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Anna Karenina
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Genre | Drama, Drama/Love & Romance, Art House & International |
Format | Subtitled, NTSC |
Contributor | Emily Watson, Ruth Wilson, Eric Fellner, Kelly Macdonald, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Domhnall Gleeson, Tom Stoppard, Alicia Vikander, Matthew Macfadyen, Keira Knightley, Olivia Williams, Joe Wright, Paul Webster, Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Tim Bevan, Jude Law See more |
Initial release date | 2013-02-19 |
Language | English |
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Product Description
Product Description
Academy Award® nominee Keira Knightley, Academy Award® nominee Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson dazzle in this stunning new vision of Leo Tolstoy's epic love story. At the twilight of an empire, Anna Karenina (Knightley), the beautiful high-ranking wife of one of imperial Russia's most esteemed men (Law), has it all. But when she meets the dashing cavalry officer Vronsky (Taylor-Johnson), there is a mutual spark of instant attraction that cannot be ignored. She's immediately swept up in a passionate affair that will shock a nation and change the lives of everyone around her. From acclaimed director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) and Academy Award®-winning writer Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) comes this visually enchanting masterpiece hailed by critics as "ecstatic" (Time), "rapturous" (MSN Movies) and "a spectacle that has to be seen to be believed!" (The Huffington Post)
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Amazon.com
By filming Leo Tolstoy's timeless novel as a series of theater pieces that play out across stages and catwalks, Joe Wright extracts Anna Karenina from the dusty pages of history. In her third collaboration with the filmmaker, Keira Knightley portrays the St. Petersburg aristocrat as a woman who loves her son, Sergei, more than her husband, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law). On a trip to Moscow, she meets Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), whose Snidely Whiplash mustache spells trouble, even as his sky-blue eyes prove impossible to resist. Wright contrasts their passionate union with the less cataclysmic concerns of Anna's sister-in-law, Dolly (Boardwalk Empire's Kelly Macdonald), whose capacity for forgiveness puts Alexei to shame, and Levin (Harry Potter's Domhnall Gleeson), who never gives up on Dolly's sister, Kitty (Alicia Vikander), even after she rejects him in hopes of a more glamorous future. When the affair between Anna and Vronsky becomes public, Tolstoy's antiheroine risks losing everything, but as readers know: she just can't help herself. Though Shakespeare in Love screenwriter Tom Stoppard ties together a colorful galaxy of characters who orbit around the photogenic central couple, the secondary performers provide the more deeply grounded performances, particularly Law and Gleeson. And for all the stylized, Douglas Sirk-inspired melodrama, Knightley's Pride & Prejudice costar, Matthew Macfadyen, who plays Dolly's wayward husband, lightens the mood whenever he utters one of his clever quips. If it isn't completely successful, Wright's reinvention is frequently quite dazzling--much like the genuine Chanel diamonds that illuminate Knightley's porcelain complexion. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 2.40:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.4 ounces
- Item model number : 26228960
- Director : Joe Wright
- Media Format : Subtitled, NTSC
- Run time : 2 hours and 10 minutes
- Release date : February 19, 2013
- Actors : Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen
- Subtitles: : Spanish, French
- Producers : Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Studio : Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
- ASIN : B008220C38
- Writers : Tom Stoppard
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #21,369 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #3,496 in Drama DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
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The movie has so many layers it is hard to adequately describe. I can only say watch, and watch again. After the third or fourth time you will start to see how the pieces of this movie fit together like the pieces of any exceptional puzzle -- the blend of flavors by a great chef, the interplay of notes and themes of a great composition, the design of a beautiful garden.
What is it that grabs you and just doesn't let go?:
*DANCE & CHOREOGRAPHY are THE star of this show. You don't quite know if this is realism, camp, vogue, ballet, broadway, or what. For me it worked beautifully and I typically don't like musicals. There is no singing, but the combination of realistic dialog and story with the fantastical dance and choreographed movement of the actors worked stunningly. My favorite scene of the movie -- the waltz scene -- is just mesmerizing...all of the dancers became frozen in time until Anna and Vronsky waltz past and pull them whirling into their vortex. In particular Aaron Taylor-Johnson's dancing left me slackjawed. All I can say is watch for yourself and see if you've ever seen a man dance like that.
