Anna Karenina

A visually stunning tale of lust and decadence that will make you wish that you too could fall in love at a ball.

Starring: Kiera Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jude Law & Matthew MacFadyen

Dir: Joe Wright

Writers: Tom Stoppard, novel by Leo Tolstoy

What's it all about?

Set in nineteenth century Russia, the film follows the beautiful people of high society Moscow and St Petersberg. Anna Karenina (Kiera Knightley) a socialite and wife of powerful politician, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law) who leaves her son for the first time on a trip to Moscow to visit her extravagant brother (Matthew Macfadyen). Whilst visiting, she attends a lavish ball at which her beautiful young niece, Princess Kitty (Alicia Vikander) hopes to receive a proposal from the dashing, yet aloof, Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). But Vronsky is far more interested in Anna, as the two dance the night away but not without attracting attention from their fellow aristocrats. Despite her attempts to shun Vronsky’s advances, he follows Anna home across Russia, with mounting sexual tension shadowing them on the way. This culminates in an all-embracing affair as they fall deeply in love and fraternise behind closed doors. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough is stop the tongues of Russia from wagging as their forbidden love becomes more and more dangerous.

Worth a watch?

Visually, Anna Karenina is one of the most beautiful films I have seen in a long time. The costumes are lavish and the scenery is breath-taking, the set dressers and costume department definitely deserve an Oscar nod. The whole way the film staged is very innovate, and I use this term quite literally as it is set on and around a stage. The first act of the film moves with speed as the sets continually change on the stage to introduce us to the various characters. But every movement is so well choreographed; you feel like you a gracefully drifting around Russia rather than being rushed through so we can get to the crux of the story: the affair. The pivotal moment of the ball where Vronsky and Anna dance together is also brilliantly choreographed, and sums up the flow and mood of the whole film: elegant and seductive. The stage is the setting for most scenes, but we are also taken backstage and up into the rafters to visit the poverty-stricken streets of Russia, as well as the back of stage opening up into ‘the real world’ to visit the vast countryside. In terms of Anna herself, I couldn’t really imagine any other young actress at the moment playing her as well as Knightley. Some call her wooden, I call it poise. She showed the passion, despair and madness of Anna brilliantly. But I think it was Macfadyen who stole the show. His brash character gave the film what few comedic moments he could and his brazen presence always filled the screen. 

Give it a miss?

If you’re not a great fan of period dramas, I would say to give it a miss, but it is a truly great love story. The only element that I feel slightly let the film down would be Taylor-Johnson’s performance. Whilst it was plain to see that Anna was infatuated with the Count, he remained somewhat dethatched. The sexual tension whilst he was pursuing her was palpitating, but once he had her, I felt maybe it had been all about the chase. Although, I may be wrong for criticising Taylor-Johnson on this, maybe that is the point: that Anna embarked on a wildly decadent affair for someone that was not entirely worth it? I have not read the book, so I cannot comment. Perhaps someone could help me out on this one? The fast paced beginning of the film may put some people off, but it was not indicative of the rest of the film’s pace. The film certainly slows down in the final act, but not to a point where it is dragging, nearly, but not quite.

So overall....

An elegant and seductive adaptation of Tolstoy’s epic tale of love is carried off well by its strong cast and Joe Wright’s decision to set the story on a stage perfectly frames the theatrics. The striking sets and costumes will draw you into this lavish Russian tale of decadence and lust and make you wish you too could fall in love at a ball.

• Lives up to expectation  2/2
• Scenery/Effects 3/3
• Eye Candy 1/2
• Quality of Acting 2.5/3
• Plot 4/5
• Quality of film within it's genre: 9/10

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