight two-hour movie. But at the same time, you don’t learn too much about Igor, and the same goes for Ani. I would have liked to have seen an exploration of both characters outside what they do for work. I wasn’t sure about the ending at first, but I’ve grown to like it.
TP: As you say, we don’t really learn why Anora is the way she is and what led her to this line of work, but I like how the picture keeps that a mystery. For the most part, it’s well-paced, and impeccable use of light and colour had me mesmerised throughout. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s interesting how the film starts with a very upbeat tone, and ends with what feels like a completely different tone altogether. It goes through so many changes in genre and mood that it’s almost bemusing to process, but that’s what makes Anora such a fantastic experience.
SB: It’s a slow burn and for quite a while you don’t know what the movie is actually about and what the central conflict is, with the main characters just living their lives in the first act. So it’s a while to get going like older films were, not like the instant gratification of today when you must have an exciting cold open or action scene at the very beginning. The screenplay’s main strength is its humour and unpredictability – you never know what’s going to happen next. I do think Ani and Ivan ultimately care for each other at the beginning and you feel that, but this is not a romantic movie in my opinion. Just to be clear, I do think Anora is worth watching.
TP: It’s not for everybody for the reasons you’ve outlined, and the sexual content and excessive swearing on top of that. But if you’re looking for something different, I’d certainly recommend checking it out.
