Anna Karenina

I've never read Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I also have never seen any previous film versions of it. I've also not seen any of Joe Wright's previous films. I also hadn't really heard much about this film. I'm stating all this here to note that I can't comment on how this film treats the story, as compared to the novel; how effective it is in telling the story, as compared to previous film treatments; or how the director's style or tendencies come into play. Basically, I know nothing about anything to do with this film and can only speak from the vacuum of this film in and of itself. Why point this out?

Well, the film is very stylistic. The film has a theatric quality to it. Occasionally. Every once in a while they call back to a stage, as though it's a play being performed. And every once in a while the actors make their way through the 'backstage' area on their way from one scene to the next. And every once in a while the actors in a scene move as though choreographed. And I like this. It's very unique. The choreography sense makes it feel very musical in a way. They set this up in the opening minutes. And once it becomes clear, I totally bought into it.

But you may notice I used words like “occasionally” and “every once in a while” up there. And that's the rub. It sets up this feeling, it says 'here's what we're doing' and you go 'okay, I'm ready.' But then it doesn't really follow up that style of the first few minutes consistently throughout the rest of the film. This device didn't seem to be used for any particular characters specifically or for particular types of scenes. Just every once in a while 'oh look, there's the stage' or 'oh look, they're going backstage.' Everything else is done in a traditional film style on contained sets. And when he decides to show a scene or a character on this stage, it's not as though they're playing to anyone or that it is a play being put on.

There's a scene after Anna's husband, Count Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, finds out she is in love with Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky where he leaves the room and goes into his study. We follow him into the room and he's sitting on a chair on the stage, the camera behind him looking out to an empty hall. Maybe he's going to soliloquize or put on an act in some way, you think. But no, he just sits there. On a stage. For what purpose? I don't know.

So, essentially, this effect is just there for show. It's there to be there. When it's there at all. Which is a shame because, as I said, I liked it. I just didn't feel it added anything or was implemented in a way which said something about the story or the characters. I thought 'maybe it's representing the artifice of their society,' but in that scene I described above, her husband is displaying no artifice, it's a display of honest emotion from him. So...what was it?

The film looks beautiful. The sets and costumes are outstanding. It's shot gorgeously. The camera work is superb. The cast is fantastic. The moments that seem choreographed have a musical energy (Stiva walking through his office, all the men stamping paperwork in unison, rising as he approaches and sitting as he passes like a wave rolling by, while his assistant puts a coat on him without him missing a step or having to stop, for instance) that just grabs you – though as I talked about, these moments seem to be there merely for stylistic points.

It's a good film. All in all, the story is told well. It's just that there seem to be poorly implemented stylistic touches from the director. It's disappointing to walk away from the film thinking more about what purpose these touches served than about the merits of the storytelling itself. And that's why my rating for this film is so low - it's better than might be suggested, but the distraction of the style is too much. That's the failure of the film.

2 1/2 out of 5