Anna Karenina

So, I had never seen the previous movie(s) nor read the source novel for this movie. Nevertheless, I was  uber excited to see this, mostly because I'm a huge fan of Keira Knightley/Joe Wright movies (i.e. Pride & Prejudice, Atonement). It was released in November and has brought in about $43 million and has been nominated for four Oscars (cinematography, art direction, costume design, and original score).

The movie centers around Anna Karenina in turn of the century Russia as she begins a passionate affair with Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character (from Kick-Ass fame) despite being married to a loving and prominent political figure played by Jude Law. The movie also has Matthew MacFayden and Domhall Gleeson (long live Harry Potter!).

The plot is from a classic novel, so obviously it's pretty great. It's really more of an ensemble plot with all the characters involved in the movie. I've never read the novel so I'm not sure how accurate the movie is or not. There was a lot of action and a long timespan in the movie that was kinda hard to keep up with at times, but it was still pretty entertaining.

I had been hearing about all the 'risk-taking' that Joe Wright had done with this movie but I didn't really understand why until I saw it. The movie was basically played out in a stage setting. Almost all of the scenes took place on this 'stage' and was musically theatrical. There was one character however who left the 'stage' as he was, according to Wright, the only pure-hearted character in the movie. It was definitely inventive and interesting. I think it only took away slightly from the drama in the story but it did make it visually entertaining, especially when trying to fathom how some of those long rolling shots were set up and executed.

Everyone was pretty great. Matthew MacFayden was much more animated than I've seen him before and even though I still want him to be Mr. Darcy, it was a pretty humorous performance. Keira Knightley and Aaron Taylor-Johnson had believable chemistry. Jude Law's vulnerability was quite believable which is a hard thing to pull off given his natural charisma and since he's really really good-looking.

Overall, it was very beautiful. The story kept me entertained, however I am a female that enjoys the theater and Russian history, so I'm the prime demographic. It didn't surpass Pride & Prejudice or Atonement in my personal list. I'm not sure yet who the other contenders are in the Oscar race, but I'd say it's got a real shot at Costume, cinematography, and especially art design. "You cannot ask 'why' about love"