The China Mail - Oscar fave 'Anora,' a 'love letter' to eccentric beachside Brooklyn

Transfer to the Q for a few more stops and you're in Coney Island, Brighton Beach's carnivalesque cousin with a 100-year-old wooden roller coaster and colorful boardwalk that forms the people's playground.

The eccentric, oceanside South Brooklyn neighborhoods play starring roles in the modern Cinderella romp "Anora" -- an indie film that is tipped for success at the Oscars on Sunday.

The movie showcases areas that feature less often on the lengthy filmography of a city well-accustomed to close-ups.

Brighton Beach and Coney Island backdrop the chaotic overnight search for Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), a Russian oligarch's son who flees his father's blundering Eastern European henchmen after his whirlwind marriage to the film's titular sex worker (Mikey Madison).

Anora, nicknamed Ani, lives under the rumbling elevated train that snakes into Brighton Beach, which since the mid-1970s has been a haven to immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus.

It's a community where pelmeni and vareniki dumplings are menu standards, and savvy shoppers can scoop caviar for a steal.

Director Sean Baker "really wanted to sort of uncover this microcosm of a world that still exists there... this neighborhood of people that speaks a certain language and has a certain culture that they preserved," the film's locations manager Ross Brodar told AFP.

"There's so much gentrification in the city," the native New Yorker continued, but in "this enclave, you still have, like, heavy-duty Russians."

"You can get a bowl of borscht and you feel like you could be in Moscow," said Brodar, who also has a small role in the film as a security guard.

"I think that's what everyone loves about it."

- 'Love letter' -

Part of Brighton Beach's charisma stems from its aura of grumpiness -- residents tolerate outsiders, but earning the trust to shoot a film is no small feat.

To secure locations, Brodar worked with a Russian-speaking fixer to forge relationships with local business owners.

He said he wanted to show them "I wasn't trying to exploit the situation, I was trying to bring something to it."

"One of my big tag lines was, 'This is a love letter to Brighton Beach.'"

It helped that Yura Borisov, a major Russian movie star, was among the cast members -- when locals recognized him on board, the project gained street cred, Brodar said.

That didn't mean everything always went smoothly, especially as many of the scenes included not extras but real people going about their daily business.

Brodar described one night shooting a scene at the boardwalk classic Tatiana Grill, during the hunt for Ivan -- and the patience of diners began to wear thin as the film takes dragged on.

"One guy literally was like, 'If you don't get out of here, I'm going to stab one of you'," Brodar said.

- 'Authentic' -

Just over the border of Brighton Beach in Coney Island stands a billboard from the film's team thanking the community for allowing them in.

A stone's throw away sits William's Candy, a more than 80-year-old shop whose windows entice shoppers with cotton candy and just about every treat imaginable coated in chocolate.

The colorful store appears in the film, including in an infamous scene where Borisov's character Igor smashes it up, sending gumballs flying.

Billy O'Brien, 74, plays the shop's manager: Baker recruited the native Coney Islander -- who works out back as a parking attendant, and also helps out at the store -- to play the part.

"I was just hanging out. They were like, 'Want to be in the movie?' and I was like, fine," O'Brien told AFP. "Everybody had a good time doin' it."

He's become one of the film's beloved characters, but still hasn't seen it: "Why would I want to see myself?" he laughed. "I know what I look like."

The shop's real-life manager, Peter Agrapides, said Baker's decision to cast O'Brien, thick accent and all, helps make the film feel "authentic."

"Billy is a Coney Island person. All his life he's lived here. He's worked on the rides," Agrapides said. "They focused on the neighborhood -- it's good for Brooklyn."

Agrapides never imagined, though, that his shop would appear in an Oscar-nominated film.

"Anora" has already won the Cannes festival's Palme d'Or and a smattering of prizes from Hollywood's directors, producers, writers and critics.

The film achieved a level of global success Brodar hadn't envisioned either, although "I knew it was special," he said. "The cast was so unique, and it was funny as hell."

"There was a lot of love that went into making that movie."

K.Lam--ThChM