Anna Karenina
2012
***
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Alicia Vikander, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson
In 1874, Anna Karenina, a mother and wife to a stodgy bureaucrat, meets the handsome cavalry officer Alexei Vronsky and embarks on a passionate but foolish love affair which ruins her marriage and her reputation. Leo Tolstoy's 1877 novel has been adapted to the screen at least once every decade for the past century. Tom Stoppard's screenplay attempts to give the story a fresh twist by turning it into a filmed stage play. Sometimes within one uncut shot the actors and sets move to a different part of the stage to create the next scene. But not always, which seems odd. While I admire the bold artistic choice and its beautifully orchestrated execution, at times the whole approach feels like a convenient way to overcome budgetary constraints. What this gimmick doesn't do, however, is help me understand the archaic social norms of Imperial Russia or feel Anna's pain as her actions destroy her societal standing. Or maybe it's just Joe Wright. Like his earlier films Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, this is another well-acted and skillfully directed literary adaptation which left me cold.
