Joe Wright is no stranger to adapting literary classics. He
made his feature film debut with a big screen version of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. Wright followed
that up with an adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement,
which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. After delving
into sappy Hollywood territory with The
Soloist, Wright went off the beaten path with Hanna, an action film with elements of Grimm fairy tales and Jason Bourne
espionage. Now, he's returned to his bread and butter with Anna Karenina, based on the epic novel by Leo Tolstoy.
Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) is a wealthy socialite
living in St. Petersburg with her older husband, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law), an
influential statesman, and their son, Serhoza (Oskar McNamara). Anna
reluctantly leaves her boy for the first time for a trip to Moscow in order to
mend the broken marriage of her brother, Stiva (Matthew McFadyen), and his wife
Dolly (Kelly Macdonald). Dolly has thrown Stiva out of the house after learning
of his affair with their governess. While in Moscow, Anna becomes instantly smitten
to a handsome cavalry officer named Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). The
attraction is mutual and the two engage in an illicit affair that is doomed
from the moment they lock eyes. The passion is heated, but the once respectable
Anna becomes the subject of catty gossip and sneering glances from her fellow
bluebloods.
What sets Joe Wright's Anna
Karenina apart from other cinematic versions is the director's use of
stylized theatrical sets. The production was unable to afford shooting on
location in Russia or the numerous locales that the story called for. Instead,
Wright renovated an old theater outside London and dressed it up with help from
production designer Sarah Greenwood.
As Shakespeare once wrote, "All the world's a stage,
and all the men and women merely players." Wright truly takes that to
heart as the theatricality works to enhance the idea that Tolstoy's characters
are forced to play roles to conform to societal mores. Wright makes no attempt
to hide the floodlights, curtains, or pulley ropes. The aristocracy lives on
stage and in the seats while the servants and lower classes exist only
backstage or in the rafters. The film sometimes transitions from one scene to
another by opening stage doors. Anna's trip to Moscow is depicted by a toy
train chugging past model homes and miniature snow banks. Only rarely does the
story venture into an actual exterior such as during sun-lit picnic shared by
Anna and Vronsky. Wright has become known for his tracking shots and he doesn't
disappoint here. Wright glides the camera around the stage as extras move to
and fro while stagehands alter the set. The intricate choreography will recall
Alexander Sokurov's technical marvel, Russian
Ark.
The sumptuous costumes and set design are almost enough to
distract from the overwrought drama that is almost emotionally devoid. It's a
difficult proposition to distill Tolstoy's prose into a palpable movie. Even at
over two hours, the screenplay by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) still shortchanges the various storylines.
Anna Karenina is one of the great tragic figures in classic
literature, but without fully developing her storyline, she doesn't come off in
a sympathetic light. Meanwhile, Jude Law's Alexei isn't portrayed in
stereotypical fashion as a brute. He's stodgy, yet caring and ultimately
forgiving. The love triangle entrapping Anna, Alexei, and Vronsky run parallel with
two other love stories that have generally fallen to the wayside in other
adaptations. Cultural hypocrisy is highlighted by the contrasts between Anna's ostracizing
and the lack of consequences for Stiva's frequent dalliances. While Dolly is
asked to absolve her adulterous husband, Anna is allowed no such courtesy. Yet,
Stiva is played up as something of a buffoon and most of his scenes have the
manic energy of a screwball comedy, which never gels with the tragedy that is
about to come. The third storyline focuses on Stiva's sister-in-law Kitty
(Alicia Vikander) and her courtship by the meek Konstantin Levin (Domhnall
Gleeson), a nobleman who has chosen to live in the countryside away from big
city life. Levin was an analogue for Tolstoy who shares his creation's humble
nature. The shy Levin and Kitty share a tender moment as they attempt to
communicate with each other by using building blocks. However, their romance
would mean a lot more had the filmmakers found a better balance between each love
story.
Joe Wright's Anna
Karenina is a bold re-imagining of Tolstoy's novel that is aesthetically
pleasing, but lacking in emotional weight.
Rating: ** (*****)
