Anna Karenina

[baumer]

Discuss

[CoolioD1]

Keira's best work, Aaron johnson was dreadfuly miscast, Jude law and Matthew Macfadyen are wonderful. I wasn't expecting the movie to be as bold as it was. I think I read Joe Wright describe it as a "ballet with words" and that's exactly what it felt like, scenes where the everyone's movement felt really well choreographed. Others won't like that aspect, but I did. Oh, and it all looks amazing too.B/B-

[baumer]

bump

[Gopher]

A wonderfully realized visual ascetic, some committed performances, and a beautiful score should make for a compelling film. Unfortunately they speed through the plot, removing any real sense of emotion or purpose. After a while, things just happen without leaving an impression. Kept my attention for two and a half hours, though. And Aaron Johnson is the most startling miscast of the year.

[Travod]

If this doesn't win Production Design someone should be fired.

[victoriastone14]

B

[JackO]

I give this film a B.I was never bored, which is strange for a Joe Wright flick, but that only let me pick apart it's hackneyed love triangle plot. There was a couple reasons why I was not bored. The unique set design had me thinking WTF the entire time and it's amazing score. I mean even when I didn't understand what the hell was going on that music kept my attention. I am assuming, since I never read the book, that we are all supposed to feel bad for Anna since she turned into a pariah because she was in love. Well I felt more sympathy for Jude Law's character who got completely screwed over by her then for Anna. I also thought the dude she was seeing was pretty much a jerk since he did not defend her at all. But then again she created the whole situation herself so I can blame no one but her. Also i was looking for a big scene for Knightley and she doesn't have any. It's kind of disappointing because there seemed to be plenty of opportunity as she was going farther and farther down into a death spiral. So, yeah I though tit was interesting they went kind of dogme 95 for it but it still didn't cover the story and unsympathetic and selfish lead character.

[ecstasy]

I give this film a B.I was never bored, which is strange for a Joe Wright flick, but that only let me pick apart it's hackneyed love triangle plot. There was a couple reasons why I was not bored. The unique set design had me thinking WTF the entire time and it's amazing score. I mean even when I didn't understand what the hell was going on that music kept my attention.I am assuming, since I never read the book, that we are all supposed to feel bad for Anna since she turned into a pariah because she was in love. Well I felt more sympathy for Jude Law's character who got completely screwed over by her then for Anna. I also thought the dude she was seeing was pretty much a jerk since he did not defend her at all. But then again she created the whole situation herself so I can blame no one but her.Also i was looking for a big scene for Knightley and she doesn't have any. It's kind of disappointing because there seemed to be plenty of opportunity as she was going farther and farther down into a death spiral. So, yeah I though tit was interesting they went kind of dogme 95 for it but it still didn't cover the story and unsympathetic and selfish lead character.

Anna Karenina is a tragic character not so much as a heroine. I think Tolstoy's intention was to contrast her actions to that of her brother a serial cheater who was never held accountable for his actions. You know, the old double standards for men. There is a parallel story with Levin (a farmer) who is in love with Kitty (who is in love with Vronsky) but she turns down his proposal. Levin also is struggling with his purpose in life and how to live righteously. Since you didn't mention his character I guess they didn't spend much time on him.Not sure why they advertised this as a great love story. That was not the intent of the book. I guess Wright was more concerned with a visual masterpiece than the story.

[riczhang]

I feel really bad for admitting it, because I've been taking a crap on this film for a while now, but I really liked it. Well acted, directed (And that jolting camera work didn't appear in the movie at all), and it was entertaining. Story was well told, and while I haven't read the book in a long time now, the movie seemed to take some creative liberties but they weren't bad ones. A

[Travod]

Anna Karenina is a tragic character not so much as a heroine. I think Tolstoy's intention was to contrast her actions to that of her brother a serial cheater who was never held accountable for his actions. You know, the old double standards for men.There is a parallel story with Levin (a farmer) who is in love with Kitty (who is in love with Vronsky) but she turns down his proposal. Levin also is struggling with his purpose in life and how to live righteously. Since you didn't mention his character I guess they didn't spend much time on him.Not sure why they advertised this as a great love story. That was not the intent of the book. I guess Wright was more concerned with a visual masterpiece than the story.

Levin is in the movie... a lot.

[ecstasy]

Levin is in the movie... a lot.

Yeah I did manage to find that out.Nobody is really commenting on that part of the story. How did you find it?

[Travod]

Not the most interesting story. Like the lesser side plot of a show, movie, etc. But I heard he;s like everyone's favorite character from the book, which I plan to read.

[ecstasy]

Not the most interesting story. Like the lesser side plot of a show, movie, etc. But I heard he;s like everyone's favorite character from the book, which I plan to read.

I think its because his character has a big transformation in the book and the way he and Kitty finally get it together in the end. It makes his story the total opposite of Anna's. I can see why they focus on Anna's story so much. It's so tragic. I'm still not sure I want to watch this in theaters though. I might.

[acsc1312]

I really liked this. Cinematography was GORGEOUS. Loved the tracking scenes. Score was great and Knightly was wonderful. Did drag at the end though.B+/A-

[acsc1312]

Seriously, this might have one of the greatest soundtracks I've ever heard.

[Plain Old Tele]

I didn't much care for this. I give credit to Wright for thinking outside the box, but I found his directorial choices almost constantly distracting while not adding anything of depth or meaning. I thought there was no chemistry between Knightley and Taylor-Johnson; really, the only person I enjoyed was Macfayden.

Nice production design and some very striking cinematography, but the end result is this cold, chilly object d'art filled with little emotion.

C+

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Good production Design and Cinematography but the acting was bad especially Arron Johnson. I did not find the film all that interesting it was kinda meh. I was disappointed in this I thought I would like it more since I like period pieces. 

5/10 

[TheMovieman]

Good production Design and Cinematography but the acting was bad especially Arron Johnson. I did not find the film all that interesting it was kinda meh. I was disappointed in this I thought I would like it more since I like period pieces. 

5/10 

 

I agree with this. And as a fan of Joe Wright's previous works like Pride & Prejudice and Atonement (which was my favorite movie of 2007, I found this to be a hollow movie that despite some wonderful production design and an interesting style of mixing stage with traditional movie-making. I understand, storywise, what the message was and all but I didn't care for most of these characters save for Oblonsky (Macfadyen) and Kitty (Alicia Vikander).

 

**½/*****, (C, 5.2/10, 2/4)

[Jack Nevada]

After an astonishingly creative and entertaining first hour AK runs out of steam and turns into a prettier than usual, but still boring,  soap opera. Keira Knightley is excellent and so is Jude Law, but charisma-free Aaron Johnson is hilariously miscast. 

I'm glad I saw it, but I was let down by the second half of the movie. 

 

 

3/5

[Goffe]

epitome of creativity B+ (85)