Anna Karenina is a 2012 historical romantic drama film directed by Joe Wright. Adapted by Tom Stoppard from Leo Tolstoy’s 1878 novel, the film depicts the tragedy of Russian aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina, wife of senior statesman Alexei Karenin, and her affair with the affluent cavalry officer Count Vronsky.
Keira Knightley stars as the titular character; this is her third collaboration with director Joe Wright following Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson appear as Karenin and Vronsky, respectively. Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Domhnall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander appear in key supporting roles.
Produced by Working Title Films in association with StudioCanal, the film premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival. It was released on 7 September 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 16 November 2012 in the United States. Anna Karenina earned a worldwide gross of approximately $69 million, mostly from its international run.
The film received mostly positive reviews: critics praised the cast, but commented on and criticized the heavily stylized adaptation, and were less enthusiastic with Wright’s preference for style over substance and his idea of setting most of the action on a theatre stage.
It earned four nominations at the 85th Academy Awards and six nominations at the 66th British Academy Film Awards, winning Jacqueline Durran both the Academy Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design. In addition, Anna Karenina garnered six nominations at the 17th Satellite Awards, including a Best Actress nod for Knightley and a Best Adapted Screenplay for Stoppard.
Plot
In the Russian Empire in 1874, Princess Darya, nicknamed “Dolly”, banishes her unfaithful husband, Prince Stephan “Stiva” Oblonsky. Stiva’s sister, Anna Karenina, a socialite living in Saint Petersburg with her older husband Count Alexei Karenin and son Seryozha, travels to Moscow to persuade Dolly to forgive her brother.
Stiva meets old friend Konstantin “Kostya” Levin, a landowning aristocrat despised by Moscow’s elite for preferring the countryside to city life. Levin says he loves Stiva’s sister-in-law, Princess Kitty, and Stiva encourages him to propose. Kitty declines as she hopes to marry Count Alexei Vronsky, a wealthy officer.
Levin meets his older brother Nikolai, who has renounced his inheritance and lives as man and wife with Masha, a prostitute. Nikolai suggests that Levin should marry a peasant. On the train, Anna meets Vronsky’s mother, Countess Vronskaya, isolated by her own infidelities.
Anna meets Vronsky and they are instantly attracted to each other. Anna eventually convinces Dolly to take Stiva back. At a ball, Kitty dances once with Vronsky, but throughout the evening he prefers Anna, upsetting Kitty. Vronsky tells Anna he must be wherever she goes.
Back in Saint Petersburg, Vronsky and Anna soon begin to stir gossip. Even though he has a promotion awaiting him in Tashkent, he refuses it and Anna agrees that she does not want him to leave. They later meet and make love.
Stiva informs Levin that Kitty and Vronsky will not be married. Levin focuses on country life and contemplates marrying a peasant’s daughter.
Anna and Seryozha go to the Karenin estate outside Saint Petersburg. Anna visits Vronsky and reveals her pregnancy, and he wants her to leave Karenin. Anna suggests that Karenin come to the horse races but betrays her feelings when Vronsky’s horse falls.
Afterward, Anna admits to her husband she is Vronsky’s mistress and Karenin says she must renounce him. Levin realises he still loves Kitty. Months later, Anna receives Vronsky. He tells her that his military duties have delayed his visit. Karenin discovers that Vronsky visited Anna and steals his letters to give himself grounds for a divorce.
Karenin visits Stiva and Dolly to say he is divorcing Anna. They beg him to forgive her, but he refuses. Levin and Kitty, having reunited, announce their love and marry. Anna goes into premature labour and sends for Vronsky, although she later says he could never be the man Karenin is. Karenin returns, believing Anna is dying and forgives her. Anna survives and decides to stay with her husband.
Vronsky persuades Anna to change her mind and they leave for Italy with their daughter, Anya.
Levin and Kitty return to his estate, where a sickly Nikolai lives with Masha in a storeroom. Levin tells Kitty he will send Masha away so Kitty does not have to meet her, but Kitty ignores societal norms to help Masha nurse Nikolai. Levin’s love for Kitty grows.
Anna returns to Saint Petersburg for Seryozha’s birthday, but Karenin dismisses her. Anna begins to suspect Vronsky of infidelity. She attends the opera with Princess Myagkaya, an outspoken socialite, but the rest of the audience shuns her. Humiliated, Anna retains her poise, only to break down at her hotel. She uses morphine to sleep.
Dolly tells her that Kitty is in Moscow to give birth. Dolly says Stiva’s behaviour is unchanged, but she has come to accept and love him.
