Movies, by definition, can’t be all things to all people, just yet Anura— winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s highest honor, the Palme d’Or — manages to oscillate between diverse registers with astonishing, and ultimately poignant, aplomb.
Last of Florida Project and Red rocket Writer-director Sean Baker’s tales of marginalized individuals struggling to survive and find themselves in an often unforgiving world, the film is a character study, romance, crime saga, screwball comedy, and realistic drama, all wrapped into one unique and deft package. . Even more impressive than its agility, however, is its poise and compassion, which are given mainly to the protagonist, whose life has been thrown for a loop thanks to the introduction of chance.
Annie (Mickey Madison, in a star-making role) is a 23-year-old Brighton Beach girl who lives with her sister and makes a living stripping at a local club. Anurawhich hits theaters October 18, presents her at the end of a long pan along a bench where men receive dance moves from sexy professionals. By focusing on Annie’s face as she flashes the fake smile that her clients crave and her bosses demand, Baker’s camera creates an immediate and intimate interaction with the young woman, which continues as it presents snapshots of her daily (or rather, nightly) routine at her workplace.
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