©Sean Baker
Photo Credit: Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP
The 77th Cannes Film Festival awarded its Palme d’Or to Anora, an independent American film written and directed by Sean Baker, starring Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn.
“This film is full of humanity; it enchanted us, made us laugh, hope beyond hope, and broke our hearts,” said Greta Gerwig, the president of the Cannes jury, as she handed the Palme d’Or to Sean Baker.
Anora tells the story of an Uzbek escort girl who becomes involved with Ivan, the billionaire son of a Russian oligarch. He indulges in all his whims, eventually marrying Anora. This storyline, built around a modern-day Cinderella or a different version of Pretty Woman, immerses the audience in the activities of a brothel even before the opening credits roll. By doing so, the director directly invites the viewer into his world, a world that has always intrigued him.
AnoraPhoto: Cannes Film Festival official website
The film is primarily about encounters; physical, human, and spiritual. The first scene of genuine connection between the two protagonists is also a confrontation that takes us back to childhood games, beyond sexual exploits and raw human nature.
Some might criticize the film for certain long, non-essential scenes. However, its unique humor, intelligent scenes, and suspense serve to overturn stereotypes and immerse the audience in the personal stories of the characters, despite their complex relationships, reaching into their very souls. The story is brought to life by actors who deliver both poignant and precise performances.
Anora explores the concept of control in various forms. It addresses parental control, where a wayward son lives as he pleases until parental authority brings him back to reason. When he defends himself to his mother, reverting to his primal Oedipus complex, he asks why she is making such a fuss over an escort girl. The woman who followed him, on a whim and a leap of faith, sees all her castles in the air come crashing down. The film also examines the control of physicality, which creates complicity between two people and sometimes even acts as a magic carpet towards an “eternal” union.
Anora blends humor and drama. Like in Molière’s plays, "we laugh where we should be crying.” This film condemns humiliation, whether it is due to money, power, or the dominance one person holds over another. Can a person ever be measured by the value of a ring? Can all the coats in the world warm a body, a heart, that has been humiliated so many times? Beyond humiliation, empathy prevails. It confirms in the hardest moments that human warmth exists, whether through a proffered scarf or a glass of water, the last one for the condemned man.
Anora highlights the strength of women: their physical strength in the face of three bodyguards, their sexual strength that makes them masters of situations, and their emotional strength that disrupts the order of the universe.
Transcending the raw and gritty nature of brothels, the film plunges the viewer back into the dreamlike world of fairy tales. Thus, Anora is first and foremost a film of hope. As the director stated in an interview, even if a dream doesn’t come true, it can sometimes lead us to another… a salvific one.
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