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Nana

Name: Nana
Director: Dan Wolman
Released: 1983
Duration: 92 min

Representation Score

5.4/10

Fair

1983

Director

Dan Wolman

Runtime

92 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Nana is a character study that disrupts social expectations. The film excels at subverting traditional gender hierarchies and presenting a protagonist who reconfigures the social order. However, the film lacks depth in representing LGBTQ+ identities and racial diversity within the Parisian setting. Ultimately, the work functions as a critique of institutional stability, using the protagonist's ascent to expose the fragility of the aristocracy and the banking class.

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Category Breakdown

Does Nana have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on traditional heterosexual relationships and does not include any explicitly queer characters or identities.

How does Nana portray gender?

Good

Nana plays a significant role in driving the story by challenging patriarchal authority and manipulating male-dominated economic landscapes.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Nana?

Limited

The story is set in a period-specific European context and does not feature diverse racial casting.

How does Nana represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film critiques Western institutions such as the landed gentry and banking class, framing social mobility through subjective morality rather than traditional institutional sanctity.

Does Nana include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no characters with visible or invisible disabilities mentioned in the narrative.

Present on Screen

Strong subversion of traditional gender hierarchies and patriarchal authority.
Compelling critique of Western social institutions and class stability.
A protagonist who exercises a significant role in driving the story and social mobility.

Limited or Absent

Lack of explicit LGBTQ+ representation or queer character visibility.
Limited racial and ethnic diversity within the European social setting.
Narrow focus on established Western class archetypes.

Official Synopsis

In Zola's Paris, an ingenue arrives at a tony bordello: she's Nana, guileless, but quickly learning to use her erotic innocence to get what she wants. She's an actress for a soft-core filmmaker and soon is the most popular courtesan in Paris, parlaying this into a house, bought for her by a wealthy banker. She tosses him and takes up with her neighbor, a count of impeccable rectitude, and with the count's impressionable son. The count is soon fetching sticks like a dog and mortgaging his lands to satisfy her whims.

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