Anna Karenina is a Russian aristocrat who falls in love with a young Russian Count. The controversy, of course, is that she’s married to an important figure in the Russian government. She is thereafter shunned by proper society as she pushed forward into a tumultuous affair with her Count. This is the Russian literature version of The Scarlet Letter. Just so you know where this is headed…

Story: I’m not sure if they camped this up for theatrical purposes or if the story is really that floral. I must confess, I have heard of Anna Karenina, but, have never read the book nor know the story. AND, I have no background or knowledge of Russian literature. So unlike some other historic works of literature, I have nothing with which to compare.

This version played like a musical without the singing. Yes, it was that strange because the last time I checked, you can’t have a musical without singing… Some of the scenes had movements that looked like incomplete choreography. Like one of the characters would do a dance move then stop. I’m going to guess the dialogue was true to the story, but, the theatrics seems out of place, even in a story I didn’t know.

The visual elements of this story looked like they were a fantasy. So, if someone had snapped their fingers and said, “wake up,” it would have made more sense to me. It felt like a dream sequence on a soap opera at times. I was waiting for someone to snap out of it. Didn’t happen…

Performances: Kiera Knightly played Anna Karenina, Aaron Johnson played her young lover, The Count and Jude Law played her husband, the government official. None of their performances were of note. The only other performance that was even noticable was Anna Karenina’s brother, who, was more-or-less the patriarch of her family. He stood out because he looked and sounded like a circus ring master… I’m telling you, just one big unnecessary stage show…

Visual: The sets were larger than life – of course. Guilded, sparse, formal. Exactly what you’d expect for a period piece. It’s probably the one element of this film that didn’t seem inauthentic.

Rating: Anna Karenina gets a D from me. I can’t completely call it a failure as there were elements that were not so bad – like the visual, but, its a story that’s been around for Centuries… some part of it has to be accurate.

My final thought about this is… I’m not into Russian literature and after seeing this film, I feel validated in my ambivalence for Russian culture in general. So for this film, don’t waste your time. Wait for the next version of this to be made or find a previous version that might be better if you’re into Russian literature and period pieces.