Anna - A Review of the 2019 Luc Besson Film on BLU RAY starring Sasha Luss, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren, Luke Evans and Lera Abova...

"...Pawn Takes Queen..."

"Anna" is a stiletto of a movie – long-legged, elegant and you definitely don’t want to mess with that girl's pointy ending.

French filmmaker and Director LUC BESSON has been here before with "Angel-A" (2005) and "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blonc-Sec" (2010) – two cracking little films that bristle with his style, clever story lines and a flawed but ultimately beautiful and brave female lead (see reviews). Theorists, plagiarists and in fact anyone with an '...ist' in their bonnet will go on about yet another Atomic Blonde type movie - leggy girly with guns and lipstick and bruises and nude scenes (the staple for such films) engages in protracted battle sequences with dodgy unaccountable State forces and so on to a gore-fest finale – and deep down I'd concede they probably have a point. There have also been rumours flying around about on set shenanigans while "Anna" was being made which has meant it may have slipped through the nets in this horribly woke world we're presently in.

But I think Besson is different. I get the impression that he likes women, adores them even. And I'd say that it makes a genuine difference here. When most of the other films depicting such characters have the feel of a user, Besson actual likes his creations and his female leads may start out sappy or even ordinary but they never end up that way. The actresses are given real meat to work with. They are always strong, do their own thing on their own terms and men - though they might like them to be nice or even half-decent and humane on occasion - had better keep their hearts, underpants and wits about them.

What also makes "Anna" work and so entertaining is the superb quad of leads: for the ladies there's the ludicrously beautiful Cillian Murphy and his f-yeah eyes (an absolute crush for many of my lady friends) playing CIA maverick Lenny Miller - a suit who is a lot smarter than the by-the-book company man he first appears to be. On the other side of his morally murky world are the ruthless yet possibly might–have-a heart duo of Helen Mirren and Luke Evans who recruit the young street junkie Anna into the Russian Secret Service. Mirren eats this stuff up – her old, smoke and be-damned Olga is stony faced and precise. Olga has only survived in this vicious man's world by being equally quick with a Bowie knife, Bear Trap or a poison ink-nib. Moreover, Olga will not let her bright new recruit Anna lapse for even a second into mistakes that will get her killed - whilst at the same time having to appear to tow the line for corrupt males officials who give her orders to eliminate supposed enemies of the state and not ask too many questions about the validity of such appraisals.

And then there's the Russian model Sasha Luss playing the lead role of Anna – the kind of sleek trophy totty that adorns the arms of drug dealers by swimming pools or Bond villains in biotechnology labs or the love interest in Kingsmen movies who carry a machine-gun umbrella in London's Saville Row. Only this time in real life our Sasha has actually trained in ballet and that elegance of movement shows in every scene. Sasha Russ is genetically gorgeous for sure - but Besson also knows that she has to be riveting in the role and at the same time exude a tremble of fragility and humanity – and Russ achieves all of it. This is an actress you want to watch. Plus our Sash gets to have fun in and out of expensive dresses, popping off baddies with silencers, skewering bodyguards in fancy restaurants with steak knives or a broken dinner plate, fighting Soviet soldiers in sewers, binning wigs – the usual slow Tuesday stuff for an International espionage agent.

So, beautiful but drifting Anna Poliatova realizes she has a chance to escape a world of user boyfriends and bedsit dime-bag deprivation if she goes with her new handler Alex Tchenkov (a superb Luke Wilson) and commits to years of espionage training. This will eventually turn her into a sort of bloodier version of Killing Eve machine Villanelle – same great outfits but without the jokey psycho streak. On graduation, promises are made of five years service and Anna soon adopts a cover in a Parisienne apartment with the gorgeous Lera Abova playing Maude, Anna's lesbian lover who is in love with Anna but also oblivious to where or what Anna is as she disappears for days on end for business trips. 

But soon Anna begins to realize that she may have traded one life of servitude to drugs for another serving the equally treacherous State and that there is always one more job, one more misery, one more heartless using of her skills that will never end. So as a child prodigy Chess Player, she begins to plot out minnow-moves that none of the bigger fish will see coming. Or will they? Is Olga always one step ahead of her and everybody in fact or is she a Ruskie patriot through and through to the point where Anna is just collateral damage?

