While I enjoy Luc Bresson’s films, I’m not such a devotee that I have to see all of them. I’ve seen the basics: La Femme Nikita, which there have been a total of four incarnations, The Fifth Element, The Family (meh) and Leon: The Professional. The space between seeing his movies is long enough that I’m not always comparing his latest work with what I previously saw and loved so he generally had a clean slate with me until Lucy. Anna was marketed as being from the same filmmakers that made Lucy, which I hated, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which several very different people hurled themselves in front of me to beg me not to see in the theater because it was that bad so I was inclined not to see Anna because Bresson’s films have been plummeting precipitously.
I’m mad at Jennifer Lawrence for (Mother! and) Red Sparrow, which dared to be gratuitous and boring then felt dated without being a period piece. I’m mad at Charlize Theron only for Atomic Blonde because the narrative structure was inherently flawed, the period piece drained any suspense from the story, and the actual plot twists were painfully predictable. It didn’t help that the best parts of Atomic Blonde were already shown in the previews. Those two dreadful, overcooked movies were the determining factors for skipping Anna in theaters because how many times could I see the same damn spy movie before I realized that it wasn’t going to be good, and there weren’t enough women kicking butt to make up for the overall dreckitude of the entire film, but I was wrong! I really enjoyed Anna! The critics who rated those movies higher than Anna were dazed by the stars in their eyes because they were absolutely not better than Anna, those movies just had more famous women at the helm. The reason that the critics hated Anna are the same reason that they should have panned Atomic Blonde and Red Sparrow. I can see hating the genre, but to pretend that Theron and Lawrence’s movies were better is something that I simply cannot fathom except Atomic Blonde’s music was better.
Anna managed to be a period piece without ruining the storyline. It is set in the 1990s, which isn’t really notable except for being after the Cold War ended, but before the age of nontraditional conflict without borders began. A writer can do anything with spies during this period and not be handcuffed to a high-profile historical event like Atomic Blonde, which for me, ruined my investment in the characters’ goals. It actually felt more modern than Red Sparrow, which felt as if it was set in the Cold War. Anna is just fun. It exploits the titular character’s cover as a model as an excuse for the main character to look great while mercilessly killing scores of mostly unnamed targets.
Anna also keeps it simple where it counts. Bresson doesn’t actually care about Anna’s assignments. We’re invested in Anna. Anna traps herself by aligning herself with various men of varying degrees of quality. They all lead to the same destination: slavery or death. So Bresson keeps tightening the noose as the narrative unfolds until the viewer wonders how the hell she is going to get out of this predicament. The real mission is to escape. Unlike Red Sparrow, Bresson manages to find the balance between vulnerability and strength coexisting within the character without feeling like torture porn.
I also liked the way that the story was structured. I usually don’t like when a movie isn’t told chronologically, but as the story is told, Bresson deliberately leaves a noticeable hole in the story then at the end of the section, he goes back and depicts what we missed. There is only enough repetition to remind the viewer where we left off, but not an excessive amount that it feels like filler or it is redundant. Then when we go back to the present, it becomes more obvious when something is left out of the story, and the viewer then expects that no thread will be left dangling and an explanation will be forthcoming. Unlike Atomic Blonde, this story structure reflects that no single character is omniscient and able to prepare for every possibility. People aren’t sure what the other person is going to do because duh, it is espionage, and they’re well trained spies. Every single character has blindspots regardless of how good he or she is good at his or her job. By shifting between different characters’ perspectives and showing what each one missed, it is more realistic than Theron’s character relaying information that she could not have possibly known. Bresson effectively establishes a rhythm so we can anticipate when the next plot hole will appear then when Bresson will catch us up with what unfolded off screen then derive pleasure and feel rewarded when we have guessed correctly. It is predictable without being trite or tropey while also being trite and tropey.
The one detail that I really appreciated in Anna and hate when it isn’t done in other movies is that after Anna’s first brush with violence, she still retrieves and brings home the groceries because regardless how much trauma you’ve survived, your money does not care what you’ve been through, and food is expensive. You hold on to those groceries. I also liked that the core of Anna’s character regardless of the role that she is playing is her anger and independence. She resents things, and she always shows it eventually. Critics may pan Sasha Luss’ performance as wooden, but I read it as suppressing emotions because if she didn’t, she would not be able to stop herself from going to town on someone.
Anna’s fight scenes are great. There are not many extensive fight sequences, but they belong in Fred Astaire’s style of capturing the complete movement, not in chaos cinema. I’m not into car chase scenes, but the restaurant and the office building fights are beautifully choreographed and executed. I’d rather have quality over quantity. There are plenty of montages of Anna working her various jobs.
Unlike Red Sparrow, the supporting actors did not seem like they were phoning it in even though the Russian accents aren’t great. Charlotte Rampling should be ashamed if she catches Helen Mirren’s performance in Anna. Mirren gave us a whole person instead of a two-dimensional stereotype in her embodiment of Olga. I knew Olga. “You should have checked your equipment.” You’re right, and she stays right throughout the film, which I thought was as nice touch. Cillian Murphy’s American accent was perfect, and he also works as a New York based CIA agent. Luke Evans never gets given much to work with, and I didn’t really buy that his character would do a few things, but he makes it work and tries to make a three-course meal with ketchup and crackers. The man has heart.
If I had to criticize Anna, I would say that Luss was not entirely convincing as a successful model even though she is literally a successful model turned actor. (I mean no disrespect to Luss, whom I actually enjoyed and bestow the blessings of Milla Jovovich upon. I’m not sure whether or nmot Theron or Luss would win in a fight.) Anna’s same sex relationship is chaste in comparison to her relationship with men. I know that it was a cover relationship, but given how she talked about it, it seemed glaring to omit a lesbian sex scene. Either no sex scenes, hetero or homo, or everyone has sex. Also whenever a character used the word crazy, generally whatever was being referred to was the absolute opposite of crazy—pedestrian, dull, predictable, sedate.
How much did I enjoy Anna? If I had a time machine, I would use it to go out of my way, pay money and see it at the theaters. It advertised at my favorite theater near me, but didn’t play there when it was released. It wasn’t playing so far away that I couldn’t have made the time to see it, but Lawrence and Theron burned me twice so I lost faith in the action spy thriller. I’m sorry that I did.