‘Anora,’ a quirky love story between a stripper and a Russian scion

By Wendell Gaa

This year’s winner for Best Picture at the Oscars, “Anora,” was a most pleasant surprise to many, including myself. 

One could consider this independently-produced and directed project the film version of “The Little Engine That Could” in reference to the classic children’s folk story of a little blue engine that, despite her size, successfully pulls a train full of gifts for children waiting on the other side of a mountain, in spite of doubts and disbelief cast upon her. 

Quite honestly, I never even heard about this film until it was announced as one of the nominees for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars ceremony. To my absolute delight, it’s a cinematic experience worth having.  This is a wholesome film with a strong sense of social realism that is dramatic, funny and sad all at the same time.  

“Anora” is about a bar stripper whose very namesake is the title of the movie, Anora “Ani” Mikheeva, a 23-year-old attractive and bubbly Russian-American who lives in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.  Entertaining male customers at her New York strip club is her daily means of living, then on one occasion she is introduced by her employer to a young Russian man named Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov, whose father happens to be an affluent oligarch in Russia. 

At first sight, Vanya seems to be just another typical strip club client for Ani, but as he expresses his desire to keep himself company exclusively with someone who can speak or at least understand fluent Russian, the two of them seemingly experience a true “love at first sight” moment. 

Subsequently, Vanya reveals that he is in the U.S. as a student, although it becomes apparent that he would rather spend much of his time slacking off, hanging out at booze joints and strip clubs, and playing video games in his exquisite family mansion in Brooklyn.  Vanya hires Ani for several meetups and pays her $15,000 to be with him for a week.  They then travel to glitzy Las Vegas together, and in what seems to be a genuine act of love, Vanya proposes marriage to Ani and given how he has provided her with more golden life opportunities, such as the means to travel, than anyone else in her life up to that point, she happily accepts and then the two quickly wed at a small Vegas wedding chapel.  Ani quits her job at her strip club and moves in with Vanya at his family mansion in Brooklyn. 

Everything seems ideal for the two of them, until word of their marriage reaches Vanya’s parents in Russia, who are extremely displeased with the move, thereby his mother Galina calls upon his New York-based godfather Toros to go to their Brooklyn mansion along with some henchmen to immediately arrange an annulment between the two, as she and her husband Nikolai travel to the U.S. themselves.   

The ensuing events in the film are rife with moments of pure hilarity, as well as captivating and quirky insights and social commentary on the Russian-American community in Brooklyn, just one of many fascinating aspects of the overall multicultural makeup of New York City. 

This movie also gives the viewer some revelatory perceptions on the lives of sex workers, a part of society that is often maligned and forgotten as human beings merely striving to survive and make ends meet. 

The victory of “Anora” is quite momentous in the annals of Oscars ceremonies history as filmmaker Sean Baker is the first person to win four Academy Awards for the same movie, specifically for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. 

I was intrigued to know that one of his inspirations on social realism filmmaking happens to be the late Filipino film director Lino Brocka, one of the most significant figures in Philippine cinematic history. 

The true Cinderella-style victory at the Oscars for me is Mikey Madison’s win for Best Actress for her abrasive yet vulnerable portrayal of Ani.  From a relative unknown to now a triumphant Oscar winner, I have no doubt that Mikey’s future in Hollywood is bright.  Her unassuming and authentic composure during her acceptance speech is reflective of the tone of “Anora” itself, a film that is unpretentious, simplistic, and substantial in its message, and if there is anything that this year’s Oscars event has proven, it is that independent cinema is as strong as ever and that encouragingly, the Oscars still prioritize cinematic story and substance over spectacle.