Saturday, 16 February 2013

Anna Karenina

A review of Anna Karenina by Lena


Love and hate, husband and lover, pride and shame, son and daughter… and Anna Karenina. This movie is an unusual twist on Leo Tolstoy’s novel. Set in late 19th century Russian high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with Count Vronsky. This is, without a doubt, the greatest love story of all time. After seeing Joe Wright’s vision of the piece, Romeo and Juliette are a thing of the past.

The main themes of this movie are love and shame. Anna is a free spirit, and she was not afraid to leave it all behind for someone who, she thought, was worth it all. Although she struggled to leave her son, she knew that one day he would understand. She didn't care about what people had to say, and that was one of her best qualities. All in all, I thought the movie was fantastic, but the movie critics weren't so kind. Upon the release, the film received some positive reviews from critics, but later they noticed Wright's apparent preference for style over substance, and I agree. Some scenes could have lasted longer and could have been more explanatory. I realised that I wouldn't have understood a thing if I hadn't read the book previously. There is one more thing that caught the critic’s eye. In the book it is explicitly said that Anna is a curvaceous woman with wild, black curly hair. Keira Knightley doesn't exactly meet the criteria.

Even so, if you enjoyed reading the Russian classic, than this is the movie for you.

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