Anora

 What a fucking trip this film is, I’ll say that much for it, but not in a good way.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, other than I had been looking forward to seeing this film since it came out, but every time I had it on my schedule to go see in the theatres, something came up. So when it popped up on Disney+, I said ‘HELL YEAH, LET’S GO!’ And honestly, it was a bit of a let down, considering it won MULTIPLE Oscar Awards this past year. While some may have been deserving, one that I would absolutely fight against is for Best Director. Sean Baker is already known to be slightly problematic and this film did not do any favours for that argument.

A rising role in the film industry, especially since the COVID pandemic, has been intimacy coordination. There are still plenty of people that don’t know about it nor understand its true purpose. While the main actors did consent to forego an intimacy coordinator for this film, due to not only the content, but the explicit nature of easily 1/4 of the scenes, the director should have taken it upon themselves to REQUIRE an intimacy coordinator. Even if certain actors didn’t want one, two people do not get to speak for an entire cast, when there are dozens of intimate scenes happening. 

Aside from that issue, I was honestly quite bored through half of the film. The end scene can be seen from 5 miles away, when you’re half-way through the film. That’s when things really slow down and it gets a bit tedious, as the viewer. Scenes drag on, scenes are repeated, it’s quite honestly not something I would have fought for to put into a festival, let alone win any awards.

Yes, it is beautifully shot and there is some intriguing framing happening throughout the film, but that is the director’s style. If I can see that same thing in many other places, with far more compelling stories, then I’d rather not waste my time. The music is great, the lighting is great, technically, it is a great film. But for me, a film needs to have all moving parts work well, in order to be good: story, technical, acting, and directing. The acting was great as well, especially Mikey Madison (wow!), but 2 out of 4 does not a good film make.

I tried to explain this concept to someone else recently regarding Nosferatu and they did not like my take on it. But that’ll be another post. I am not the only one that thinks there are multiple moving parts to a film, nor that they all or most need to be met to make a great film. I’m not saying ‘Anora’ is a bad film, but it’s definitely not a great film, in my opinion. I give it 3 out of 5 stars, on a good day.

Until next time—

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