IMDb > "Anna Karenina" (2000)

"Anna Karenina" (2000) More at IMDbPro »TV mini-series


Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   166 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
David Blair
Writers:
Allan Cubitt (writer)
Leo Tolstoy (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for Anna Karenina on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 February 2001 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama more
Awards:
1 win & 3 nominations more
User Comments:
A Taut Adaptation of a Daunting, Sprawling novel more (7 total)

Cast

  (Series Credited cast)

Helen McCrory ... Anna Karenina

Kevin McKidd ... Count Vronsky
Douglas Henshall ... Levin

Mark Strong ... Oblonsky
Amanda Root ... Dolly
Paul Rhys ... Nikolai
Paloma Baeza ... Kitty
Abigail Cruttenden ... Betsy
Sara Kestelman ... Countess Vronskaya
Stephen Dillane ... Karenin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Allister ... Col. Demin
Tamara Arciuch ... Princess Sorokina (as Tamara Arciuch-Szyc)
Maddie Armstrong ... Dolly's Child
Gillian Barge ... Princess Shcherbatskya
Gennaro Canfora ... Estate Agent
Victoria Carling ... Annushka
Dorota Chotecka ... Lisa
Michael Cronin ... Sergei
Giulio Cupello ... Young Italian Boy
David Dixon ... Lawyer
John Edmondson ... Peter
Anna Farnworth ... Countess Nordston
Deborah Findlay ... Countess Lydia
Richard Harradine ... Station Master
Caroline Holdaway ... Princess Myagkaya
Jacek Jezierzanski ... Station Master
Jackson Leach ... Seriozha
Nicholas Lumley ... Steward
Emma Majewska ... Dolly's Child
Gabbi Majewska ... Dolly's Child
Oliver Mangham ... Dolly's Child
Mary McLeod ... Woman at Station

Wenanty Nosul ... Mikhail
Piotr Nowak ... Prokhov
Waldemar Obloza ... Betsy's Footman
Andrzej Oksza-Lapicki ... Footman at Karenins'
Zuzanna Paluch ... Hotel Maid
Rachel Power ... Masha
David Quilter ... Nikitin
Zofia Saretok ... Gypsy
William Scott-Masson ... Serpukhovskoy (as William-Scott Mason)
Cyril Shaps ... Priest at Wedding
Marlene Sidaway ... Anna's Midwife

Malcolm Sinclair ... Prince Shcherbatsky
Aleksander Skowronski ... Priest
Andrzej Szenajch ... Butler at club
Andrzej Szopa ... Footman
Kazimiera Utrata ... Agatha
Tom Ward ... Yashvin

Birol Tarkan Yildiz
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Additional Details

Runtime:
90 min (4 episodes)
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Stereo
Certification:
UK:15

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Anachronisms: When Anna takes the carriage she tells the driver to take her to the station. At the time when the action is set (1876) there were several railway stations in Moscow. It would have been necessary to tell the driver to which railway station he should go. more
Movie Connections:
Version of Anna Karenina (1910) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
A Taut Adaptation of a Daunting, Sprawling novel, 15 August 2006
8/10
Author: heather_m1986 from Ottawa

This Masterpiece Theatre production gives life to Tolstoy vast and ambitious masterpiece. It's a formidable task considering that Tolstoy was often a deeply psychological writer and spent hours probing the souls of his characters. That being said, the cast in this adaptation do a marvelous job in conveying their character's profound and often misguided humanity.

Tolstoy co-protagonists, Anna Karenina and Constantine Levin are both idealists searching for love and meaning. Helen McCrory is not an obvious choice for Anna but the character has suffered from being played by picture perfect actresses who have trouble conveying Anna's passion. Helen McCrory's is believable as a mature woman who is seemingly very comfortable in her skin and has the grace and power to make men fall easily in love with her.

Douglas Hensall plays Levin with gentleness as a sensitive, conflicted man plagued by doubt and his own inadequacies.He romance with Kitty is sweet and understated. His Scottish accent, beard, and awkward manners lend to his rusticism. However, as with any adaptation of Anna Karenina, much of Levin struggles with his own conflicted personal morality and faith are left out.

The best performance comes from Stephen Dillane as Anna's dour, principled husband. A man who believes in keeping his emotions in check, Dillane's Karenin is a man who's suffering his wife's betrayal and is conflicted between the desire to punish her and his love for her. In the novel Karenin is a homely man in his fifties, but here he is far handsomer and about 10 years younger which is helpful because it prevents viewers from believing that Anna deserts old, ugly husband simply because he is old and ugly.

Also of note is Mark Strong as Anna's bon vivant brother, Stiva, who, as in the book, remains likable despite being irresponsible and faithless to his wife, Dolly. Paloma Baeza, Amanda Root and Kevin McKidd also turn in fine performances and Levin's sweetheart, Dolly and Anna's lover, respectively.

The film's use hand-held cameras, quick cuts, and odd angles were at times interesting and at times, very distracting. Admittedly,it was nice to see a period film not shot in the very staid and static fashion of most period films. This production is full of movement: train chug by, people run upstairs, skirts billow, couples argue violently.

It has been said that readers should take Anna Karenina as a "piece of life" and this adaptation has an accessibility and realism and lacks that daunting glossy "period film" sheen. These people are people who could live in our time or any time

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Questions? - possible spoiler marzmello
What is the the building where Alexey Karenin receives Anna's telegram? heather_m1986
Was Vronsky having an affair? saxquiz
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