[CINÉMA] Anora, Palme d’Or for vaudeville…

We must always be wary of the awards awarded by the Cannes Film Festival, and in particular with the Palme d'Or which, very often, distinguishes the most politically correct films, or at least those most in tune with their times. Although some good surprises, fortunately, are sometimes possible (Parasite in 2020, or Without filter in 2022), they are not the rule of the genre. We remember that Titaniumin 2021, uninhibitedly praised transidentity, and thatAnatomy of a fallin 2023, owed its Palme d'Or less to its (very real) directing qualities than to its misandrous speeches. For this year 2024, the jury's choice is a complete mystery for us, the ultimate reward being awarded to Anoraby Sean Baker. A film as noisy as possible which aims to be a modern rereading of Cinderellawhat was already Tangerinedirected by the filmmaker in 2015 – some critics even mention Pretty Woman the Garry Marshall!

The story follows Anora (Mikey Madison), an erotic dancer in a club where the clientele, for an “extra”, can easily obtain sex with the girls. One evening, Anora meets Ivan, a son of Russian oligarchs, capricious and headstrong, who has come to have fun with his friends. The two get along wonderfully, see each other again a few days later in Ivan's rich villa, then decide to spend a paid week together. At the end of this, the young man decides on a whim to ask Anora to marry him. Neither one nor two, the “couple” heads off to get married in Las Vegas without even worrying about the consequences. Because in fact, when Ivan's family heard the news, they were furious and sent three men there determined to end this union and obtain a divorce. But that's without taking into account the explosive character of Anora and the profound immaturity of Ivan, who suddenly runs away…

Vulgar and complacent

The film by Sean Baker, a filmmaker widely overestimated on both sides of the Atlantic, is intended to be an insightful and irreverent allegory of the end of the American dream but is more akin, in truth, to an unassuming vaudeville… The story is divided into two distinct segments: the phase of meeting and continuous debauchery of the young couple, then the search for Ivan by his family, helped by Anora.

The first segment – ​​interminable – revels in the sensational representation of decadent Russian oligarchs, flashy sex, and the taking of narcotics by two inconsequential kids to whom we would really like to slap a few slaps. The Cannes audience, obviously, loved it – we know the bobos’ gluttony for the culture of “trash” and “clash”, it’s on their level…

The cliché of the woman-victim

Just as schoolboy and vulgar (we can no longer count the number of “fucks” and “fucking” in the dialogues), the second segment of the story, through the desperate search for Ivan across the city, pretends to want to give some relief to Anora by making her a disenchanted victim of the good will of men, she who thought of taking a new start in life by marrying this rich kid. Not smart at all, the young woman understands too late that her “prince-savior” is only a little idiot and a coward, whose own parents have not been fooled for a long time.

Captain Borisov went astray

Among the three men who came to demand a divorce, only Igor seems to show empathy towards the dancer. Soberly played by the actor Yuriy Borisov – whom we discovered in the excellent Compartment No. 6 et Captain Volkonogov escaped –, this young Russian with a tender heart is the only non-caricatural character in the story, this deserves to be underlined. Nevertheless under-exploited, one wonders what Borisov is doing in this distressing 2h20 film.

And say that Seeds of the fig tree wild was in competition…

1 star out of 5