*SCREENPLAY. Brilliant. Each time I watch I see how the screenplay brings certainly not all of Tolstoy's plot, but surely a great deal of the meaning and larger themes he brought to the novel (I've since read several novel summaries). The screenplay is layered -- each time you watch again you see and understand more. These little bits step out front when you have watched several times and are no longer so distracted by the gorgeous and fantastical spectacle that is going on.
*SETTING. As others have noted; all the world's a stage in this movie. For the first 10 minutes you don't know if you are watching the characters watch a play, but then you realize they *are* the play. I remember feeling very off guard my first time watching...is Stiva going to be murdered by the barber? Is the giant pear a bomb? Why is the barber like a toreador? Why is a couple dancing on the theater floor and another woman wandering playing a concertina? What the HECK is going on??? After about 5 or 10 minutes you get it, settle in and it no longer seems strange... you truly feel that life *IS* art. You never stop marveling at the beauty and ingenuity of it this bold directorial choice. The juxtaposition of reality and theater setting, the model trains segueing to real trains and back -- these things seem like they could not possibly work in theory. But they work. The choreography and dialogue of the actors at cousin Betsy's society party and her firework surprise were visually stunning and just magical.
* COSTUMES. Lavish, gorgeous, over the top. Wright uses color like no other. Vronsky is all blond youthful curls, bright blue-eyed, and wore white and light blue, while Anna has deep dark burden of an older woman who has never loved -- she is dark haired, eyed and skinned, and wears only black or dark colors. Wright made the unusual choice of using a lot of redhead and very fair-skinned men throughout and film, which was quite beautiful with the film's coloring, and yet cast olive skinned women as their love interests. Very rich, visually interesting film.
* ACTING: Jude Law as Karenin, Matthew McFayden as Anna's brother Stiva, Domnhall Gleeson as country landowner Levin all had scene-stealing performances. Olivia Williams shined as Vronsky's mother. Ruth Wilson's delightful turn as Vronsky's bad-tinkerbell cousin Princess Betsy made a new fan of me. Keira Knightly -- I'd give a maybe little pat on the back but nothing special. She looked exquisite and handled her part quite well and maybe that was enough. While everyone says Aaron Taylor-Johnson was miscast as Vronsky, I suppose that is only if you expect the character to be true to the novel. I thought Aaron brought a rakish vulnerability to the character that I've never quite seen on screen -- now that I think of it perhaps only Richard Gere in his youth -- rather like a desperate child on the one hand; on the other an arrogant cad, stopping at nothing to embroil a married woman in his torrid lust (or is it love?) affair. I think he will turn out to be one of this generations most gifted actors. You know the saying "so handsome it hurts". Well he's that too. Just as exquisite as Keira...so in that sense they are well matched, though I thought his depth as an actor was far greater. Their almost impossible beauty adds to the pain of the relationship.
Any more and this review would be too long. See it for yourself, stick it out, and if nothing else, see something like you've never seen before.
Whatever one may think of the result, Wright certainly went out on a limb with this film and you have to admire his sheer audacity in trying something so different when a typical Masterpiece Theater approach (worthy but conventional) would have sufficed. It seems as if he was inspired by Australian director Baz Luhrman who made gaudy spectacles of Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. This has all the visual spectacle of those films and also their elements of surrealism. Of course this kind of direction is very obvious and rather show-off to the extent where it seems to call more attention to itself than to the plot and actors, but that’s part of the risk you take.
