Anna Karenina

Keira Knightley and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's dry performances do little to elevate a truncated and emotionally flat Anna Karenina--a film more content to step through its source materials narrative beats rather than dig deeply into its philosophical underpinnings--but nonetheless, it is difficult to ignore director Joe Wright's arresting creative vision whose visual ambition ultimately outweighs its faults... if only just.

Impossible to watch. The atmosphere, the feelings - just aren't there. If you are trying to adapt a Russian classic novel, understanding the culture is crucial.

What a monumental piece of trash, and such an incredible amount of talent wasted. This was a very disgusting deconstructionist approach. it was almost like Joe Wright hates the audience. The music is intentionally unnerving the entire time, but it's beautifully shot, with an amazing cast. Good for stills, and maybe a trailer/teaser. I freaking LOATHE this film. Good artists are going to take vengeance, mark my words.

Amazing directing but oh my god the plot didn't hit at all. Too much train forshadowing, no chemistry at all between Anna and Vronsky (which is crazy because Keira Knightley and Aaron Taylor Johnson are both very attractive people). The side characters were more interesting (Matthew Macfadyen and Domhnall Gleeson outsold)

Having just read the book I felt it behoved me to see the film version. I wasn't expecting too much, what with so much story and sub-plots to contend with, but I think Tom Stoppard did a fantastic job with this script. I'm not sure that someone who had not read the book would enjoy it so much, or really be able to follow it too well - the genius with which Tolstoy intertwines storylines makes them seem all utterly necessary, and as a film this had to leave many things out, Vronsky's suicide attempt perhaps being the most glaring omission. The theatrical staging felt odd at first, but then it really grew on me. Overall I think as well as anymore two-hour film can represent 964 pages of dense literary brilliance I think this did as well as any film could have.

I’m not sure why they chose to do a “theatrical” style to this movie. While it was kind of/sort of interesting in some parts, but it was ultimately distracting. The point of watching a film is to get lost in it. Yet every time it would revert back to the “theatrical stage” view, you are pulled out of the story — to the point where some instances are just confusing. Also, It’s hard to cover everything necessary in such a long book, so naturally some things are left out. If you don’t know the story ahead of time, you might find yourself lost at times. And usual, Hollywood tries to compensate for the film’s short falls by including unnecessarily sexual scenes. We understood that they were having an affair. There’s no reason to show them in “the act” over and over again, where some scenes verge on softcore porn. For this reason, I would give it one less star because I found it to be distasteful and also detracting from the story, but the quality of the acting made up for it.

I’ve been meaning to rewatch ever since I read the book a few years ago, and finally got to it. It was somewhat how I remembered - the theatrical style, while playful in some parts, is overall trying too hard and is a distraction from the story. It’s at its best during the game of cat and mouse between Vronsky and Anna + the dance scene. And, the costumes, visuals, and cast are excellent: ATJ is a beautiful angel and I too would lose my mind for him, Keira Knightly is doing what she was born to do, Matthew Macfadyen is a perfect match, and honestly why don’t we have more Domnhall in period dramas?

I could not make it through the book when I tried many years ago (too boring), but I mostly enjoyed this movie. Very strange the way they filmed pretty much the whole movie in that one theater and changed sets during scenes. But somehow it kinda worked. I don't usually like Keira's acting, but she drew me in. I didn't know how it ended, but I predicted it right before it happened. That affair ruined her life, and it's a bit tragic. They probably did the best they could from the source material.

If Wright didn’t want to make a period film, why did he choose Anna Karenina??

Despite the emotional deficiencies this adaptation suffers, the magnificent direction and production created a unique depiction of an extremely complicated piece to adapt. The strong cast carries the story and maybe the genre will not convince you but it is something that must be seen.