Okay. Anna Karenina wasn't a downright awful film. I'd say it was forgettable if it wasn't so downright offensive. Normally I wouldn't even care except that there were so many questionable decisions going into the making of this film that I just had to say something. I was really looking forward to this film and it ended up letting me down in a huge, unforgivable way.
Adapted from the Leo Tolstoy novel in events only (certainly not tone), this was yet another Joe Wright-Keira Knightley collaboration. For the most part those have worked out quite well. I've only seen Atonement of their films together but it was quite good and I can say without much doubt in my mind that Keira Knightley is one of the best young actresses out there.
So what happened?
Whatever happened cannot be blamed on Knightley. She did an outstanding job, likely earning her second Oscar nomination. I felt bad for her in this film, as she was clearly trying her hardest, but ultimately her efforts were ruined by strange direction and a questionable screenplay.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the screenplay was written by Tom Stoppard, one of the more celebrated playwrights of the latter half of the twentieth century? Again I ask: what happened?
The film goes for this strange style that was interesting but ultimately pointless. The entire film is like it's on a stage, particularly in the beginning. In other words, Joe Wright saw Olivier's Henry V shortly before making this film. I have no problem with noticing influence by another filmmaker, but if you're not doing much original, then what's the point?
The style is obnoxious, allowing the first fifteen minutes to feel more like an extended trailer than a film. In this sense it reminded me of the opening of Romeo + Juliet, as I could just not allow myself to get into the movie.
In addition to this, the camera is constantly doing this 360 degree turns at a dizzying rate. It's safe to say I felt nausea more often than I felt emotion from this movie.
So again with the bizarre postmodern theatrical style. I would like to say a bit about Tolstoy here. Known for his realism, Tolstoy was more or less slandered by this style of filmmaking. The master of realism is now represented by this strange fantasy world where sets are obviously sets and snow is painted onto things.
Now I'm not denying that this style can work (Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) but it seems extremely unwise to do it to a Tolstoy novel. Tolstoy is known for writing merely events, and allowing the reader to find out what is important and just how important, but here we're told things are important due to the elaborate, overproduced mess.
Now about the screenplay I have more than a few complaints as well. First off, the film plays far too often for jokes and never any good ones. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when I saw that there was a fart joke in a Tolstoy adaptation. Most of the time, however, the jokes are awkward pauses. Because it's funny when everyone is speaking eloquently like they do in British-accented Russia and then there's an awkward pause. That's the extent of this film's humor. Tom Stoppard, writer of maybe the funniest play in the twentieth century, resorts to this kind of humor.
Also the film did a poor job of introducing characters. I'm not sure if this is the writer's fault or the director's but all I know is I'm watching a fifteen minute scene with some red-headed guy who I don't think I caught the name of until the second half of the movie. Maybe this was an attempt at imitating Tolstoy's style, but the viewer needs to at least know what the hell is happening.
Lastly I'll talk about the performances. There were some good ones, so I have the fewest complaints in this area. Knightley was great in this, and Jude Law, playing her husband, was also quite good. He actually looked Russian, too, unlike most of the other characters. And I enjoyed Matthew Macfayden doing his Kevin Kline impression, too, playing Keira Knightley's sister. However, Aaron Johnson did a pathetic job. He's confirmed himself as one of my least favorite dramatic actors following what I thought was a pitiful performance in Kick-Ass. Here he's beyond bland, delivering each line like he's just here to cash in a paycheck and maybe make out with Keira Knightley. As the main plot instigator, I was expecting a kind of passion or intensity, but no. The audience simply is told Keira Knightley and Aaron Johnson are in love because there's no chemistry or emotional connection. They simply find each other attractive. Now Johnson is a good looking guy and I don't feel bad saying that, but the script was begging for him to do something interesting. This film took the line "You can't ask why about love" way too seriously. Why do they love each other? Because they like the way they look. In their many scenes together, we don't get one glimpse into either characters.
While a decent amount of people seemed to enjoy this movie, I simply cannot recommend it.
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