If this all sounds a bit complicated for a Spy Action Thriller then actually it is. Besson frames his spiky tale in a series of flashbacks and flash forwards and replays where you begin to realize and see what is really going on. It's a clever and thrilling way to keep the story and action moving. The set pieces/fight sequences are suitably brill and cool and have of course silly body counts that no one seems to notice as they chow down on their oysters and linguini. Then as Anna begins to outplay or even break the hearts of her American and Russian men – you're more and more invested – rooting for her to win...or not...

In March 2020, the BLU RAY is clocking in at about £10 new, but will undoubtedly fall in price as these sort of titles always do, and the picture quality on it is spot-on.

I know many have been derisory about "Anna" - but damn I enjoyed it a bunch even if it isn't quite "Leon" or "Lucy". Top cast, clever story, great set pieces and Daddy's smart girl gets to play Chess too. 

 "Anna" can have my spy bra strap any day of the week...

"The Last Station" on BLU RAY – A Review Of The 2011 Film by Michael Hoffman

Here is a link to Amazon UK to get this BLU RAY at a very cheap price:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00370843A

"…You're What I Came To Find…" - The Last Station on BLU RAY

In the last two decades of his life – the author of "War And Peace" and "Anna Karenina" - wasn’t just the most famous writer in the world – Leo Tolstoy was the inspiration for an entire movement that advocated pacifism, vegetarianism and love as the core of its commune philosophy. Tolstoy also rejected Church dictate, private property and was even seen by some as a living saint. And in 1919 his fame was such that he actually became one of the world’s first modern-day celebrities - filmed on Pathe Cameras everywhere he went - with crews and press teams relentlessly stalking his home for photos and footage of the great man. And although he neither sought out publicity nor was comfortable with it – his ego as Demigod enjoyed it too – putting huge pressure of his home life and volatile marriage.

The statistics surrounding the lifelong union of Leo and Sofya Tolstoy are incredible (played to perfection by Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren). Married when she was 18, she bore him 13 children and they were still sexually passionate into their 80s. But forces like the leader of the worldwide Tolstoyan movement Vladamir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), his devoted Doctor Dushan (John Sessions) and even his daughter Sasha (Anne-Marie Duff) all wanted him to give his legacy to posterity. This effectively meant forfeiting the copyright to his written works – giving the lot to the people and not his family.

Seeing how her ageing husband was being flattered for political ends while her family’s fortune was being simultaneously shafted - Countess Sofya thought otherwise - battling constantly with him and his army of devoted followers. After all - she had hand-written “War And Peace” six times for him – spent her entire life devoted to the man – only at the end to see his life’s accomplishments be used by reformist zealots ("They read him but they don't understand a word…").

Entering into this cauldron of personal warfare and political intrigue comes a young virginal Moscow idealist of 26 - Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy) - who becomes Tolstoy’s Private Secretary for the last year of his life. Valentin’s stay at the Tolstoy Estate of Yasnaya Polyana and the nearby Tolstoyan commune of Telyatinki introduces him to temper tantrums, ideological debate at garden parties, endless scribbling and even love in the shape of the feisty Masha (a fabulous turn by Irish Actress Kerry Condon – the jockey Rosie in the TV series "Luck" – her dialogue above titles this review). But soon Valentin is more than in love – he’s conflicted. Should he keep on spying for the ruthless and obsessed Chertkov or should he leave the great man in peace. It all culminates in driving the old author into despair - until one day Tolstoy can take no more and leaves on a train. But ill health brings him to…

"The Last Station" was adapted by Writer and Director Michael Hoffman from Jay Parini's 1989 novel of the same name (itself based on Valentin’s diaries). With such a juicy story and a well-written script – big names and big talent were drawn to it.

But none of this would amount to naught if it weren’t for the central story of their 'love' – the difficulty of living in it and the impossibility of doing without it. Mirren’s Sofya is all spiky rage, steely determination and drama Queen swoons while Plummer’s bearded Tolstoy looks benevolently on her - adoring his long-suffering wife one moment - repulsed by her need and annoyed by her courage the next. Both characters are big shoes to fill – and with fantastic word battles – they give utterly convincing performances of trapped people – giggling in young bedroom tenderness one night then spitting ideological venom at each other the following morning on the porch.

