Anna Karenina (2012)

In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.

Director:

Joe Wright

Writers:

Tom Stoppard (screenplay), Leo Tolstoy (novel)

Stars:

Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Won 1 Oscar. Another 31 wins & 53 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Macfadyen	...	Oblonsky
Eric MacLennan	...	Matvey
Kelly Macdonald	...	Dolly
Theo Morrissey	...	Grisha Oblonsky
Cecily Morrissey	...	Lili Oblonsky
Freya Galpin	...	Masha Oblonsky
Octavia Morrissey	...	Tanya Oblonsky
Beatrice Morrissey	...	Vasya Oblonsky
Marine Battier	...	Mlle. Roland
Keira Knightley	...	Anna Karenina
Guro Nagelhus Schia	...	Annushka
Aruhan Galieva	...	Aruhan
Jude Law	...	Karenin
Carl Grose	...	Korney
Bryan Hands	...	Mikhail Slyudin

Storyline

In 1874, in the Imperial Russia, the aristocratic Anna Karenina travels from Saint Petersburg to Moscow to save the marriage of her brother Prince Oblonsky, who had had a love affair with his housemaid. Anna Karenina has a cold marriage with her husband, Count Alexei Karenin, and they have a son. Anna meets the cavalry officer Count Vronsky at the train station and they feel attracted by each other. Soon she learns that Vronsky will propose to Kitty, who is the younger sister of her sister-in-law Dolly. Anna satisfactorily resolves the infidelity case of her brother and Kitty invites her to stay for the ball. However, Anna Karenina and Vronsky dance in the ball, calling the attention of the conservative society. Soon they have a love affair that will lead Anna Karenina to a tragic fate.

---

Plot Keywords:

dance | imperial russia | character name as title | anna karenina character | saint petersburg russia | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

M/12

Did You Know?

Trivia

Saoirse Ronan was offered the role of Kitty but turned it down in order to star in Byzantium (2012) and Nómada (2013). Her reasoning for turning down the film was its long production schedule which would have required her to turn down movie roles from Fall 2011 to late Spring 2012 in order to film what would have ended up as a supporting role. By turning down the role, she was able to take the lead role in two films. She was replaced by Alicia Vikander.

---

Goofs

The movie opens in "1875 Imperial Russia". A few minutes later, a self-propelled model train is seen in action. Clockwork model trains were first introduced by the pioneering German toy company Marklin in 1891.

---

Quotes

Alexei Karenin: Is this about my wife? My wife is beyond reproach. She is, after all, my wife.

---

Connections

Version of Anna Karenina (2000)

---

Soundtracks

Song for a New Life (Masha's Song)
(uncredited)
Written by Anoushka Shankar
Performed by Tannishtha Chatterjee

User Reviews

Elegant and Boring Misfire

The ingredients for this fourth adaptation of Tolstoy's classic look promising on paper: Joe Wright and Keira Knightley reunite after their success with PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2005), with a screenplay written by Tom Stoppard. The conception behind the film is a suggestive one: the entire action is located in a giant theater, with the protagonists conceived as performers putting on roles for the audience's benefit. This should have provided a framework for an analysis of Anna's (Knightley's) motivations, as she abandons her husband (Jude Law) in favor of her lover (Aaron Taylor-Johnston), even though by doing so she condemns herself to a lifetime of social ostracism. It's perhaps more important for her to follow her inclinations rather than conform to pre-determined social roles. Unfortunately the finished product turns out a disappointment: director Wright seems to have little idea how to develop the screenplay, other than to indulge in a series of consciously 'artificial' shots - for example, zooming into the characters' faces, or using a deliberately jagged narrative style - that render the action difficult to follow. In the central role Knightley seems miscast; she lacks both poise and grace - essential to portraying a Russian aristocrat - and she tends to gabble her lines. Taylor-Johnston's Vronsky is easily the worst I have seen in any of the four versions of the tale - surpassing Kieron Moore in Korda's woebegone 1948 adaptation. Not only does he lack any sense of nobility, but he does not seem to know what to do with the part: we are left wondering precisely why Anna should have wanted to fall in love with him. Jude Law's Karenin is perhaps the only reason for watching this film; a quiet, yet menacing personality who seldom loses his cool, yet remaining determined to control his wife (and hence maintain a facade of social respectability) at any costs. Trapped within this kind of marriage, we can understand precisely why Anna should want to take her own life. The film's group sequences are competently handled, although the choreography could have been improved. What this ANNA KARENINA shows is that even attaching the biggest names in theater to a project cannot guarantee its overall quality.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 2012 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Anna Karenina

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$40,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$320,690, 18 November 2012

Gross USA:

$12,816,367

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$68,929,150

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1