After the 85th Academy Awards cerimony, many comments about Anora have emerged. Mainly because the film was awarded four statues: Best Picture, Best Actress (Mikey Madison), Best Original Screenplay (Sean Baker), and Best Director (Sean Baker).
The film divides opinions; some people enjoyed it, and others not so much. The negative comments towards the film are especially because of the amount of nudity and the objectification of the main character.
What is anora about? *SPOILERS*
Anora enrolls the story of a young stripper from Brooklyn, who suddenly finds herself with an unexpected luck: she meets a russian guy at the club, the son of a famous russian oligarch. They start living an adventure together, and Anora thinks she’s a kind of a modern Cinderella. But, everything changes when they impulsively get married in Las Vegas. When his parents find out, they send out three russian bodyguards to “take care” of the unwelcomed union by forcing them into getting an annulment.
The climax of the film is when Ivan, Anora’s husband (played by Mark Eydelshteyn), escapes from the three bodyguards, leaving Ani behind. Afterwards, Anora throws a tantrum towards the three russian men, afraid of what they could do to her. Somehow, at the beginning of the film, we see a stripper trying to take advantage of a rich immature boy; in the end, she’s the one who was used without even realising it.
I think the scene where Ani is tied by Igor, one of the bodyguards (Yura Borisov), brings out a “comic” gaze within physical comedy, where a “little girl” breaks a guy’s nose and makes three men a fool of themselves.
However, most women felt afraid for the main character’s sake because being tied by an unknown man and being forced to stay quiet brings out one of women’s biggest fear: being raped. The director highlights that this idea went through the character’s mind; during the scene, Ani shows her wedding ring to the three men so she can prove the veracity of her marriage. Nevertheless, when they try to take the ring off her finger, the girl starts shouting repeatedly: “Rape!”.
This scene implies that her emotional distress is centered around the loss of a material possession, which subtly reinforces a problematic narrative that women’s worth is tied to such objects. But why would she only try to scream like that after being parted from a ring?
Sean Baker wrote and directed the film, which can explain the number of nude scenes and the exageration of the male gaze. His direction often blurs the lines between artistic expression and the portrayal of women through a lens that caters to male desire, which could be seen as an exaggeration of this dynamic.
Some comments around the internet question the real meaning behind Anora. Is it just an adaptation of a modern Cinderella? Or the sad story about a sex worker who believed she could be happy?
In my opinion, there’s a different way to tell this girl’s story, which wouldn’t involve the objectification of a woman’s body and, of course, the use of an unnecessary amount of sex scenes. However, the finale of Anora is very interesting, and it can be interpreted in many different ways.
After finally getting a divorce because of her husband’s pressure, Ani goes back to her temporary house with Igor. They then begin to talk while sitting on the sofa, where Ani claims that he would’ve raped if Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) wasn’t in the room earlier.
This shows that Anora was really scared that moment, even after trying to be brave and confronting those men like that. Igor claimed he was just trying to calm her down by tying her.
Even though Igor’s and Anora’s bond is not very deepened throughout the movie, in this scene, we see that he sees her for who she is. This is implied when Igor says, “I like Anora, I mean, I like Anora more than Ani”.
Finally, when we get to the ending scene, we see Anora coming back to her reality. Igor drives her to her house and then gives back the wedding ring taken away earlier. Within this action, he proves to her that he actually felt sorry for what happened, showing that she meant more than just a stripper who married his boss’ son.
Anora assumes he just wants one thing from her: sex, like they all do. After kissing him, Anora has an emotional collapse from being humiliated, abused, and vulnerable. She tried to be strong, fighting against those people who saw her as an object, but when brought back to sex, Anora realised how she couldn’t handle it anymore. Igor held her while she cried, realising that everything she ever wanted was to be loved.
The film ends with this scene. The credits start to roll, and you see how inhuman people can be. Anora could’ve had a different ending, but it wouldn’t be as painful as watching her gaining everything and losing it in the blink of an eye.
Even though the movie has its problems, it’s undeniable that sex is not the main subject; it’s about the abuse of power and the abrupt reality of being a sex worker.
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The article above was edited by Anna Maria Prado .
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