The direction is criticized not only for its over-the-top nature but also at times being a device to save on budget. The film’s budget was 41 million, which is not a cheap amount for 2012 even if it falls short of the budgets of comic book films. Using toy trains for real ones could be seen this way. But I think the criticism of placing most of the action on a theater stage (which is sometimes visible and other times not) was chosen to emphasize the artificiality of Russian high society and Anna’s life which was, so to speak, lived on a stage before an audience of her peers. The moments of surrealism accentuate the idea of this artificial world and one may like them or not. I found the strange arm and hand movements during the waltz interesting, if impossible in real life, where others find them ridiculous. Note too that the film leaves the stage for the scenes with Levin, the most down to earth and, in a sense real person among the characters.
Other criticisms are the usual misplaced and prosaic quibbles. “It’s not as good or as much as the book.” Unless it’s a very short book, films are never all that was in the original book, least of all one like Anna Karenina. Films of this story have always had to more or less scrap Levin’s story (half the plot). That is where most of Tolstoy’s larger themes of changes in Russia, the conservatism of the recently emancipated serfs and Levin’s struggle with the meaning of life and turning to religion are elaborated. At least he got a bit of a role here. We are as a result, always left with Anna’s story of love and passion, personal fulfillment and duty and the intricacies of aristocratic society. There’s only so much time in a film. Other complaints about details of 19th century life in Russia are out of place unless too outrageous or anachronistic as this is not a documentary. I will say I found the can-can out of place at an aristocratic function.
There’s a huge amount of derision for the casting of Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Count Vronsky but I think this is mostly by an older audience who have formed their opinions from older films (Frederick March in 1935) or reading the novel. They say he is too young here and should be a mature man of the world. But Tolstoy never gives any ages in the book so their opinion is a mix of speculation and their own preconceptions. From information in the book we can guess Anna to be around 30 (Married ten years in an era when girls married between 16 and 20). Most people feel Count Vronsky is much younger, 20-22, not older, especially since his military career seems to just be beginning and he’s looking for promotion and glory. This makes more sense overall since he would have been an officer automatically from his social class and not have to spend years working his way up in the ranks as some insist. The attraction as it is shown in this film seems to be very physical as well as emotional and ever since the youth-obsessed 60’s middle aged men are not generally seen as attractive, especially for a young Keira Knightley. In fact, Knightley’s films draw a younger female audience and pairing her with an older man would not have gone over very well. Even worse, since the teenage Kitty ( the ball is her first) is also supposed to be infatuated with Vronsky and hopes to marry him, casting a middle aged man in the role would look really creepy nowadays.
As for the rest, Sarah Greenwood’s production design is lavish and wonderful to see in its own right. The cast is mostly good, especially Jude Law as Anna’s cold husband Kerenin, Domhnail Gleason as the landowner Levin and Alicia Vikander as Kitty. Keira Knightley was good as Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice but here seems too much a modern young woman. Somehow her performance makes Anna seem like a spoiled, whimsical girl disappointed over a flirtation and later on absurdly demanding of Vronsky. Jude Law’s Karenin may be cold and bureaucratic but he shows an honor and decency that made me really like him by the end, something Basil Rathbone’s performance could never do.
That, more than the directorial flourishes is what made the film a miss for me. It doesn’t have the sense of grandeur and tragedy that it should and plays more like a willful young woman who causes all kinds of trouble and evokes little sympathy. Still it has some fine scenes and is totally worth watching for its grand gestures and general opulence alone.
Top reviews from other countries
Ce parti pris du théâtre dans le théâtre peut agacer, déplaire, lasser, mais c'est précisément ce qui m'a fasciné à un point tel que j'ai regardé le blu-ray, de très belle qualité- trois soirs de suite; les acteurs sont parfaits et ne sombrent pas dans caricature; Jude Law incarne un mari poignant, et Keira Kngihtley parvient à nous émouvoir lorsque ses obsessions commencent à lui faire perdre la tête.
Les couleurs ont une chaleur qui contredit le côté " glacé" des décors ou des costumes. On est vraiment comme au théâtre baroque, avec une machinerie qui ne cache pas l'envers du décors, car c'est précisément le sujet du film : comment une femme chute parce que la société à les yeux sur chacun et décide de qui doit tomber.
