Anna Karenina (2012)
Certified: 14
Duration: 130 minutes
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Alicia Vikander, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson
KRS release
Leo Tolstoy’s classic love story has had several screen adaptations and various stellar actresses have played the part of the tragic and passionate titular figure.
The film delves into a society that for us is alien- Johan Galea
These included, among others, screen legends Greta Garbo who played the part twice (1927, 1935), Vivien Leigh (1948), Jacqueline Bisset (1985) and Sophie Marceau (1997). So it is quite an honour for Keira Knightley to play this role.
Anna Karenina (Knightley) is married to self-righteous, balding and respectable Judge Alexei Karenin (Jude Law). The focus of her life is her son Seryozha (Oskar McNamara) who is the recipient of her love; she only feels respect towards her husband.
Countess Vronskaya (Olivia Williams) advises her to sometimes follow her erotic intuition, a counsel that leads Anna to Alexei Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the countess’s own son. But Anna will have to face the consequences of engaging in this relationship, as society looked sternly upon extra-marital affairs back then, especially as regards women.
Under Joe Wright’s direction, this often told tale of tragedy and passion is given a fresh and theatrical take.
What I really liked was how this film delves into a society that, for us today, is alien: 19th-century Russia is as far away from the perceptions of modern thinking as can be. Yet the themes explored still sound meaningful.
Synchronicity and timing are the rules of the game here as every scene is meant to be a showstopper.
Wright pulls out quite a lot of white rabbits from his magical top hat and the result is a stylish one.
With the knowledge of all the adaptations that have preceded this film, the director opts to take a very different route with the resulting picture defying being tagged as another period costume drama.
At the centre of nearly every camera shot is Knightley who has come a long way since her Bend It Like Beckham (2002) days.
Wright, who has already directed Knightley in Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007), places a lot of faith in her and in turn, the actress does not disappoint him.
Padded on by Dario Marianelli’s rich score and the fantasy-like camerawork by Seamus McGarvey, the film is European in style, where every motion and step can take on a different meaning.
Anna Karenina is about heaven and shame and the visual depiction of that puts a different slant on a tale that you once thought you knew.