ANNA KARENINA (2012) – The Review

How do you breathe new life into a 100 plus year old story that’s known by mullions worldwide? First you cast one of the most popular young actresses in the title role. And so Keira Knightley stars as Leo Tolstoy’s ANNA KARENINA. But that’s not quite enough for director Joe Wright (ATONEMENT) working from Tom Stoppard’s (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) screen adaptation. Wright doesn’t change the time period (the 1880’s) or the setting (Russia), but he uses several modern technology film tricks to make a version that is like no other. But will all these bells and whistles really enhance this new telling of romance and scandal?

The plot primarily centers on Anna (Knightley), the wife of older statesman Count Alexei Karenin (Jude Law) and mother to their 8 or 9 year-old son Sergei. She travels to visit her brother Stepan (Matthew Macfadyen) in order to mend the rift when his wife Dolly (Kelly Macdonald) learns of his affair with their children’s nanny. On the train Anna meets the dashing young cavalry officer Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a suitor of Dolly’s younger sister Kitty (Alicia Vikander). Vronsky is immediately smitten with the older Anna, and at a party for Kitty he lavishes all his attention on Anna. Kitty then turns to another suitor, Levin (Domhall Gleeson). In a subplot the two marry and return to his expansive country estate and farm. Meanwhile the affair between Anna and Vronsky causes a scandal in Moscow society circles. When Anna tries to leave her husband, Karenin threatens to cut her off from their son. Soon Anna is shunned by the aristocracy. Will she follow her passion with Vronsky or return to her former dull life?

For this new version we must believe in the passionate romance at the story’s center. Unfortunately Ms. Knightley and Mr. Taylor-Johnson just never seem to really click on screen. I’ve enjoyed much of her work (particularly in A DANGEROUS METHOD) and he was very strong in NOWHERE BOY and KICK-ASS, but there’s no real screen sparks here. She seems much too young to be the mother of a nine year-old (and too close to Vronsky’s age) and doesn’t possess the worldliness the character demands. Her infatuation with the young officer is too manic and her final desperate act reeks of selfishness. That same selfishness emanates from Vronsky also. With his impeccable fashions and preening (no hair is ever out of place) he comes across as a 19^th teen pin-up. His immediate fixation on the married Anna remains a mystery. Her husband Count Karenin isn’t a cruel monster who would drive his wife into the arms of another. The film makes try to de-glamorize him, but Law’s handsome features are only slightly dulled by a poor haircut, spectacles, and scratchy beard. Sure the guy’s a bit of a cold fish, but he’s got more patience for his wife’s histrionics that most men would have. A great supporting cast can’t make up for the film’s problems with the central love triangle.

The staging (emphasis on stage) also hinders our emotional involvement in this tale of doomed, forbidden love. Wright has set the proceedings in an elaborate, fantasy theatre. The action spills from the stage onto the orchestra pit, then goes backstage with flats and scenery tucked into corners. Characters even climb stairs and have dialogue in the theatre’s rafters next to cable and sandbags. These intricate camera tricks just distract us from the plot and make everything seem distant and artificial. Wright does a bit of cheating when dealing with Levin’s country home (we’re trudging through endless fields of snow with him), a horse race, and a fireworks display (the theatre’s roof opens up to allow the rockets to explode in the night sky). I’m reminded of the elaborate Busby Berkley numbers from his thirties musicals. The sequences would end with unintended laughter when the final shot revealed the appreciative theatre audience split screened with the waterfalls and dancing multitudes. The actors are also saddled with outrageously intricate hand gesturing at a formal dance and the rhythmic filing and stamping by the minions at Stepan’s massive office. It’s clever, but they ultimately get in the story’s way. The costumes and hair styles are lovely, but they can’t overcome the film’s forced theatricality. Either make a movie or produce a play for goodness sake!  The decision to do both does no service to Tolstoy’s immortal heroine.

2.5 Out of 5 Stars