Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Anna (2019)

IMDb plot summary: Beneath Anna Poliatova's striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world's most feared government assassins.
Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, and Luke Evans.

Anna is a story about a Russian spy/secret agent trying to earn her freedom through a series of missions. I'm not going to say much more than that because the film unfolds in a fun nonlinear way, where it keeps hopping around showing us different pieces of the story at different times. There's a definite playful campiness to this that I'm not sure is deliberate. It feels like it's trying a little bit to be completely earnest, but I can’t always tell, and this comes into play especially in the ending. Again, I’m trying not to give too much away, but the flashy crime story we were telling becomes unusually heartfelt in a way that wraps up very tidily and while it is kind of charming, it also feels… accidental. Looking back on Besson’s body of work though makes me inclined to think it is deliberate, which makes me like it more, because that ending really brings out the small moments of humanity that are present throughout. Oh, yeah, and there are some fun flashy action moments too. 

How it entered my Flickchart:
Anna < The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Anna > Goldfinger
Anna > No Highway in the Sky
Anna > Top Gun
Anna < Free Guy
Anna > A Hard Day’s Night
Anna > Licorice Pizza
Anna > The Ten Commandments: The Musical
Anna > National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art
Anna < Mrs. Miniver
Anna > Twisted Nerve
Final spot: #2051 out of 3851, or 47%.

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