Un film que chaque relecture approfondit et qui entre tout droit dans le coeur pour ne plus le quitter.
When I entered the movie theatre, I knew a lot about Tolstoy's book, but nothing about this specific movie release. I knew who were starring the movie and that was it. Usually, when going to see movies, I always check out trailers and features and interviews before actually seeing them on the big screen, but this time the title of the movie was plainly enough. I have been a big fan of classical Russian literature from very young age, so I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong in many levels.
When the opening scenes were over, I knew that this movie was very different from any other movie version of Anna Karenina. Well, it was different from any movie based on classical literary fiction! It was mesmerizing and I was hooked from the first minutes and I did not want to leave the dark room of the theatre even when the credentials were running and most of the people were leaving the room. I wanted to stay in the world that the movie makers had created!
Screenplay:
Let me start with saying, that screenwriter Tom Stoppard kept the story very close to its original and I was very happy about it! It seemed that there was a clear understanding between the late Lev Tolstoy and the screenwriter Tom Stoppard. There were only very few places in the story when I realized, that it is slightly different from the original and even that was falling nicely to its place in the movie.
The story was dramatic, heart-wrenching and beautifully executed! It's an epic forbidden love story which takes place in the Russian aristocracy. Anna Karenina is unhappily married, but she has no greater expectations to love, at least until she meets Count Vronsky. The moment they meet, there is attraction and as much as they try to deny it, it is inevitable. It's forbidden love in the society, because Anna decides to leave her husband and asks for divorce. As the isolation from friends, family and everybody else for Anna grows, the more consumed she is by darkness. Karenin does not give her divorce and it does not matter how big the love is between Vronsky and Anna, it gets dramatic consequences.
Directing, sets, visuals, choreography, design and music:
What made this movie exceptionally unique was the fact, that director Joe Wright staged it on a theatre. Watching the movie was like watching a theatre stage where the scenes were elegantly changed as the story folded out in front of the audience. Scene after scene the settings were changed even though the room was the same. It was original and I loved it. I also realized the the only sets which were used outside of theatre were about Levin and his life on the countryside. This change was nicely balanced where you had the hectic life of Sct. Petersburg and Moscow in one side and the picturesque and slow scenes from Russian nature.
There was a lot of attention on choreography and physical contact in Anna Karenina. It was a movie where choreography was a main storyteller. It was often where choreography was substituting words and you can say that in Anna Karenina a picture told more than 1000 words. The ballroom dancing and even a simple touch was sometimes telling more than words. It was tense and filled with passion. Another thing which was special in Anna Karenina, were the close-ups. The facial impressions were as important as the huge scenes with many people.
One of the interesting visuals were the usage of lightning and colors. For example there was a clear contrasts when Anna was together with Vronsky compared to when she was with Karenin. The scenes where Anna and Vronsky spend time together are brighter and softer, and the scenes at home with Karenin, the lightning is murkier and darker. It gave some nice effects to the plot and to the mood.
I would also like to mention the design of the costumes and the music in the movie. The costumes were breathtakingly beautiful, especially the ones designed for Anna and Kitty and the music was coherent with the development of the story: the intensity of which grew in the rhythm with the drama surrounding it.
Casting and ensemble:
I liked the characters picked for the roles. Keira Knightly as Anna Karenina was a good choice. She was capable of mirroring Anna Karenina's essence showing both love, passion, courage, pain and last but not least jealousy. When Anna is consumed by isolation and jealousy and realization that the society will never forgive her, Keira Knightly gave her best to show these different reflections of woman in love and pain. I liked that a lot!
Jude Law as Karenin was faceted. I liked that he did not show Karenin as a simple man. He loved Anna on his own way and I liked that Jude Law showed his soft side combined with the religious and hurtful side. I really enjoyed the way he played Karenin.
