One of the strangest and controversial Oscar races in recent memory, a polarized film that guarantees plenty of strong opinions online, has inevitably risen. Shawn Baker movie Anora It won five out of eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Actress by Mikey Madison.
It was a strange path to Oscar's glory for a critically sounding film that won the prestigious Palmedore or the Cannes Film Festival last year. The comedy drama suddenly became a fairytale marriage to the son of a Russian oligarch, creating early buzz, but won the backseat for many awards seasons, losing scripts and directions, and losing the awards. conclave and A brutal person. The film shockedly left the Golden Globes empty-handed.
The film went through a bit of an awards season, but it had a stable presence online as one of the most discourse films of the past year. Emilia Perez. The film was clearly impressed by most critics and the academy, Anora It's the lightning bolt of the corner that the film has cheered up, among X, Letterboxd, and sex workers, as well as the army of Stans in the film.
First, there was a revelation from Madison. She didn't use an intimate coordinator for the film's sex scenes after being given the option by Baker. It promptly raised questions about Baker's relationship with actor protection, which has become the norm after Metou. In fact, much of the dialogue surrounding the film is concentrated on Baker. Baker's politics and intentions are often difficult to map.
Following the famous release of his third film tangerine 2015, His low-budget films focus on portraying sex workers about a pair of black, trans sex workers, providing visibility of unrepresented classes, repeatedly described as efforts to “remove stigma” from the industry. While accepting Parmedollar Anorahe dedicated the award to “sex workers of the past, present and future.” And with his acceptance speech for his best original script, he faithfully thanked the sex worker community.
Still, questions about Baker's relationship with drawing sex work are now even bigger than ever, especially in his latest job. Anora, Some professions document thoughtful essays about their concerns about Baker's work. Why does his treatment of these characters feel so regressive, especially women? For those who mined stories over and over again from the same marginalized occupation, why could he think of nothing more than reductive stereotypes?
Anora It is sold as “Shawn Baker's Love Story.” But it may be the film of his film, but it may be the most lacking in sentimentality and kindness for his character (even if it often comes out in the form of sympathy). The film follows a 23-year-old stripper named Anni (Madison), who elops with the son of a rich Russian family called Vanya (Mark Edelstein). Her rags and rich romance becomes a sudden and jarring end when several henchmen appear at Vanya's Brighton Beach Mansion under the direction of his family and demand that their marriage be nullified. Vanya escapes from the scene and leaves only Annie, inevitably acquiring her and fights the henchmen who bring her into search for Vanya.
This drawn set piece and all of its violence – Anni screams as she is tied up and bent on the sofa, and Anni screams, “Rape!” As a cry for help – laughs – playing for laughs and feeling anxious to watch. In a review of Angel Food Magazine, Marla Cruz shows how this sequence undermines the general violence in which sex workers are vulnerable. The fool's confusion causes Annie's fear to be sublimated into female history. The camera is cut into close-ups of screaming mouths, encouraging the audience to identify with a man on the mission of controlling this unruly woman by spitting out with a red scarf. ”
Baker's direction places her as an issue in a group of men who are simply “trying to do the job” in real sympathy for Annie, acknowledging the level of physical and emotional violations she is experiencing throughout the film, constantly undercutting it in PC comedy, or at more frustrating moments. Viewers are encouraged to lament, laugh and essentially normalize her conquest.
Anni is dragged from all control, humiliated and stripped of all control until she experiences an emotional breakdown at the end of the film. Through this lens, the entire film is another reductive, if not a moral story of the suffering of sex workers. Consistent flaws in Baker's work (except the 2019 film) Red Rocket) His films show the economic position of the characters in undoubtedly interesting and sometimes persuasive ways, but they lack a keen perspective. Similarly, his characters often use naturalistic dialogues to cover up shallow characterization, hoping for interiority. Despite the film's title Anorathe audience doesn't know much about her – her desires, her fears, her family, her past. We just know what we did to her.
Anora He was heavily influenced by the films of the 70s, and reminded me of Jane Fonda's iconic call girl from the 1971 film kluteas a comparison point. Fonda's personality serves as a reminder of what self-determination and agency sex workers can have in films, taking into account the real threat of the dangers they live in. When Baker tries to portray Annie as a strong will, it is primarily the moment when she appears as an aggressive, immature, class traitor.
But in situations involving money where she probably needs to perform the most authority and cleverness, she is remarkably passive and naive. She remains quiet and watches Vanya suffer gambling losses at the casino. When he proposes to her, she asks Sassy for an engagement ring with “at least three carats” when he can afford more. Most shockingly, she only asks Vanya's “horny American girlfriend” for a week. After shaking the offer, Vanya tells her that she should demand more from her. She's not yet.
Finally, Anora It could fall into the category of Oscar-winning films. The Oscar-winning film looks like a cool, progressive choice on paper, but rides on issues and critiques from the communities they claim to represent.
There are probably other factors that were loaned out for this victory. Baker is one of the modern Auteans who is unwavering with his commitment to making independent films for over 20 years. Anora It is also a monument to Canon, a filmmaking era in the 1970s, when Hollywood announced it as a symbol of taste. and AnoraBaker is in conversation with famous Oaters like John Cassavutes, Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman. If only his work contained some of the more radical politics and destructive expressions of the era.
