REVIEWS
Anna Karenina Reviewed by Mark Adams
A bold, evocative and stimulating theatrical — in many senses of the word — version of Leo Tolstoy’s much-filmed novel Anna Karenina, Joe Wright’s vision of this obsessive love story set against the opulent backdrop of high society in imperial Rus- sia in the 1870s, will challenge audience expecta- tions and thrill those willing to go along with the swirling cinematic style. Anna Karenina also features a captivating lead
performance by Keira Knightley as Anna. A lyrical and elegant production, the clever staging brings the best out of Tom Stoppard’s intelligent, amusing and complex script, and while the structure and affectations may not appeal to purists it allows Wright to tell an epic love story in a lush and sump- tuous manner. It is the third time Knightley and Wright have
worked together — she also starred in his films Pride & Prejudice and Atonement — and he clearly brings out the best in her. Knightley is an actress who divides opinion, but the camera loves her face and in period frocks there is no-one to beat her. Her Anna is impressive here — strikingly beautiful when filmed in a veil looking longingly at a young man who captures her heart, but also driven by a fierce logic and intelligence that makes her want to strive for the love she thinks she deserves even though deep down she knows she can never sur- vive the harsh glare of society. Beautiful Anna Karenina is married to staid but
loyal Karenin (a buttoned-up Jude Law, whose solidity is the perfect balance to Anna’s wilfulness),
n 16 Screen International at Toronto September 7, 2012
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
UK. 2012. 130mins Director Joe Wright Production company Working Title International distribution Universal Pictures Producers Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster Executive producer Liza Chasin Screenplay Tom Stoppard, based on the novella by Leo Tolstoy Cinematography Seamus McGarvey Editor Melanie Ann Oliver Production designer Sarah Greenwood Music Dario Marianelli Main cast Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor- Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson, Holliday Grainger, David Wilmot
a high-ranking government official, and they have a young son and a strong social standing in St Petersburg. Anna is called to Moscow by her errant brother Oblonsky (a terrific performance by Mat- thew Macfadyen, bringing genial comedy to the role), whose philandering ways have damaged his marriage to Dolly (Macdonald); Oblonsky hopes Anna can ease the problems. On the train to Moscow, Anna meets Countess
Vronsky (Williams) who introduces her to son Count Vronsky, a dashing cavalry officer (played with youthful enthusiasm by a blond-haired, moustache-twirling Aaron Taylor-Johnson). There is an instant attraction between Vronsky and Anna. Also visiting Oblonsky’s household is his friend
Levin (Gleeson), a sensitive — and therefore heavily bearded and with long, lank hair — landowner who plans to ask Dolly’s sister Kitty (Vikander) to marry him. But she is entranced by Vronsky, who leaves her heartbroken at a lavish ball when he pursues Anna. Levin leaves from his Pokrovskoe estate, determined to work the land and forget Kitty. Anna returns to St Petersburg but Vronsky fol-
lows her, with the two embarking on a passionate affair that scandalises St Petersburg society and places Karenin in a position where he must give his wife an ultimatum… to put the affair aside and return to him and their son, or to lose her place in society. While Anna thinks she can have every- thing, there are terrible consequences to her obses- sive romance. Forsaking traditional sets and locations for
much of the film, the story is set within a massive and rather rambling theatre — there are moments that emphasise the expanse of Russia, particularly
when the film focuses on Levin’s farm — with scenes set on the stage itself as well as in the lower levels, elevated rigging, mirrored galleries and against painted backdrops. For much of the first half of the film Wright
keeps things moving with a real sense of energy, to the degree that it is only when Anna returns to St Petersburg that the rhythm settles to a more mod- est pace. Particularly striking early in the film is the opulent ball where Vronsky and Anna first dance, with original and rather erotic (though never overt) choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Beautifully shot by Seamus McGarvey (a change
of style from Marvel’s The Avengers) and with ele- gant production design by Sarah Greenwood, Anna Karenina is likely to divide opinion — in a similar way Knightley seems to divide audiences — but while the story is a familiar one the new production offers a bold, stirring and at times entrancing vision.
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