If you're ever tempted to write a classic novel, one that's bound to be bound in buckram with gilt lettering, designed to last forever and forced on college literature students, you can't go too wrong with this simple plot: A beautiful but impetuous woman marries a reliable but somewhat dull man, usually older or bitter, falls for a dashing and virile younger fellow, and the affair ends in catastrophe. I mention in passing only the examples of "Madam Bovary", "Lady Chatterly's Lover," and "Anna Karenina." Half a dozen others escape me at the moment. See David Lean's "Ryan's Daughter" or "The Eye of the Needle" for popular cinematic examples.
It's been years since I read the novel so I can't say how closely the movie sticks to the original story. Probably, as happens in most cases, the essence of the story is extracted by a reduction of the broth. Sub-plots disappear. Character touches are elided. Back stories are dropped. Elaborate descriptions of location are eschewed. Any philosophical glosses are avoided like so many venomous snakes. What we're left with, in this instance, is a very well-done soap opera that takes place in and around St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1878.
And it IS well done. The production values are high, a lot of attention has been paid to period decor and set design. The performers don't look like they're groomed for 1948 audiences.
Anna is played by Vivien Leigh. She's the central character and most of the burden is placed on her. She carries it off well, especially considering that the character of Anna is as screwed up as Vivien Leigh was in her off-screen life -- not that her personal problems were in any way her fault. Mental illness strikes without warning, like lightning, sometimes. The boring and stuffy husband is Ralph Richardson, always reliable, and by no means evil, though somewhat neglectful and insensitive, obsessed with his own rectitude. The third principal character is Count Vronsky, Kieran Moore, who doesn't really seem quite roguish enough despite his classy uniform, his riding skills, and his thin mustache.
Anna's ending is tragic. Hallucinating to beat the band at the station, she throws herself in front of a departing train. But, this being an adult movie, she's not entirely innocent. She's dealt out some pretty brutal blows to her husband and some of her acquaintances. It's the kind of ambiguity that makes it an interesting tale instead of another afternoon TV drama.
Yes. All in all, not too shabby.
It's been years since I read the novel so I can't say how closely the movie sticks to the original story. Probably, as happens in most cases, the essence of the story is extracted by a reduction of the broth. Sub-plots disappear. Character touches are elided. Back stories are dropped. Elaborate descriptions of location are eschewed. Any philosophical glosses are avoided like so many venomous snakes. What we're left with, in this instance, is a very well-done soap opera that takes place in and around St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1878.
And it IS well done. The production values are high, a lot of attention has been paid to period decor and set design. The performers don't look like they're groomed for 1948 audiences.
Anna is played by Vivien Leigh. She's the central character and most of the burden is placed on her. She carries it off well, especially considering that the character of Anna is as screwed up as Vivien Leigh was in her off-screen life -- not that her personal problems were in any way her fault. Mental illness strikes without warning, like lightning, sometimes. The boring and stuffy husband is Ralph Richardson, always reliable, and by no means evil, though somewhat neglectful and insensitive, obsessed with his own rectitude. The third principal character is Count Vronsky, Kieran Moore, who doesn't really seem quite roguish enough despite his classy uniform, his riding skills, and his thin mustache.
Anna's ending is tragic. Hallucinating to beat the band at the station, she throws herself in front of a departing train. But, this being an adult movie, she's not entirely innocent. She's dealt out some pretty brutal blows to her husband and some of her acquaintances. It's the kind of ambiguity that makes it an interesting tale instead of another afternoon TV drama.
Yes. All in all, not too shabby.