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★★★☆☆
3 September 2012
This article is a review of ANNA KARENINA. |
“Romantic love will be the last delusion of the old order.”
It was a bold move to marry literature, theatre and cinema in one piece. And it is almost totally pulled off, if it wasn’t for the casting of Keira Knightley and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. I can believe the back doors of a stage surprisingly opening into a real-world field like something out of DAYS OF HEAVEN, the suspension of disbelief has been achieved, but I do not believe in the conveyance of passion by the two leads. I have a soft spot for Ms Knightley, but I can stand by only two films in which her acting didn’t pull me out of proceedings: THE DUCHESS and BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Taylor-Johnson on the other hand was bland in NOWHERE BOY, and had little to do in terms of range on KICK-ASS. They are good-looking people I geddit, but so are dozens of other gifted thesps. Are either really that much of a draw?
It was a bold move to marry literature, theatre and cinema in one piece. And it is almost totally pulled off, if it wasn’t for the casting of Keira Knightley and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. I can believe the back doors of a stage surprisingly opening into a real-world field like something out of DAYS OF HEAVEN, the suspension of disbelief has been achieved, but I do not believe in the conveyance of passion by the two leads. I have a soft spot for Ms Knightley, but I can stand by only two films in which her acting didn’t pull me out of proceedings: THE DUCHESS and BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. Taylor-Johnson on the other hand was bland in NOWHERE BOY, and had little to do in terms of range on KICK-ASS. They are good-looking people I geddit, but so are dozens of other gifted thesps. Are either really that much of a draw?
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What we are left with is still substantial. Director Joe Wright goes from strength to strength (if you discount THE SOLOIST). His visual language is exploding exponentially with each project. Wright has teamed up with brilliant writer Tom Stoppard and ace cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. They and their teams have fashioned an intricate and exquisite jewel of a film that will reward repeat viewings thanks to the playing with form and narrative. It takes chutzpah to attempt Tolstoy’s classic tome, but the confidence and playfulness is all up on the screen for us to savour.
Doomed romance is the order of the day. Anna (Knightley) is married to a celebrated politician (Jude Law) but falls for a young cavalry office (Taylor-Johnson) in pre-Revolution Russia. The gossipy and scandal-desiring aristocracy is a fraught place for anyone daring to step out from the narrow accepted line. The façade of keeping-up-appearances is mirrored in the use of the theatrical setting to place the story. The technique is similarly demonstrated in DANGEROUS LIAISONS to a subtler degree with the dressing and removing of make-up that bookend that fantastic adaptation. Peter Greenway did something with painting, the playhouse and the silver screen in NIGHTWATCHING, with remarkable successful, revealing a startling ability from Martin Freeman as Rembrandt. That film proved it could be done on a small budget. What about a relatively large one? The inventive editing transitions and remarkable choreographing of movement (in particular modern dance maestro Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui take a bow) are to be revelled in. Technically everything is there we could hope for. The supporting acting from Law, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Ruth Wilson and Domhnall Gleeson is committed. But, and a big but, ANNA KARENINA might have been talked of in the same breath as BARRY LYNDON, had the two leads been cast right.
“If I am wrong, I ask you to pardon.”
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