There are also fabulous conversations between Plummer and McAvoy as they walk on lilac-scented evenings about 'actual life' instead of philosophy and the scheming Giamatti character fills ever scene with a self-righteous knowing that he is so good at. Throw in acting heavyweights like John Sessions, Anne-Marie Duff, Kerry Condon and the spot-on James McAvoy (married in real life to Anne-Marie Duff) and you’re in for an emotional ride as well as an engaging historical tale. This is sumptuous, well-crafted, intelligent filmmaking (and even funny too in places) and quite why either Mirren or Plummer didn’t get Oscars for their lead roles is frankly a bit of a mystery…

Filmed in Germany with huge production values "The Last Station" is also a gorgeous watch on BLU RAY. Defaulted to 2.35:1 – there are bars top and bottom of the screen - but even stretching to Full Aspect – it’s looks beautiful throughout – especially on close ups of clothes, steam trains and in the idyllic countryside communes.

One of the two Extras includes a truly superb 45-minute Making Of called "Conversations On…" which features extensive interviews with Director and Screenplay Writer Michael Hoffman, the original author Jay Parini, Producers Jens Meurer and Bonnie Arnold and all the leads (the work process, favourite scenes, discussion of Tolstoy and the period). There's even Anthony Quinn’s agent who owned the book rights for decades (he had hoped to do the part). Audio is 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and the Subtitle is English.

In the end it’s a fascinating story – and an insight into the world of arguably the world’s first global pop star – only with a beard, arteritis, a cranky wife and a troop of peasants in tow waving their cloth caps instead of their Dolce and Gabbana handbags.

A top job done by all (especially Michael Hoffman) – "The Last Station" is a movie journey well worth the huff and puff…

“2010: The Year We Make Contact” – A Review of the 1984 Peter Hyams Movie Now Reissued on BLU RAY in 2009.

“…I Want To Play A Game With You Dr. Floyd…It’s Called The Truth…”

When MGM began making "2010: The Year We Make Contact" in February 1984, the CD was in its infancy, nothing was digital and portable and the Internet and the global sharing of ideas and images was non-existent. Showing its film age badly - in one particular scene Roy Schreider even talks of information being given to his astronauts on 'cassettes' - on board a Jupiter spaceship mission for God's sake!
Even the television monitors were black screens with monosyllabic block lettering on them and nothing else... Why mention all of this, because it has of course - in some places - dated the film very badly...

But - and this is a big but - for its time (finally released in 1985), "2010" was an extraordinary vision and a technological marvel. It provided the moviegoer with a superbly detailed and realistic depiction of future space travel, shots of the majestic Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa that were and still are incredibly accurate. Even the story of the Americans and Russians coming together so as not to annihilate each other was both relevant and damn good - and made for a great end message by Bowman (Keir Dullea - who looked like he hadn't aged a day since 1968's original "2001"). Throw in model makers from the Star Wars Trilogy, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Poltergeist and Ghostbusters - and the goodies were bound to be on display and they are. Which brings us unfortunately to the bad news...

...this is one of those instances where the enhanced BLU RAY image has only worsened an already hazy print...

You see - once you go from the entirely model-led outside shots (say of outer space) which are clean, beautiful and impressive to look at - into the interior shots and live action on dimly-lit stages - the blurriness and shading act as a direct contrast to the clarity you just saw - it drive you nuts. And because a good 70 to 80% of the movie is 'inside' - the effect of the wonderfully realized and designed interiors is almost completely lost. It's like watching Aliens without the clarity - or Star Wars on blurry videotape. It's as if a heavy filter hangs over every frame - and it makes the BLU RAY picture feel and look very dated.

Don't get me wrong - the picture 'is' lovely in some places - but in the main - it's not - which is a huge disappointment.

The only real extra is a 10-minute 1984 'making of' called "2010; The Odyssey Continues" which is fascinating and contains very brief interviews with all the principals - Roy Scheider as Dr. Floyd, Helen Mirren as the Russian pilot Tanya, John Lithgow as Dr. Curnow, Elya Baskin as the loveable Russian Max, Bob Balaban as Chandra the genius who created Hal-9000 - Discovery's malfunctioning computer (voiced by Douglas Rain). There's interesting stuff too with Richard Edlund the model maker - the make-up people - interior designs - even words from author Arthur C Clarke and director Peter Hyams about the screenwriting process in 1983 when they were prepping for the film.

I really had such high hopes for this BLU RAY release, but unfortunately I'd say hire it first before you buy...

The film was - and still is - excellent - an impressive one even.
But this BLU RAY reissue of it is anything but.

It's not "full of stars" folks, it's barely pushing three.

And what a shame that Roy Scheider is no longer with us...



PS: the above Blu Ray of the original "2001" is by direct contrast probably one of the most beautifully transferred oldies - ever. Up there with "Zulu", "Pinnochio" and the Bond films...