Anna (2019)

Elevator Pitch: this is a film which has flashbacks and different points of view of the same events, but here I describe the basic narrative. Anna Poliatova has applied to join the Russian Navy as a way of getting away from her abusive boyfriend, drawing her to the attention of the KGB. She trained as an assassin and a recruitment as a model by a French organisation engineered, once there she interspaces posing for photographers with killing targets on behalf of her bosses. She has applied for release from her job after five years, but there seems little chance of this being achieved, so when she is caught by the Americans and turned into a double agent, she now has a chance of achieving her objective.

Content: There is some sex with just a bit of nudity. Drinking and smoking take place. One car chase in Moscow. Anna poses for photographs, and carries out many assassinations with a silenced handgun, variously disguised. There is a major set piece early on as she is tested by her handler. She has a girlfriend in the model agency. At times she meets with her KGB boss and also meets with her American handler. 

A View: This film was effectively dumped by the distributers after the director was accused of rape. I have always been a fan of his work, but this accusation has put a slightly different light on it so I am a bit distressed. But putting that aside, I enjoyed much of what was presented, but found the flashbacks and different points of view at best confusing and at worst pointless. I think it is intended to be a clever way of telling what is essentially the same Luc Besson story. But even so, probably worth a watch if you are a fan of action movies.

There are other Luc Besson films which are, in my view, really good fun. Here are three possibilities. The Fifth Element, Transporter 3, Valarian and the City of 1000 Planets,