Jack and Anna is an all-round beautiful film directed by Ksenia Ivanova. By initially plunging the audience into the grey hues of the courtroom, a sense of jeopardy is firmly established. However, as the scene is bridged with the banging of a gavel transitioning to Jack hammering a nail, the coldness dissipates in favour of warm and natural colours. The rate at which the unease of the previous scene is replaced by happiness is reflective of the relationship between the lovers. Kate Smith and Brookelyn Hebert instantaneously create the chemistry that takes feature films upwards of half an hour to establish – which is truly remarkable. The two actresses wonderfully encapsulate love at its most tender. As Jack stands open armed in the recently acquired land, it seems the pair are fully invested in their future together.
What’s great about Jack and Anna is that the delicately happy peaks of the film are not overshadowed by the cuts to the court case. We are granted unique insight into their lives together. This succeeds in adding weight to the final scenes of the film as well as making the narrative feel fully formed and much larger than its 15 minute length. The attention to detail in the transitions to the courtroom is continually impressive as Ivanova makes use of visual bridging. As it comes to light that Jack is in fact a woman named Helen, we learn of the changes she made for the sake of love. The rhetoric in this scene – the suggestion that Helen and Anna’s relationship is ‘a disgusting act that disgraces the moral fabric’ of society reminds us of how much has thankfully changed in the last hundred years. However, it also reflects the many people, governments and laws that have been unable to change their ways of thinking since this archaic time. There are sadly far too many examples of this senseless homophobia to include here but one that has recently been brought to my attention are the despicable ‘LGBT free-zones’ in Poland.
In the emotional climax of the film, Anna and Helen are forced to separate and Helen must move back to her foster mother’s homestead. The conclusion of the film hints at Helen’s new life – the loneliness and heartbreak she feels is evident in the sepia tones that replace the warmth of earlier scenes.
Despite this, the lingering images of Jack and Anna are ones of love and happiness – for me they rise above the heartache and loss. Ksenia Ivanova has directed a compelling and vivid story from the history books with her own artistic licence. Jack and Anna is certainly well deserving of the numerous awards and accolades it has won!
Check out the trailer here!