Reading Anna Karenina was not a particularly enjoyable experience (please don't send me angry letters, Tolstoy enthusiasts). Watching the movie, however, was entirely different. After Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, this is director Joe Wright's third literary adaptation, and the result is a sumptuous visual spectacle.
The story begins in Imperial Russia in 1874 and the basic plot is as follows: Anna (played beautifully by Wright's favorite leading lady, Keira Knightley) is in a loveless marriage with the terribly straight-laced Alexei Karenin (Jude Law) and falls in love with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), setting off a chain of events that will lead her to her ultimate doom. Side-plots include her brother Stepan Oblonsky (Matthew MacFadyen, in a marvelously comic role) who is amiable enough but has caused his wife Dolly (Kelly MacDonald) great distress due to his philandering ways. And there's his friend Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) who is hopelessly in love with Dolly's sister Kitty (Alicia Vikander) but has to face competition from Vronsky, until Vronsky falls for Anna.
The movie's screenplay was written by Tom Stoppard, who has taken a marvelously novel approach to presenting this story. The movie opens with a curtain rising above a stage, and most of the scenes take place onstage with the footlights lingering in the foreground, or backstage among pulleys, ropes, and scenery. Occasionally we move to actual locations, like Levin's farm in the country, but the stage provides a reminder of the theatrical nature of Russian society, with its gossips, intrigues, and salacious rumor-mongering that will lead to Anna's eventual downfall. This narrative device also turns the vast tale into an intimate tragic play and keeps the audience's attention squarely on the various characters populating the story. What with writing this movie and Parade's End, Stoppard is clearly the master of turning massive tomes into crisp cinematic classics.
The story begins in Imperial Russia in 1874 and the basic plot is as follows: Anna (played beautifully by Wright's favorite leading lady, Keira Knightley) is in a loveless marriage with the terribly straight-laced Alexei Karenin (Jude Law) and falls in love with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), setting off a chain of events that will lead her to her ultimate doom. Side-plots include her brother Stepan Oblonsky (Matthew MacFadyen, in a marvelously comic role) who is amiable enough but has caused his wife Dolly (Kelly MacDonald) great distress due to his philandering ways. And there's his friend Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) who is hopelessly in love with Dolly's sister Kitty (Alicia Vikander) but has to face competition from Vronsky, until Vronsky falls for Anna.
The movie's screenplay was written by Tom Stoppard, who has taken a marvelously novel approach to presenting this story. The movie opens with a curtain rising above a stage, and most of the scenes take place onstage with the footlights lingering in the foreground, or backstage among pulleys, ropes, and scenery. Occasionally we move to actual locations, like Levin's farm in the country, but the stage provides a reminder of the theatrical nature of Russian society, with its gossips, intrigues, and salacious rumor-mongering that will lead to Anna's eventual downfall. This narrative device also turns the vast tale into an intimate tragic play and keeps the audience's attention squarely on the various characters populating the story. What with writing this movie and Parade's End, Stoppard is clearly the master of turning massive tomes into crisp cinematic classics.
Most importantly, Anna Karenina is an aesthetic tour de force, with lavish costumes by Jacqueline Durran, jaw-dropping production design by Sarah Greenwood, and stunning balletic choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in the dance scenes that cement Anna and Vronsky's relationship. Those dance scenes are bewildering and dazzling set pieces that demand repeated viewing. Joe Wright's propensity for long sweeping shots lends fluidity and lightness to the otherwise heavy plot and the movie is suffused with color, light, and beauty in every frame. Unfortunately, my eyes were so overcome with the detail and intricacy of every scene that I had no time to engage my other senses and pay attention to what I'm sure is another beautiful score by Wright's faithful composer, Dario Marianelli.
Turning a book into a movie is always a perilous proposition and filmmakers get flak for either being too faithful to the source material or not faithful enough. However, Joe Wright and his team have found the winning formula. Anna Karenina is a perfect example of how to turn a literary masterpiece into a cinematic one.
No comments:
Post a Comment