Anna Karenina

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy is one of the most respected novelists of realist Russia, and "Anna Karenina" is one of his most well-known novels. It is a extensive work that has been adapted into a more or less two-hour film. When comparing it to the slender "Hobbit" which is stretched into three films totaling at least nine hours, I wonder where the mistake was made. Where Jackson has to set up the story by adding new plotlines or stretching unimportant passages, the creators of the last film based on the novel "Anna Karenina" had to cut back on the story. And so, the plot is minimal. It is quite sad, but that's how it is. Everything takes place in a screenwriting shortcut, with only the most important moments being left, which then revolve around the characters of Anna and Vronsky. These two have the spotlight in the first half, and Karenin comes to the foreground in the second half. The other characters are not extras, but their importance to the story is limited and temporary. The story of Princess Kitty and Levin or Oblonsky and his wife are outlined, but they are just side episodes that do not have such an impact on the fate of the main character. What disappointed me the most, however, was the lavishness of the film. I expected a grand drama with beautiful costumes and sets, but all I got were the costumes. The story otherwise takes place on a theater stage, there is a curtain, there are ropes, everything. The effect is mainly that the film looks cheap. If this approach was chosen to show that Russian aristocracy was truly just a theater, cut off from the real world, existing on its own rules that don't have much in common with reality, I understand the intention, but I simply didn't imagine "Anna Karenina" this way, and I don't think this concept of the film helped significantly. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/12/sherrybaby-lets-dance-unesena.html (03/03/2013)

A beautifully made, pointless thing. Really, even though I can appreciate the way the film is made, in a theatre backstage, this approach doesn’t bring any added value. Actually, I thought it was counterproductive, because the loud unrealism distracted me from the characters, which means that Anna Karenina missed me completely on an emotional level – with the minor exception of sowing hatred towards the protagonist. (12/22/2012)

Joe Wright won me over with his phenomenal film adaptations of Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, so I was counting on Anna Karenina to be another film that would fully immerse me and transport me with its atmosphere to the time in which the story takes place. Unfortunately, I have to say that this time it didn't happen. The original approach to the film's space, which is largely set in a theatre, seems very imaginative at first glance, no question about it. But the great novel (story) that "Anna Karenina" undoubtedly is is very much harmed by the confinement between four "bare" walls, not to mention the way the sets and props look (the use of a model train, I don't know why, irritated me quite a bit). As for the cast, at times I felt that some of the actors didn't take their roles too seriously (maybe a connection to the theatre, who knows), which was a bit annoying. In short, this film was quite a disappointment for me, which is all the more so considering the director's previous efforts. (06/26/2013)

Absolutely captivating, riveting and enchanting. I must admit that I didn’t expect much from Anna; I was afraid that I was in for rather a kitsch, historical bed-bath, but how wrong I was. I was shocked and surprised by the movie; it holds utterly unexpected things in store, served up to you with such noblesse and mystery. I take my hat off to the entire stage. The idea of making it all take place inside a grand theatre was just incredible. To start with, it bothered me a little, but after a short while I got right into it - you’ll love it. The theatricality was complemented by excellent acting performances. Keira Knightley makes a very convincing and venerable Anna Karenina and I fell in love with her at first sight. The plot was a bit bland and ordinary by today’s standards, but toward the end of the 19th century, when it was written, it caused an uproar. I’m slightly disappointed that the filmmakers didn’t make a little more of Anna’s death, but that’s how it happened in the novel (at the end) and it didn’t spoil the movie for me all in all. And the portrayal of how Russian High Society, the creme de la creme, simply destroyed Anna is marvelous. I am thrilled and full of emotions. (08/03/2014)

I really enjoyed seeing Alicia Vikander’s face, as well as Kelly Macdonald's presence and Jude Law's performance. Everything else was pointless. The theater belongs in the theater and Keira can finally stop reigning. I still get the feeling from her that her supposed talent isn't half as pronounced as her eyebrows. On the other hand, I have perhaps never seen such mannerisms from Karenina before. And that's saying something. (12/07/2012)