Review of Anna Karenina

This is Tolstoy deconstructed. It is hard to recall dialogue because there's very little - it's like AK as a gorgeous comic book. Then, much has been said about the theatrical staging. Never mind. It works. As for the actors, never a fan of Jude Law, I think he's very very fine here. So is Knightley, if you're prepared to dislike Anna. Vronsky is not right, but what the hell. All that's needed is for the affair to take off and plunge us into AnnaLand. What matters, ultimately, is what the film does, and it nearly succeeds as a brilliant exploration of the destructive power love can be. Highbrow reviews love to refer to the famous bashing of Anna by her society, and that's important, but what's central is Anna's confusion. Here - and what I value - is that you can understand her going a bit insane. She believes in marriage and duty, even as she tries to believe she can enjoy passionate love that is lasting, missing the reality that the passion and the shame feed one another. There's also subtle commentary here as to how a woman will suffer where no man will, although (ironically) Karenin comes far nearer to Anna's whirl of emotional despair than the baby-ish Vronsky.

All of this mixed-up critique (and I confess it is) confirms my feeling; this is very close to being a great film because you think about love, and everything love does, afterward. Where does it go wrong? Almost no basis to Anna's character, and that's crucial in understanding her despair. No chemistry between Anna and Vronsky, and not enough exploration of Karenin, because his transitions are far more interesting than Anna's (which is another flaw). Still. In terms of what is out there, this is a great film. In terms of what it could have been, it gets close.