Vronsky informs Anna he must meet his mother for business. Anna becomes upset when Princess Sorokina brings Vronsky back to his home, as she believes Countess Vronskaya wants Vronsky to marry her. Anna returns to Vronsky’s estate. On the train, she imagines Vronsky and Princess Sorokina making love and laughing at her. Arriving in Moscow, Anna says to herself, “Oh God. Forgive me,” and jumps under a train. The scene flashes to a shocked Vronsky.
Levin returns home from work to find Kitty bathing their child. Stiva and his family eat with Levin and Kitty. Karenin, retired, is seen at his estate, with Seryozha and Anya playing.
Cast
Keira Knightley as Anna Arkadievna Karenina
Jude Law as Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, a senior statesman and Anna’s husband
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, lover of Anna, a cavalry officer
Matthew Macfadyen as Prince Stepan “Stiva” Arkadyevich Oblonsky, Anna’s brother, a civil servant
Kelly Macdonald as Princess Darya “Dolly” Alexandrovna Oblonskaya, Stiva’s wife
Alicia Vikander as Princess Ekaterina “Kitty” Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya, Dolly’s younger sister
Domhnall Gleeson as Konstantin “Kostya” Dmitrievich Levin, a landowner and friend of Stiva
Olivia Williams as Countess Vronskaya, Vronsky’s mother
Ruth Wilson as Princess Elizaveta “Betsy” Tverskaya, Vronsky’s cousin
Emily Watson as Countess Lidia Ivanovna, leader of a high society circle that includes Karenin
Michelle Dockery as Princess Myagkaya, a friend of Anna
Raphaël Personnaz as Count Alexander “Sasha” Kirillovich Vronsky, Alexei’s brother
David Wilmot as Nikolai Dmitrievich Levin, Konstantin’s brother
Emerald Fennell as Princess Merkalova
Tannishtha Chatterjee as Maria “Masha” Nikolaevna, Nikolai’s wife, a former prostitute
Pip Torrens and Susanne Lothar play Prince Shcherbatsky and Princess Shcherbatskaya, parents to Dolly and Kitty. Alexandra Roach plays Countess Nordston. Holliday Grainger plays an unnamed Baroness. Cara Delevingne has a non-speaking role as the younger Princess Sorokina.
Bill Skarsgård makes a brief appearance as Makhotin, while Shirley Henderson appears near the end of the film as an outraged theatre patron. Steve Evets plays Theodore, one of the peasants who work for Konstantin.
John Bradley makes an uncredited cameo appearance as an Austrian prince near the start of the film, while Vicky McClure makes an uncredited cameo appearance as a peasant woman who catches Konstantin’s eye.
Production
Joe Wright was hired to direct an adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina, his fourth collaboration with Working Title Films. Wright shot most of his film on a single soundstage, representing a dilapidated theatre, at Shepperton Studios outside London.
Italian composer Dario Marianelli composed the film score, while Jacqueline Durran was the costume designer. Sarah Greenwood was in charge of production design. Wright has worked with all three on past productions, including the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice. Further crew members include cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, editor Melanie Ann Oliver, and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
Casting
The cast includes Keira Knightley as Anna, Jude Law as her husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Vronsky, and Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson as Konstantin Levin, as well as Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Matthew Macfadyen, Michelle Dockery, and Tannishtha Chatterjee. Saoirse Ronan and Andrea Riseborough were initially cast in the film, but dropped out and were replaced by Alicia Vikander and Ruth Wilson, respectively.
Ronan stated that her reasoning behind turning down the role of Kitty was the film’s long production schedule. It would have required her to turn down movie roles from autumn 2011 to late spring 2012, to film a supporting role. By turning down the role, she was able to take the lead roles in Byzantium and The Host. The Borgias star Holliday Grainger had a minor role as Baroness Shilton.
Filming
In July 2011, Keira Knightley began rehearsals, in preparation for principal filming which began later in 2011. Filming began in October 2011. The film was distributed by Focus Features in North America and by Universal Pictures International for international markets. The film was released on 7 September 2012 in the United Kingdom and 9 November 2012 in the United States.
Music
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 62% based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website’s critics consensus reads: “Joe Wright’s energetic adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic romance is a bold, visually stylized work – for both better and worse.” On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.
Oliver Lyttleton of The Playlist awarded the film a B+ and called the picture a “bold reimagining” of the classic novel, comparing Wright’s vision to the films of Powell and Pressburger. He noted how Knightley “continues to go from strength to strength” and also praised Law as “excellent”. Even though he speculated that “the film is going to divide people enormously”, he concluded it was one to “cherish despite its flaws”.
Ian Freer of Empire awarded the film four stars out of five and was effervescent in his praise for Wright and the final result: he said “Anna Karenina militantly doesn’t want to be
