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Brooklyn Cinderella Dramedy: Anora Coming to Cinemas
The film is about an American sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch. At the Cannes Awards, the cast and crew gave a standing ovation of about eight minutes. However, after the winner was announced, there was much controversy in the industry. What did Anora win for?
The film by American director Sean Baker won this year's Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch. But this story does not have a happy ending. The main roles are played by Mikey Madison and Mark Eidelstein, the film also stars Yura Borisov, Daria Ekamasova and Alexey Serebryakov.
At the Cannes Awards, the cast and crew gave a standing ovation for about eight minutes. In fact, there was a lot of controversy in the industry after the winner was announced. Why did Anora win?
Nevertheless, Sean Baker has created a very funny and slightly sad story about a wayward Brooklyn stripper Anya. According to her passport, she is Anora Mikheeva, has Russian roots and knows a little of the language thanks to her grandmother. One of Anya's typical working days, the owner of a club asks her to help with his Russian-speaking clients. He turns out to be a 21-year-old spoiled major, the son of Russian oligarch Vanya Zakharov. He is having a great time in New York. He squanders his father's money, throwing parties almost every day in the family mansion on the seashore. Now Annie has appeared on the horizon, who would not mind coming home and earning some money.
Vanya asks her to be his companion for a week. She agrees to $15,000. And at the end of the weekend in Las Vegas, he asks Anya to become his wife. And since Vanya acts and thinks first, it is unclear whether he simply wants American citizenship or whether everything, including feelings, is real.
A few days later, Vanya's parents, Aleksey Serebryakov and Darya Ekamasova, learned about the wedding. It was a disgrace for the family. They believed that their son had married a prostitute. They urgently flew from Moscow to New York, while Vanya's "nanny", a Russian Armenian, tried to resolve the situation with her bodyguard Igor, played by Yura Borisov. The goal was simple. To dissolve the marriage and send the prodigal son back to Moscow.
As for the cast, it all started with Borisov, whom Sean Baker noticed at Cannes 2021. The film "Compartment No. 6", in which he starred together, won the festival's main prize. And word of mouth worked. Karen Karagulyan, who played the role of the Armenian Toros in "Anora", asked Daria Ekamasova for Alexey Serebryakov's number. Sean Baker saw the actress in the film "Give Me Liberty", and Yura Borisov reminded her again. Mark Eidelstein, whom Western media began actively calling "the Russian Timothée Chalamet", was also recommended.
Sean Baker previously said: "I hope I can see the amazing performances of Russian actors in my home country. I <...> believe that art should unite people."
In early October, I saw Anora at the Mayak Russian Contemporary Film Festival. According to the organizers, it was "the most original version possible in Russia." The film was shown in its original language with subtitles. The original language should be understood as a mixture of American, Russian, and Armenian.
The film will be released in Russian dubbing. I have seen this version too. For me, the dubbing killed all the charm of the dialogues. And the viewer does not understand why Anora is invited to the table with the son of a Russian oligarch, at least in the adapted version. The oral version does not contain any knowledge of the language and words about his Russian roots. Many of my colleagues agree with this. Film critic and editor-in-chief of Kinopoisk Olga Belik continues:
However, the Armenian dialogue was not affected by the dubbing. Comes with Russian subtitles.
The release of "Anora" is scheduled for October 17. And if you want to experience the full charm of language games, go to the "Pioneer" and "Khudozhestvenny" cinemas. There, films are shown in the original language with Russian subtitles.