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Movies are a collaborative art, and even the most hands-on filmmakers work with a team of artists and craftspeople. But writing, directing, editing and producing a film leaves a distinctive personal mark. Disney, who was heavily involved with his studio\u2019s projects, certainly did so. Similarly, \u201cAnora\u201d audiences who know Baker\u2019s work probably spotted his fingerprints from the moment the film starts. (And not just because Baker emulates John Carpenter, Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson by sticking with one typeface for the titles of all his films \u2014 Aguafina Script Pro, if you were wondering.)<\/p>\n
One of Baker\u2019s hallmarks, the one people most often associate with him, is a focus on people who live on the margins of society, especially but not exclusively sex workers.<\/p>\n
His 2015 film \u201cTangerine,\u201d<\/a> shot entirely on iPhones, is a zingy, zany comedy about transgender sex workers who go on a wild chase on Christmas Eve, shot mostly in seedier parts of Los Angeles. \u201cThe Florida Project,\u201d<\/a> Baker\u2019s moving 2017 drama that landed Willem Dafoe an Oscar nomination, centers on a little girl named Moonee who lives with her single mother in a budget motel just outside Orlando. Her mother can\u2019t make ends meet, and eventually begins soliciting sex work online. The star of \u201cRed Rocket,\u201d<\/a> Baker\u2019s 2021 film, is a middle-aged porn star who\u2019s down on his luck.<\/p>\n But it would be a mistake to imagine that Baker\u2019s movies focus narrowly on sex work. Those are his characters, but the stories have a wider lens. He\u2019s interested in the American dream, in the idea that if you just work hard enough, you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make something of your life. Every one of his films features characters who\u2019ve tried that and found it lacking. In his films, the American dream is a fairy tale \u2014 a beautiful story we repeat to one another that for many goes sour.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the story of \u201cAnora,\u201d in which the titular enterprising young woman, played by Madison, seems to be alone in the world. She has family somewhere, but we get the clear sense that she\u2019s been making it on her own for a long time. Her job at a high-end Midtown Manhattan strip club pays well enough, but more important, it\u2019s where she meets her prince, who sweeps her into a fantasy world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n