Anna Karenina

Year of release : 2012

Run time : 2h5m

Genre : Historical Romantic Drama

Cast : Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Alicia Vikander, Matthew Macfadyen, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson

The movie is based on the Lev Tolstoy's 1878 novel of the same name.

The stage curtains are pulled from the stage of the year 1874, in Imperial Russia, where we find Prince Stiva had an affair and is banished by his wife, Princess Darya, with whom he has many children.

Stiva's sister, Anna Karenina, is a socialite living in Sankt Petersburg with her older husband, count Karenin, and son Seryozha. She travels to Moscow to persuade Darya to take Stiva back.

Stiva meets his friend, Kostya Levin, an aristocrat living in the country, working side by side with the countrymen. Kostya tells Stiva he is in love with his sister, Kitty, who is 18 years old, and wants to propose. Stiva encourages him to. Unluckily for him, Kitty refuses, as she loves count Alexei Vronsky, an officer.

Levin meets his older brother, Nikolai, who renounced his inheritance and married a former prostitute.

On the train to Moscow Anna meets Vronsky's mother, countess Vronskaya, isolated from society by her infidelities. Anna meets her son, Alexei, and they seem to be attracted to each other.

In Moscow, Anna convinces Darya to take Stiva back.

Anna is persuaded to stay for the ball, where Kitty hopes to dance all night, and be proposed to by Alexei. But Alexei only dances with her once, after which he turns his attention to Anna,causing a stir.

Speaking of dance, the dances of this period in Russia were very elaborate. Whenever I watch a period piece I'm fascinated by how elaborated the dances are.

Alexei pursues Anna telling her he wants to be where she is, and refuses a promotion to be near her.

As their relationship flourishes, Anna becomes careless with her husband (which makes her unlikeable), at first screaming scared in fear for Vronsky's life, when he falls with his horse at the races, then telling him of her infidelity (she tells her husband she is Alexei's wife now, because she's having his child!), bringing her lover in their home, wanting to leave him, but as a divorcee, she won't be able to remarry, the new marriage being illegitimate and her daughter with Alexei a bastard.

 

The movie follows two love stories, that of Anna with Alexei, and of Kostya with Kitty.

I liked how the movie was set on a theatre stage, as if saying this was the stage or play of life. I loved the way every scene started, with the stage or opening a door. I liked how it was directed and edited.

The movie looked so beautiful, everything was a feast for the eyes, from the interior design with the incredible furniture, to the costumes, especially the women's outfits, with the jewelry and the furs. The movie definitely looked very Russian, as as a Russian movie lover, I can attest to the fact their interior design is that glamorous, a feast for the eyes. So are the clothes set in this time period.

Whenever they were in a crowd, Russian was heard from the people around, creating the impression we are in the Russian society although the actors spoke with an English accent, not pronouncing the Russian names like in Russian,but in English.

The colors were beautiful.

The first s3x scene is very beautifully crafted, it looks like a dance!

The soundtrack consisted of Russian songs,immersing the movie into the Russian society.

The movie got 4 Oscar nominations, 6 BAFTA nominations, winning the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Costume Design Award.

The movie is 30 days free on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Sundance Now Amazon Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel; 7 days free on Paramount+, Paramount+ on Amazon Channel, Paramount+ on AppleTv Channel, Paramount+ Premium, Paramount+ Basic with Ads, Sundance Now AppleTv Channel; for rent/ sale on Amazon, AppleTv, Fandango at Home.

Rating : Worth a watch !