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Critic’s Pick
‘Anora’ Review: Her Glass Slipper Is a Swarovski Stiletto
Mikey Madison gives a career-making performance in a Palme d’Or-winning film about the romance between a sex worker and a rich scion.
transcript
‘Anora’ | Anatomy of a Scene
The writer, director and editor Sean Baker narrates a sequence from his comedy featuring Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn.
“Hi, I’m Sean Baker. I’m the writer, director and editor of “Anora.” This is the scene in which our protagonist, Ani, played by Mikey Madison, is arriving at the house supposedly owned by Ivan Zakharov, who is played by Mark Eydelshteyn. So this was obviously supposed to bring not only Ani into Ivan’s world, but the audience into Ivan’s world. So I wanted the camera to essentially be following Ani, but also be seeing the world through Ani’s eyes. That’s why I did my best to not make it very cutty, especially when she arrives up at the front door and comes into the house. That is a one shot. “So welcome to my humble aboard. Hugs! Because I really wanted the audience to be walking through this space with Ani and seeing the space for the first time with Ani. So when she turns and looks to the right, the camera is turning and looking to the right. When she looks to the left, the camera’s turning and looking to the left. And what it does is that it really sets up the geography because the geography is going to be extremely important later on in the film, especially in the home invasion scene. So Drew Daniels, my amazing cinematographer who I’ve worked with now twice, he is a master at handheld camera operation, so he’s the one who’s actually holding the camera and shooting this entire sequence. “Not too shabby!” “What is ‘shabby’?” “Oh, I’m just playing.” Drew’s handheld cinematography is about as steady as handheld can get, especially with a heavy camera like this. And then he lands in this beautiful two shot. For me as an editor, that gave me a really solid out to cut to our wide static shot. “Oh, sorry, I’m waiting for you.” This was my wonderful actors adding a little bit of improv there, where Mark runs up the stairs. And then the next shot where they’re coming into the bedroom. This shot will be repeated at the end of the film. So in many ways it’s bookending her experience at this mansion. “Nice view.” “My view is better.”
- Anora
- NYT Critic’s Pick
- Directed by Sean Baker
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- R
- 2h 19m
Sometimes a movie actually earns the old cliché of a “star-making turn,” and I’m here to say that Sean Baker’s “Anora” is this year’s star maker. I’ve seen it twice, and both times I left the theater on a high, exhilarated by the performances, the rhythm, the emotional shape of it. The only question that remains — and it’s a great one to have to ask — is exactly whose star “Anora” will make.
One obvious (and obviously correct) answer is Mikey Madison, who plays the titular character. Madison is no newcomer; she played Sadie, a Manson family member, in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”; and Pamela Adlon’s oldest daughter, Max, on the terrific FX show “Better Things.”
Madison has always been good, an ingénue with extraordinarily expressive features who can play bratty and naïve at the same time. But this role requires her to go for broke, with elements of slapstick, romance, comedy and tragedy, along with dancing in skimpy or nonexistent clothing and throwing a couple of powerful punches. Playing Anora called for both an emotionally rich inner life and a breathtakingly kinetic physicality, all poured into a character about whom people form opinions the moment they meet her. And at every moment, Madison is mesmerizing.
The movie is also a star maker for Baker, whose earlier films, like “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket,” have earned accolades and devoted audiences. With “Anora,” though, he has leveled up. (The film won the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May.)
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