I knew nothing about Lee Miller before I read the first review of this amazing film. So before I watched it I was aware of her wartime photography, but unprepared for the final harrowing act. Kate Winslet is excellent in the title role, an Oscar worthy performance, as is Andrea Risborough as Audrey Withers who was, at the time, editor of Vogue magazine and Lee's boss but also a close friend. But it's when Lee gets to the front line in Europe we find that is so unusual for a woman. Critic Wendy Ide says she is "fierce and committed". In the October issue of Sight and Sound, Sophia Satchell-Baeza confirms that "Winslet perfectly captures Lee's indominable spirit, foolhardy bravery and sense of righteous indignation". But I completely disagreed with one review that said it was "just a shame that such an unconventional life must be so conventionally told". American cinematographer Ellen Kuras in her first major directorial role was a wise choice.
One way to describe Anora is if you take the plot of Pretty Woman, but make a much younger version of Julia Roberts working in a club where she meets and performs for an even younger and stupider Richard Gere. So Ani (a brilliant Mikey Madison) works in a Brighton Beach dive where one of her clients is Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn) the dissolute son of a Russian oligarch. He pays her $15,000 to be his girlfriend for a week. What follows gets the film it's eighteen certificate. But not just their crazy wedding in Las Vegas. Can she not see how stupid a person he is (constantly drunk or on drugs) or is she just thinking of the money. Probably.
But it's what happens after their return that turns the film into some kind of grand farce. Vanya's family heavies turn up to sort out the mess the son had made. But Vanya disappears leaving Ani to face the men alone. In the lead is Karren Karagulian as Toros, the Armenian fixer for the family. They all leave the luxury mansion in Brighton Beach in a search for Vanya that takes us to places such as Coney Island.
The editing is occasionally so sharp as if there is so much to get through and the director needs to ensure this is not a three hour film. Sean Baker has created a brilliant film. Nobody dies, only one of the heavies is hurt (what did I say about a farce? A touch of Tarantino perhaps.) I have a whole page of notes about the final scene, but all I can say is that there are feelings from the last pair that are so subtle you cannot stop wondering. The very final scene in the car has all sorts of interpretations in the reviews. My view is that Ani is a complicated woman (especially given her job) and is just not used to a man being that nice to her. But maybe he isn't.
One final note. The film is "shot in glorious widescreen". A treat to see in the cinema. No wonder it won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Tom Shone in the Sunday Times gave it five stars and "The best film of the year so far". Oh yes, with added Take That. I must look out for the director's previous films of which Tangerine might be the best.
It must be years since I went to see an animated feature film. But it was the five star review in the Sunday Times (and other publications) that encouraged me to try. A Chris Sanders classic I was told. I have to say that the animation was superb. Of course there are no humans to compare, but all the animals are so life like, and very funny. I'm so glad I saw it on a really big screen. There is the odd scary bit where I can imagine some very young might get upset, but overall a good story about parenting and friendship. Of all the cast, I just loved Bill Nighy who only comes in later as Longneck, the elderly and wise Canada Goose. I even liked the big song Kiss the Sky by Maren Morris. Surprise, surprise.
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