anna karenina. 2012 film

if you are an avid reader of this blog, you know i read "anna karenina" last year in anticipation of the film. you also may have noticed i never got around to seeing it in theaters. i was disappointed with myself for not seeing it on the big screen but am now quite pleased with myself for only spending $1.20 via redbox versus $12.00 at the landmark because it was atrocious. oddly enough, it was so bad it made me appreciate tolstoy's work so much more.

i was really excited for the film but 10 minutes into it, knew i was going to hate it. i absolutely hated how it was filmed as a stage production. i get that the theater was an important setting for the novel at the end but it made no sense as the setting or style of the entire film. if it was a movie based on a play or musical ie "les miserables" then i would have thought joe wright a genius. instead i thought joe wright was pompous and idiotic. "anna karenina" is a beautifully tragic story and does not and did not need bells and whistles. "anna karenina" simply needs to be told.

and don't get me wrong. the film was beautiful. the scenes with the fields of flowers were like a van gogh painting. the scenes with anna with her son in bed were like an art deco building. and of course, loved our first introduction to kitty which was framed in accordance with the novel. i loved how the train was introduced via anna's son's train. but everything else was pointless and excessive. oblonsky's work scenes and the switching of his coats? the beginning scenes with levin walking around? any scene that involved climbing up and walking among crowds in the risers. these scenes did not help the storyline and could have been replaced with parts that could have demonstrated the depth and beauty of tolstoy's work.

i mean levin is an amazing character and an important part of the novel and he was so one dimensional in the film. i also hated how they cut out the whole
kitty being lovesick and meeting levin's brother during recovery. i did love levin's little speech on love and adultery at dinner but he had so many great moments in the book that were edited out of the film. (btw: when i saw levin's home i thought to myself i would marry him and live in the middle of however, mother russia.)

and i must add i still hate anna. her love was not true love because it was filled with selfishness, she only thought of herself which was demonstrated in all of her actions. and sadly people were devoted to her and she just took advantage of her love. think of her poor son. he loved anna more than his father but anna did not love him more than vronsky. what a horrible woman!

but back to the film. the actors were good. knightly's underbite as always is distracting. i pitied jude law which was ironic considering his adulterous affairs. vronsky was hot. and oblonsky reminded me of kevin kline with a mustache. and whoever played princess betsy had weird lips but oddly it worked.

all in all a horrible adaption of a beautiful classic.