Anna (2019) [Blu-ray]
Action | Thriller

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. An electrifying thrill ride unfolding with propulsive energy, startling twists and breathtaking action, ANNA introduces Sasha Luss in the title role with a star-studded cast including Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy, and Luke Evans.

Storyline: 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.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, September 23, 2019 Some armchair psychoanalyst somewhere may have the makings of a private study of sorts with regard to Luc Besson and Anna. The noted filmmaker has had a string of less than successful films over the past several years, and he's also relatively recently weathered a series of #metoo- esque accusations, which may all provide some telling subtext for Anna, a film which would seem to offer Besson a refuge of sorts, a "security blanket", cinematically speaking, where Besson could revisit at least some aspects of one of his better remembered success stories, La Femme Nikita. And in fact had that 1990 smash not been made in the first place, it would have been easy for Besson to have titled this entry La Femme Anna, or perhaps женщина Анна, which is what the Google translate machine informs me is the Russian equivalent of that moniker. Anna is yet another film positing a female assassin recruited into the ranks of (in this case) two spy agencies, with an underlying psychological element being traumas suffered by the title character (portrayed by Sasha Luss). It's all probably unavoidably reminiscent of not just La Femme Nikita, but a number of other films featuring "damaged" females working as hitwomen (Red Sparrow sprang instantly to my mind, probably because I reviewed it, but there are manifold others that could be cited). Unfortunately, whatever magic Besson brought to his "previous version" of at least some elements of this tale seems to have dissipated, leaving Anna strangely listless and unenergetic.

With tongue only slightly in cheek, it might be suggested that women had best stay away from careers in the "arts", at least as evidenced by entries like Suspiria's "ballet school" or this film's emphasis on high fashion modeling. The high fashion aspect turns out to be just one of several ruses, artifices not just within the film's own context but also in a kind of "meta" way, since Besson (who wrote as well as directed) offers ping ponging timeframes which seek to elucidate "the rest of the story". Anna is first seen as a somewhat distracted saleswoman at a booth in an open air market, where a talent scout immediately pronounces her the obvious "next big thing" in modeling, whisking her away to Paris for an unlikely new career as a fashion icon. That turns out to be a bit of misdirection, both in terms of what actually happens once Anna does begin modeling, but also in terms of what Anna has already been through, a revelation disclosed courtesy of one of Besson's frequent trips down memory lane (so to speak).

Besson actually travels down memory lane in more ways than one, and there are at least a couple of moments in Anna that seem almost shockingly like similar moments in La Femme Nikita. That said, there's an artificiality to a lot of this enterprise that was completely missing in the grittier early film. Even parts of the set up here, notably Anna's introduction to the world of modeling, play in an overly mannered way that tends to make all the violence that soon ensues seem equally fake, and therefore perhaps not supportive of the underlying emphasis on Anna's psychological traumas.

Whatever supposed tension energizing the film comes from a niggling question of whose side Anna is on, as she becomes a pawn of sorts between Russian and American influences. Besson attempts to peel back the layers of a figurative onion here (or to use a metaphor employed within the film itself, "unnests" Russian nesting dolls), repeatedly jumping to and fro in the timeline to ostensibly give context to what Anna is and has been going through, but everything ends up coming off as a kind of inchoate muddle, rather than a well reasoned refraction of various moments in a troubled and troubling life.

Luss is appealing in the title role and is certainly an eyeful, but the film's performance kudos probably belong mostly to Helen Mirren, who chews through the scenery with appropriate gusto as a Russian "handler" named Olga. In fact, it's the relationship between Anna and Olga that ends up giving this film some of its best material, and Besson might have been better served to have really concentrated on those interchanges rather than a lot of the sidebar material he spends considerable time with here.

My hunch is you haven't seen any of the many previous films featuring female assassins, not necessarily limited to La Femme Nikita, you may find Anna considerably more engaging than those who have seen at least some of those previous journeys down many of the same plot points. Besson manages to craft a generally brisk entertainment here, and there are at least a couple of very well staged set pieces, but a lot of this film has a kind of tired, rehashed quality that keeps it from totally hitting its perceived bullseye. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.

[CSW] -4.2- The Russians are a very stoic people and both Anna and Red Sparrow showed that stoicism properly. However American audiences are not accustomed to the stone faced stoicism of the Russian people because they are accustomed to seeing emotion in everything. They also are unaccustomed to the unemotional almost cold blooded scheming and well executed plans needed to overcome the extremely powerful and efficient Russian KGB bureaucracy. The KGB rescued her from an abusive husband, only to becomes a different kind of abuser. Now add to that the female version of the John Wick 3 beautifully choreographed and excellently shot fight scenes, with a high body count, and lots of gore, and you have a great action film. Without spoiling the plot there is plenty of wheeling dealing with some double-cross thrown in for good measure. If you know anything about the stoic but strong willed nature of the Russian people you will love this film... as I did. But if you want emotion without logic this one is not for you. If you want a high octane fight action movie you will find this one enjoyable.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box


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