anora and her knight in rusting armour
FRAUD marriage!?
On par with Dune: Part 2 for one of the most critically acclaimed movies for 2024, Anora is firm in it’s tracks to sweep at the Oscars. Narrative, performance, visuals, Sean Baker brings near enough everything to the table at an expectedly high standard, and the reception to the characters has been overwhelmingly positive; sympathy for Ani with an undying hatred to Vanya, the base of the film’s messaging is conveyed. Despite this, it’s difficult to navigate the glorification of a particular character - Igor.
“Igor was the best”
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“Igor was the only one who understood her”
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“Igor did love her for who she was”
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All real comments directed towards Igor and his “redemption” arc, which is dizzying to think about. I don’t understand why the character of Igor is being held to such a high standard for providing… humanistic treatment?
anora and ivan
To truly understand why Igor is uplifted to such an extent, it’s necessary to look at Ivan first; the main contributor to the issue of Igor being Ani’s “knight in shining armour”. The whirlwind romance set ablaze by drugs, sex and drinking only to be firmly cracked down on by authority, Ivan was always going to be the villain in the story.
Ivan opens a Pandora’s Box of luxury to Ani, drawing her in with the promise of security and passion. A Cinderella-esque narrative that ends in disaster. Ivan’s maturity matches that of a 14 year old boy with internalised homophobia and is naturally very flakey, over the top and hormonal. Ani stares directly past these flaws, the promise of wealth making her obliviously ignorant to how the flaws of Ivan heavily outweigh the positives. Conventionally attractive and rich; what more could you ask for? The most prevalent example is Ani and Ivan sitting on the sofa together whilst he plays video games; Ani becomes playful and the frustrative shutdown on Ivan’s face is prevalent - a clear sign of Ivan’s maturity having no capacity for any meaningful form of love. A trope done to death, Ani loves Ivan and Ivan loves the idea of Ani, and to an extent, the idea of America. Ani is his gateway to the American Dream, his gateway to escapism and individualism and capitalism.
Ani is simply a part of his escapade to leave his parents. He doesn’t see her as a person, she’s a vehicle to convince his parents that he’s independent and can do what he likes. Ani’s mistake was believing Ivan loved her because of who she was, not where she was.
igor as a moral comparison
“cold water feels warm to freezing hands”
Truthfully, with this quote alone, my point could be proven.
To begin with, Igor does in fact assault Ani. No amount of compensating can take that away - he is paid to make Ani comply, and he assaults her. Naturally, you build a hatred towards the person who ties you up. And then to believe that you can then try to be friendly and associate with that same person you assaulted? If this was non-fiction the reaction would be laughably different, but the deification of fiction against non-fiction is a separate topic I won’t divulge. From Igor’s perspective, why would she hold a grudge against him for doing his job? At the end of the day it was his job to do it and he has to make a living the same as everyone else? The least he could do is provide a sliver of humanity to make her entire experience a bit better.
Whilst admittedly this is partially true, to no extent does this validate him as her knight in shining armour which seems to be the narrative being pushed from those who watch the film.
Coupled with the emerging evidence from the Lively-Baldoni press disaster with reporters pushing the “he didn’t view it as harassment”, the empathising with Igor is all the more wild. He is the embodiment of a booktok romance in a realistic setting - simply because it’s a Sean Baker realism film, does not excuse how blatantly bizarre Igor’s attitudes are.
When did basic human respect become the standard? What ever happened to doing more than the bare minimum? Igor welcomes sex with Ani after witnessing the step-by-step decline of her new life, with a gaunt soulless expression on his face. You watch Ani physically resist the kiss; she has to forcibly slap and punch him to get him away. Ani lives as a sex worker, this all she knows. Igor lives as a man who has watched Ani be swept into a paradise before being shot down to Earth, and yet, somehow, for some unknown reason, grounds Ani back in the reality of poverty whilst simultaneously reminding her of the life she could’ve lived with Ivan. In no way is Igor the knight in shining armour for Ani.
Overall, there are no major issues with Anora itself. The first act comes across more as pornography than a realist film, but documenting sex work blurs these lines incredibly. Baker has been continually criticised for romanticising the working class and the impoverished, and I do understand these views, but nonetheless Baker does bring attention to the subject matter. The public reception to Igor is the main point of contempt. A morally ambiguous character for sure, but by no means is he Ani’s Disney Prince.
My rating 4/5
Interesting take on Anora - nice one!