337. Anna; movie review

ANNA
Cert 15
119 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, language, sex, suicide references

Today's most uncomfortable juxtaposition has to be watching one of the sexiest spies seen at the movies, directed by a filmmaker who is facing accusations of a real-life sex crime.
The investigation into Luc Besson overshadowed the release of Anna in the summer and it is impossible to watch it now without feeling a tad uneasy because of background knowledge of the accusations against him.
It must be said that Besson denies charges and that Anna's star Sasha Luss has also said that there was no hint of impropriety towards her before or during the making of the movie.
But, even without the knowledge of Besson's court case, the sight of a killer spy, shooting people down while wearing stockings and suspenders did jar more than a tad.
It is typical of the sort of situations in which she finds herself.
Nevertheless, Anna is a compelling thriller and Luss is an impressive debutant.
She stars as a Muscovite who ends up being used by the KGB and her fearsome handler, played by Helen Mirren.
Her startling good looks are key as she goes undercover as a model at a Parison fashion agency on her way to going her to head with the CIA and its bureau chief (Cillian Murphy).
Besson uses the tactic of flashing back and forth in tike to explain the myriad twists and turns during his film.
That is a little mind-bending at first but once I had acclimatised to its style I found it made the film all the more riveting.
And, while I did think Anna was more than a little far-fetched and the body count too high, it did have transfixed to the screen wondering what was going to happen next.
We haven't had a Cold War thriller for a while and this was welcome.

Reasons to watch: Very fast-moving thriller
Reasons to avoid: A tad disjointed at times

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know?  The KGB ended when its chief, Colonel-General Vladimir Kryuchkov, used the KGB's resources to help the August 1991 coup attempt to overthrow Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Final word. Sasha Luss: "I have a unique situation. A lot of actors get the leading role after doing a bunch of smaller things and people get to know them. I came out of nowhere.” Vulture

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