Anora: How were the sex scenes filmed at the Palme d’Or?

Connoisseurs of Sean Baker’s films know: sex workers are the director’s favorite subject. Which, if it uses elements of fairy tales, approaches these professions abundantly (without being complacent) to illustrate a realistic and disillusioned vision of the American dream.

Like the incredibly pointed adult movie scene from Starlet (where the lead actor Dr. Hemingway is replaced by a stand-in) or some scenes from Red Rocket. Released in theaters on October 30, after winning the Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May, Anora is no exception in that it features a stripper as its protagonist.

In the first half of the story, scenes of nudity (at the club where the heroine played by Mike Madison works) and/or sex scenes, at the beginning of Anora and Ivan’s (Mark Eidelstein) relationship. But the director strikes the right balance between being too sassy and too flirtatious. Especially when the questions are looking at men and women (“man’s gauze” and “Woman Marla”) is at the center of discussions about the works.

“I was well aware of that part of the ‘manly gauze’ that might come from me.”Sean Baker answered this topic at the Cannes Film Festival. “Even during Starlet, where my intention was to show sex clinically. I didn’t want erotica. And I continued to explore that area as I developed.”

“Especially with this film, because Anora is a sex worker. So she knows the male gaze very well and uses it because that’s how she makes money. So I wanted to show the audience that “she does her job very well, that she knows what she’s doing, sometimes a little I relied on the male gaze to show that this is what men expect from sex workers.

“I relied a little bit on the male gaze to show the public that this is what men expect from sex workers.”

“The opening sequence, the credits sequence, is very masculine, for example. Like her second date with Ivan, when she’s dancing on the floor. I didn’t know what it was going to be like, because Mikey did the part and the choreography himself. It was when he showed me that I saw an opportunity to show more: to use his style to get rid of the “Ivan through whom we understand that he does his work well.”

“As for the sex scenes, I haven’t hired an intimacy coordinator. I leave it up to the actors if they want, because I don’t have any problem. But I’m also very comfortable directing sex scenes. I’ve done about ten and I know exactly what I want.

“They’re usually an image that serves us forward, most often from one position and one angle. I think we were on the same wavelength from the beginning: as a producer, I make sure the set is safe and the safety of the actors is the number one priority.”

“But it was great because Mark and Mikey offered us sex scenes (laughs) and I agreed because I needed a lot. There were eighteen in the script and only fifteen left in the film because we had to shoot. The cuts were mainly for pacing, but we also had to We thought about showing them so that it didn’t become boring, that it didn’t become a story, but it was great to work with an actor who felt comfortable doing it, who was brave and very brave.”

“Nudity is part of Sean Baker’s work, it is important to represent it accurately”

“This is the first movie I had sex or nudity in”Mikey Madison, a brave and courageous actor, told us in turn. “But I’ve seen Sean’s movies and I’ve developed a relationship with him as a director and a friend. We’d known each other for a year on set, so I was very comfortable. Nudity is part of her work. And so it’s important to portray her accurately, because Anora is a sex worker and nudity is also part of her work. , is a part of everyday life.

“When we were shooting these scenes in the club, I was the only person who wasn’t a real dancer. Everyone else was a stripper and a sex worker. But I felt comfortable, like we were doing it together. I wasn’t the only person around me who was naked and it Everything was very normal, like a sexy dress.

Mikey Madison currently plays for Anora. Waiting, perhaps, to see it among the next Oscar nominees. And more if the similarity.

Comments collected by Maximilien Pierret in Cannes on May 22, 2024