It's ultimately hollow. The art direction, set pieces, cinematography, costume design are all superb, the film is a technical marvel. But my compliments for the most part end right there. Sadly, there were far too many themes for a two-hour film to broach. Unfortunately, "Anna Karenina" never hits any sort of stride where the narrative arc is concerned. The dark side of love is ruminated upon, sure, but there's never any real payoff. The film faces the dilemma of a thousand book adaptations before it – it's too small in scale to offer the epic rewards of the written word, but too large on-screen to hide from its glaring shortcomings. Solid visual moments aren't enough to sustain an audience, and Joe Wright's visual style isn't enough to salvage gaping wounds in the story.
In this bizarre version, adapted by Tom Stoppard ("Shakespeare in Love") and directed by Joe Wright ("Pride and Prejudice," "Atonement"), the tragedy unfolds in a huge, magnificent theater. As the curtain rises, the performance commences and various players fall in and out of love – with little moral meaning. On-stage, backstage and on catwalks, they change partners and pirouette, always self-consciously aware of the impression they're making. Thus Joe, a filmmaker by trade, sought to preserve the novel's mystique and cultural exclusivity by aping an altogether less inclusive medium; one that remains inaccessible to the hordes, and which, like Tolstoy's oeuvre, is considered to be a retreat, a sanctuary if you will, for the intelligentsia, who must endure the witless prattling and half-bakery of the mass at all other times. The film will undoubtedly be a big competitor in the Oscars in the technical categories. But Best Screenplay, Picture, Director, I don't think so.
6/10
In this bizarre version, adapted by Tom Stoppard ("Shakespeare in Love") and directed by Joe Wright ("Pride and Prejudice," "Atonement"), the tragedy unfolds in a huge, magnificent theater. As the curtain rises, the performance commences and various players fall in and out of love – with little moral meaning. On-stage, backstage and on catwalks, they change partners and pirouette, always self-consciously aware of the impression they're making. Thus Joe, a filmmaker by trade, sought to preserve the novel's mystique and cultural exclusivity by aping an altogether less inclusive medium; one that remains inaccessible to the hordes, and which, like Tolstoy's oeuvre, is considered to be a retreat, a sanctuary if you will, for the intelligentsia, who must endure the witless prattling and half-bakery of the mass at all other times. The film will undoubtedly be a big competitor in the Oscars in the technical categories. But Best Screenplay, Picture, Director, I don't think so.
6/10