Anna Karenina - "I was eighteen when I got married, but it was not love."
A tale of love, loss, infidelity, politics & style over substance. Director Joe Wright bravely tackles Leo Tolstoy's epic 864 page novel set in high society Russia in the year 1874 which tells the story of Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley), the wife of a high ranking Russian politician "Alexei Karenin" (Jude Law) and her infidelity which leads to her downfall and public slut shaming. Anna is seduced by an up and coming Russian officer "Vronsky"(Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and subsequently abandons her child & husband which destroys Alexei Karenin's standing in society. "The man who can't govern his wife, has gone as far as he can go in government."She must pay the price and lose the perks of the upper class. She is driven by pure passion which I guess should have made us feel empathy for her, however in this adaptation Joe Wright strives for style over substance and the story gets lost in translation.
The production of this film is quite extraordinary, it's filmed almost entirely in the confines of a theater stage, the box, the main floor, the wings, the machinery & the trickery of backdrops ever changing to suit the scene. It all happens in real time.....sort of, if the scene requires a change of set or costume it's done during a scene with stage hands in full costume. The backdrops are changed in front of your very eyes and costume changes happen in the blink of an eye which is impressive and provides some comical relief. The cast is a collection of British talent. Jude Law in particular is a stand out, he has a very reserved performance in which his inner rage is visible but he can't fully express it as he must be the quint essential example of Russian rigor and remain in complete control. "I tried to save her. She chose him."
He speaks in hushed tones and needn't do anything but walk into a room to demand everyone's respect. Keira Knightley is......Keira Knightley her performance doesn't change from one period piece to the next, it's good but not exciting, she continues to choose these roles and she's good in them but there are no longer any "wow" moments. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a magnificent job portraying an ambitious rising soldier who makes women weak at the knees and as he seduces Anna Karenina it's very obvious that Mr. Kick-Ass has talent in dramatic roles.
As for the central story it was at times dull because it's hard to sympathize with Anna as society slowly turns on her. "Anna isn't a criminal, but she broke the rules!"It is in fact the supporting cast that have the most interesting subplots. Anna's brother Oblonsky played by the brilliant Matthew Macfadyen is hysterical, his whole demeanor, the way he takes nothing serious, how he openly tries to crack jokes with intimidating Russian higher ups is priceless, if only he had more screen time. If Joe Wright had of gone a little sillier and lighter on tone to accommodate for the tedious plot then it would have been a more entertaining film, but these adult themes require tension and drama which makes the famous story very difficult to adapt to the big screen. Tom Stoppard who wrote the script did as good a job as anyone could, his dialogue was rich, the way in which it was delivered was perfect, however it will obviously not interest everyone particularly the teenage demographic. It could have used a shorter running time also, at 130 minutes you do occasionally look at your watch wanting it to wrap up but overall an expertly crafted film with a tedious story to tell. It's definitely worth watching but don't go into it if you're not interested in the story because you will ultimately come out disappointed. 3.8/5
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