I was surprised by Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Vronsky. I have seen him in Nowhere Boy and realized that fact actually after the movie. He has matured as actor and he as Vronsky was a very good choice. He showed passion, tenderness, love and passion of a man in love.
Another surprise was Alicia Vikander as Kitty. This Swedish actress was perfect to the role. I was amazed by her grace when she played in A Royal Affair where I was stunned by her presence in acting. I loved her as Kitty, she had spark and sassyness and humbleness when she met Levin after denying him as a husband.
I also enjoyed performances of Domhnall Gleeson as Levin and Matthew Macfadyen as Oblonski.
Dislikes:
The only minor thing that I was disturbed by and it was how the Russian names were pronounced. It sounded awkward to my ears, but this is probably because I grew up in the environment where Russian was used as a second language. I have the similar experiences with many other English spoken movies and I do understand that Russian words and names are difficult to pronounce, but in a classical drama based on Russian literature I think this could have been improved.
Generally:
I think Anna Karenina was brilliantly made bold version of Tolstoy's novel. I loved the experience and I know that I will watch it again! I highly recommend it!
Attenzione: possibili spoiler
Così facendo, infatti, il regista ha potuto creare una densità di significato (tramite rappresentazioni simboliche degli spazi e degli ambienti) che altrimenti avrebbero a mio avviso reso impossibile la trasposizione del libro in film. Ovviamente adesso mi leggerò il libro, appena posso, per fare un vero confronto tra le due versioni dell'opera, ma la ritmicità e la velocità del film hanno reso moderna e attuale una storia d'altri tempi, anche se credo che le opere di Tolstoj (che sto appena cominciando a conoscere) possano avere un valore universale atemporale come i grandi classici dell'antichità.
In particolare nel film ho notato come a volte gli spostamenti nello spazio di certi personaggi (ad esempio Konstantin quando viene inizialmente rifiutato da Kitty e torna in campagna) vengano condensati in pochi secondi secondo quello che per me è un colpo di genio. Immagino infatti che nel libro (verificherò, per ora si tratta infatti solamente di una mia supposizione) la descrizione di questi fatti e dello stato d''animo del personaggio richiedano pagine e pagine di scrittura (lui che viene rifiutato, vaga per la città contemplando la morte, e infine decide di tornare alla vita semplice di campagna) mentre nel film tutto questo viene condensato in pochi secondi (non li ho contati ma saranno una ventina o una trentina al massimo, credo).
Inoltre il regista Joe Wright ha una formazione di tipo teatrale (basta guardare la sua biografia per capirlo) quindi trovo perfettamente normale che abbia creato questa sua personale versione del romanzo di Tolstoj.
E' per l'appunto come avviene per le grandi opere del passato (intendo antica Grecia) o per le tragedie o commedie di Shakespeare: nonostante siano passati secoli o millenni vengono ancora riproposte in forma cinematografica o a teatro, e ovviamente, ogni volta, il regista (che sia di cinema o di teatro) ne fornisce una propria versione, anche perché attenersi pedissequamente all'originale o alle prime versioni dell'opera ogni volta che questa viene riproposta e reinterpretata renderebbe la cosa abbastanza inutile no?
Dopodiché, concludendo, dico che queste sono le mie personali impressioni e non pretendo di essere un critico cinematografico o letterario.
Dico solo che a me il film è piaciuto molto e mi ha incuriosito spingendomi ad approfondire le conoscenza dell'opera e della cultura russa in generale. Ho deciso infatti che leggerò sia Anna Karenina che Guerra e Pace e probabilmente comincerò anche a studiare il russo.
Se questo, immagino, poteva essere uno degli obiettivi del regista nel portare in scena una propria versione, chiaramente moderna, del romanzo di Tolstoj beh, che dire: obiettivo centrato.
Per quanto riguarda la spedizione e le caratteristiche fisiche del DVD nulla da dire. Tempi ok e dvd consegnato integro nella propria custodia di plastica.