On February 11, the new miniseries Inventing Anna, which tells the relatively recent story of Russian-born con artist Anna Sorokina (Delvi), debuted on Netflix. The cinematography is agreed upon, and the platform was clearly counting on another potential hit.
Anna Sorokina's biography deserves a film adaptation. An ordinary girl from a Russian family, the daughter of a truck driver who moved to Germany in the 1990s, managed to infiltrate the circles of the New York elite and for years put herself in front of incredibly rich and famous people, posing as a rich German heiress. At the same time, the girl was not even 30 years old! Isn't that a great story to tell? So Netflix decided to adapt the Delvie-Sorokina story into Inventing Anna.
The showrunner of the mini-series is the legendary Shonda Rhimes. Legendary because Grey's Anatomy, produced under her direction, is already iconic, and last year's Bridgertons, which became Netflix's most (!!) popular series, reconfirmed Rhimes' status. Shonda's $150 million deal with the streaming service was about to pay off. Turns out the service made an impressive bet on the project, but should the average viewer spend 10 hours of their life on our countryman's drivel, shown through the prism of a soap opera aficionado?
What's the story?
Nov 20, 2017 Anna Delvey (posh Julia Garner), a young German pseudo-rich woman, is facing charges of theft and fraud. She lived in luxury hotels and didn't pay, managed to defraud the country's famous financiers and philanthropists, and was on the verge of obtaining a loan of more than $20 million.
Delvey's story didn't get much coverage and could have ended quietly, but Manhattan Magazine reporter Vivian Kent (Anna Klamsky) saw great potential for a story. Offering her own story to the editor, Kent is turned down and given another assignment: to write a story about #MeToo (or as they say here: "MeToo") on Wall Street. Vivian disobeys the obnoxious editor (you betcha!). Weinstein gets his ass kicked in early October, and by the end of November, there's hardly anything left to press) and heads to Rikers jail to meet with Anna.
Delvi meets the pregnant reporter and is rather arrogant and defiant, constantly warning that she has come for a routine visit and not under the auspices of the press, where there are many VIP perks and conditions. Vivian tries to convince Anna to give her an exclusive interview, which should rehabilitate Kent's career (unpleasant things happened in the past, after which his professional activity declined).
The potentially interesting heroine promises to think about it. So the reporter ignores the harassment material and spontaneously starts to investigate the last years of the life of the fake goddess, gaining a team of incredibly cool journalist allies sitting next to her in the office.
Who are you, Anna?
The mini-series about Anna Delvi lasts about ten hours. Each episode focuses primarily on one character and their story related to the socialite. A conversation with an old friend, a philanthropist, a hotel employee friend and other people involved in the story of Anna's great deception.
The problem is that there is almost no trace of the characters by the judge of the show. The creators throw them away, as Sorokina did at one point in her life. For example, Anna's former friend, fashion designer Val (James Moyer), simply disappears from the show after telling his story to a reporter, even though the writers had initially shown the character from a point of view that was incredibly important to the story. It is not only Val who disappears from the screen, but also other people. On the one hand, we can understand that the characters played their part, but we can't throw them overboard.
Each episode of Inventing Anna begins with an elegant disclaimer, rooted in the world of the show: "This story is absolutely true, except for the part that is completely fictional." This sentence elegantly describes the ten-hour season from an emotional standpoint. The viewer does not know how to identify with the main character until the credits roll on the ninth series. Who did Shonda Rhimes want to show at the end: a cool, charismatic, bold and incredibly s(t)ical woman who has reached unprecedented heights, albeit with the help of deception? Or the pathetic, shallow, manipulative, whiny and hysterical girl confined in the body of a spoiled child?
From the very first image, Julia Garner captures the viewer with her charisma and impertinence, after which the viewer first sees Delvi as the embodiment of feminism. She bluntly states how difficult it is for a woman to move in the business world, asserts her rights by creating the Anna Delvey Foundation (ADF), and strives to succeed by any means necessary. But with a snap of her fingers, the embodiment of feminism crosses over to the other side of the barricades and delivers all the feminist stereotypes that feminism tries to fight.
Garner, red-faced and on the verge of tears, begins to assert that her rich father loves her but won't give her money. She screams hysterically that the institution has a problem with the payment system and that she has a lot of money. The image of a millionaire comes up at this point constantly throughout her life. It is amazing that no one has ever noticed such brazenness. A woman who claims to be rich will never be able to pay her hotel/restaurant bill by manipulating the stereotypes. Either New York celebrities are incredibly stupid, or Shonda has had too much soap opera in Inventing Anna.
