The Oscars are tonight and the frontrunner for Best Picture seems to be “Anora,” although I have this gut feeling that “Conclave” might surprise everyone and pull off the upset.
Regardless, since Oscar voting is done, no controversy can derail a film’s chances at winning. Which is why I find it rather odd that two “Anora” hit pieces were published this week, both tackling the “problematic” nature of the film’s Russian actors.
Firstly, you have The New York Times pointing out that “Anora” cast members Mark Eydelshteyn and Yura Borisov, the latter of which is Oscar nominated, have not yet publicly condemned Vladimir Putin, while at the same time being heralded as heroes back home in Russia.
The piece further entails that both Eydelshteyn and Borisov’s past works include Russian “propaganda” movies, but the author’s definition of a “propaganda” movie is basically anything that gets backed by Russian money, much of which will inevitably be government sponsored.
The Telegraph has more of the same talking points, but takes it one step further by claiming that Eydelshteyn and Borisov represent the “dark side” of the film as they are essentially “tools in Russia’s propaganda machine.”
Its stars continue to live and work in their homeland. Both Eydelshteyn, 22, and Borisov, 31, would appear to be compromised by their previous (and upcoming) works, both for where they have been filmed and the propagandistic nature of them.
Compromised. lol.
What exactly does the NYT and Telegraph expect Eydelshteyn and Borisov to say or do? If they publicly call out their own government then they’ll probably get blacklisted in Russia, or maybe worse. Both actors have tried to stay quiet all of this time; in a recent New York Magazine interview, Eydelshteyn refused to comment on the war due to certain areas of the conversation being “dangerous.”
For the time being, one look at Borisov’s IMDb and he’s already shot four new Russian films. Meanwhile, Eydelshteyn is aiming for U.S. stardom as he was recently cast as one of the two leads on the second season of Prime’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” set to shoot this fall.