How “Anora”‘s DP & Production Designer Brought a Deconstructed Cinderella to New York
Halfway through Sean Baker’s Anora, there’s a scene where exotic dancer turned newlywed Ani (Mickey Madison) is tied up and gagged with a red scarf. The dilemma is a response to her breaking the nose and slap-boxing two men questioning her marriage to a silver-spooned Russian rich boy named Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn). The scarf (and its color) can easily be overlooked during the unfolding chaos that plays out as a real-time home invasion lasting for roughly 25 minutes and sees Ivan run away from his bride. But the accessory has a deeper meaning and is part of a painterly motif that runs through the visual veins of the film – one that received the top prize at Cannes and has been nominated with seven BAFTA nominations and will likely figure into the Oscar race as well.
Baker’s influence for the look came from a catalog of ‘70s Italian, Spanish, and Japanese cinema as well as the work of cinematographer Owen Roizman, who shot The French Connection (1971) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). The material helped guide a “controlled aesthetic” with “a deliberate color scheme and unobtrusive but stylish lighting” for Anora. Adding to the allure was the decision to shoot 35mm film (Kodak 5219 and 5213 negative) with Lomo Round Front anamorphic lenses originating from Soviet-era Russia of the 1970s. The lens choice embellishes a wide angle period flair, but they’re also a clever nod to the Russian storyline that sees Ivan’s oligarch parents (played by Darya Ekamasova and Aleksey Serebryakov) rush to bring their marriage to an end.
Rooted in the visual style is a rich palette of white, black, and gray hues with punctuating reds found in the interiors, set decoration, artwork, wardrobe, and the car of Igor (an aforementioned henchman played by Yura Borisov) that receives screen time during the climatic farewell of Baker’s unanticipated love story. Cinematographer Drew Daniels, who shot Baker’s Red Rocket with actor Simon Rex as a struggling porn star, says the palette reminded him of Saul Leiter’s 1950 photograph Footsteps, which depicts an overhead shot of someone walking in the cold, slushy streets of New York holding a red umbrella. “Red is in a lot of ways symbolic. It’s very much in Red Rocket, and it’s in Anora in a strong way,” Daniels says.
The imagery of Ani tied up received plenty of attention in preproduction. “It’s a shot that we did a specific camera test on in Los Angeles,” notes Daniels. “We gagged her and set up a similar frame where we tested lenses, tested lighting, tested everything. It’s one of those images you just can’t get out of your head that became an iconic image for the film. We really put a lot of work into it, and I just love the way it’s cut into this sequence.”
The home invasion surrounding the striking moment was shot over ten days inside a Brooklyn mansion where production designer Stephen Phelps combined existing furnishings with acquired pieces to portray the exuberant wealth of the family. “I wanted there to be a cold kind of feeling to the interiors – big empty spaces and a lot of space between people,” Phelps says via the production notes. “It feels more like a showplace than a home. There’s a lot of glass and neutral colors. That kind of expensive, austere style worked with the outside of the building, which is almost Brutalist in its architecture.”
For Daniels, it was the “hardest sequence in the whole movie to shoot,” partly because he had to create a continuous look over multiple shooting days that had “every weather imaginable.” Juggling the shooting order, controlling daylight (with help from gaffer Chris Hill and key grip Harrison Rusk), and evolving the camera movement with the pulsing narrative were just some of the hurdles. He approached covering the ambitious sequence like chapters in a book, starting with a tightly composed frame and then turning to looser handheld movements as the intensity ratchets – the unstable frame subliminally provoking the scene’s uneasiness. The dramatic peak: Ani screaming “Rape!” after her wedding ring is ripped from her finger. It then hard cuts to a close-up of Ani’s centered frame with the scarf covering her mouth, her blistering defiance silenced… for now.
The New York portion of the production took place over 37 days. Practical locations like the Rosewood Theater and HQ KONY in Manhattan stood in for Ani’s workplace, a gentleman’s club dubbed Headquarters. It’s here where Ani first meets the Russian-speaking Ivan, who invites her back to his home. Other key spots were Williams Candy in Brooklyn, the Tatiana Grill in Brighton Beach, and Coney Island – all three were used for locations while Ani and the men searched for Ivan.
Three days were also spent in Las Vegas as a jumping-off point for the whirlwind romance between Ani and Ivan. The bright lights of Sin City illuminated a contrast in color and saturation from the second half of the film. Here, Daniels allowed the camera to move freely as a way to connect viewers to Ani’s overjoyed emotions in places like Freemont Street and The Palms Hotel and Casino.
In framing the narrative, the cinematographer aimed to deliberate with his compositions and camera movements from an objective point of view. But Daniels admits the film turns more subjective as the story changes. “I tend to be much more subjective and get excited by subjective shots and getting into the characters’ head and seeing the world through their eyes. But Sean’s films are more objective in many ways, so I love the challenge,” he says. “His approach can often be very traditional, very classic steady compositions with minimal coverage. He really loves a wide shot, simple, elegant invisible camera moves, or no moves at all. And that’s what I also love, too. But it was always a balance because the movie is called Anora. I wanted it to lend to the subjectivity, but it had to be very slight and subtle. We ended up with a mostly objective film with a little hint of her subjective reality.”
When Ivan’s finally found back where it all started – Ani’s former club – she begins to realize he’s not going to stand up for their marriage – he’s too much of a scared boy under the thumb of his parents. In a last moment of hope while signing their annulment papers, Ani gives Ivan a look, only for him to ignore her as he puts on a pair of sunglasses. The tension boils over when Igor asks Ivan to apologize to Ani, a request the mother refuses for him to do. She then insults Ani, telling her the red scarf she’s wearing is actually hers. It’s then Ani fires back at the mother with a remark so menacing the husband cannot help but laugh. Guess they can no longer keep Ani quiet.
Anora is in select theaters now and is available on demand.
Featured image: Mikey Madison as Ani. Courtesy of NEON
