"Anora" star Mikey Madison "Sex workers are still treated horribly"
The ingenious black comedy "Anora" is about a stripper who thinks she has found her rich prince. But she is in for a rude awakening. Leading actress Mikey Madison on the demanding shoot.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- In "Anora", a dream comes true for Brooklyn stripper Ani when she marries the filthy rich Russian oligarch's son Ivan, but before she knows it, she finds herself in a violent nightmare.
- This clever comedy feels like an uplifting romp and is insanely funny thanks to the cultural clash and its eccentric characters, but it is also upsetting at the same time.
- Lead actress Mikey Madison inspires with a highly emotional and powerful performance, convincing with both dance and combat interludes.
The US indie director Sean Baker has already received much praise for "The Florida Project" and "Red Rocket". In both films, he sheds light on the deepest social strata of his home country. Yet he still manages to lend beauty to his images and capture the dreams of his protagonists in a fascinating way.
In his new work "Anora", he once again succeeds in this formidably, but with one important difference: in addition to the deepest social strata, this time he also sheds light on the crazy world of the super-rich. The result is a masterfully staged black comedy.
At first, everything feels like a fairy tale for Anora, called "Ani". The pretty stripper from Brooklyn thinks she has found her prince charming when she meets the filthy rich Russian oligarch's son Ivan. The two hit it off straight away and he takes such a liking to her that he invites her to spend a whole week in his posh villa - for a fee, of course.
And they even go one step further. On a trip to Las Vegas, the two spontaneously get married. But when Ivan's parents get wind of it, they get really angry. To get the marriage annulled immediately, they send out their brutal henchmen. And the initial dream suddenly turns into a nightmare for Ani.
Here the simple sex worker, there the lavish high society
"Anora" works excellently on all levels and is intoxicating. The clever comedy finds the perfect narrative tempo, contains surprising twists and turns and is hilarious because of the cultural clash and its extravagant characters. At the same time, however, the film is also disturbing with its important statements on the grievances surrounding sex work and the insanely wasteful high society.
The driving force behind this masterpiece is lead actress Mikey Madison, who shines with a powerful performance.
In an interview with blue News, she talks about the physical challenges of the shoot. She also explains how difficult it was to learn Russian and emphasizes the important messages the film conveys.
"Anora" will be shown in all blue Cinema cinemas from October 31.