It's hard to judge, without being a fraud, about lying schemes, but to maintain the image of a wealthy woman with a $65 million trust fund, can't she be bothered to spend a fraction of the money to cover restaurant and hotel expenses? Isn't it the height of folly to fly to a complete stranger's country to stay in the best room in one of the world's most ostentatious hotels without a penny, promising to cover expenses along the way?
Who is Anna Delvey? For all the feminism in the show, the tough hustler seems to be just a silly girl who insults anyone who comes close to her true identity and her silly, flawed deception.
There is a message for you
Shonda Rhimes isn't known for shying away from featuring strong, independent women. "Inventing Anna" is no exception, as this multi-episode series is filled with lively female characters. Sorokina isn't the only one in Rimes' sights, but journalist Vivian Kent, Anna's friend Neff (Alexis Floyd), philanthropist Nora Radford (Kate Burton) and fitness trainer Casey Duke (Laverne Cox) also appear. Each of Shonda's heroines is fascinating. And indeed, completely different women share the same aura of strength, regardless of their race, age or the life circumstances that surround them.
Another ode to female strength and independence is the soundtrack to Inventing Anna. Songs by Cardi B, Fifth Harmony and Megan Thee Stallion can be heard during the screening. The compositions of the brilliant representatives of contemporary women's music are perfectly supported by the events of the series and fit perfectly with the image of a luxurious life.
In addition to feminism, the series also raises other issues that are shaking society in contemporary America: racism, Trump's politics (given the timeline of events), bullying, society's attitude toward the media and its representatives, and, of course, the American Dream. There's a lot to talk about, but it's feminism (including the difficulties of pregnancy and the obstacles in the workplace and in business) that takes up most of the time.
The character of journalist Vivian Kent proves to be the perfect embodiment of female strength. She overcomes all the challenges in her life and career (she is regularly thwarted by her editor). She struggles to thrive as a journalist and regain her lost reputation before "a baby comes out of her pussy" (an incredibly cool quote, which is far from the only one in the series).
Miss Kent runs from source to source, being sent, redirected, introduced to the details of a life of luxury and mocked for her poor lifestyle, but Vivian gets on with it and, despite being about to give birth, completes the article, convincing the last source to agree to publish it when the waters have already receded. The embodiment of feminine strength and power. The only surprising thing is that in 2017, Vivian didn't even think to look for information and sources on Instagram at first. Not only that, but she was surprised to discover how many clues she could find on social media when her more mature counterparts discovered such an unexplored field.
Other characters in Inventing Anna are just as admirable as Vivian Kent. For example, Neff, who dreams of being a filmmaker and works hard at the 12 George Hotel. She is self-reliant, confident, and charismatic, but at one point the character (or writers) definitely overreact with Rachel's caustic response (it is Rachel, Anna's ex-girlfriend, who proves to be the most obnoxious female character, evoking no positive emotion). Even on the level of tolerance, Neff's line about buying into racism seems a bit delusional.
Incidentally, the women are not the only important characters in the project. Sorokina-Delvie's lawyer, Todd Spodek (Arian Moyed), and the reporters who help Vivian with her story, Barry (Terry Kinney) and Louis (Jeff Perry), are also notable (it's one of the reporters who brings up the quote about the baby, and overall, the actors do a good job in their assigned comedy roles).
The characters of Todd and Vivian have formed a good friendly tandem over the course of the 9 episodes against the backdrop of Anna's trial. There is great chemistry between the characters and by the end, sitting in front of a colorful bridge (and here it is sometimes obvious that the background is poorly drawn), the viewer cares about Anna and her future fate with them.
What is the final result ?
The miniseries "Inventing Anna," based on a story by Jessica Pressler (Vivian's real-life prototype) and released on Netflix exactly one year after Delvie-Sorokina's release from prison (she was released on Feb. 11, 2021 for good behavior and participation in prison programs) turned out to be a success.
The project won't achieve bragging rights or records, nor will it be another streaming success like "The Queen's Walk" or "The Bridgertons," the biography of our con artist. There's no shortage of reasons: the slight but still dragging, the neglect of the characters and their plots, Garner's inarticulate character, the stretched metropolis and other platitudes.
Watching Shonda Rhimes' multi-episode project out of interest is certainly possible, but only if you have an extra ten hours to spare and the desire to see strong, stylish heroines on screen while shattering your beliefs about the American Dream cliffhanger of the cruelty of the real capitalist world.
