Anna Karenina (2012)
Leo Tolstoy is considered the greatest novelist of all time and his novel 'Anna Karenina', the greatest novel ever written. His earlier work, 'War and Peace' does not qualify as a story as it is classified as a philosophical discussion. Tolstoy is one who believes that stories should not just have their entertainment value but need to stimulate the mind to think. His other story, 'The Death of Ivan Ilych' is about a dying magistrate as he evaluates his life on earth trapped on his deathbed as his family care for him as if he is just recovering from a minor ailment.
Tolstoy can be said to be the spark that became the hero of non-violent movements of MK Gandhi and Rev Martin Luther King Jr.
The novel 'Anna Karenina' had been adapted to the silver screen many times. This 2012 version is a British one with Kiera Knightley brilliantly cast as Anna. The scenes were quite peculiar in that they appear to move from one set to another in a giant multi-tiered and sometimes revolving stage. The essence of the story is same. The characterisation may differ according to what you perceived the characters to be.
Anna is a bored aristocrat married to a politician Minister, Alexei, and is quite at ease with the Moscow and St Petersburg's socialite circles. She is bestowed with an 8-year-old son. Her life seems deprived emotionally as her husband is too preoccupied with his work. A chance meeting with a cavalry officer, Vronsky, at a railway station, changed her life forever. This sexually deprived lady is lovestruck and starts a love affair with this young officer. They keep their liaison no secret and is quite an embarrassment to everyone, including the husband, Alexis, who feels guilty for giving her too much freedom.
A love child comes to the picture and a strongly determined Anna demands for a divorce. Vronsky, however, is still not monogamous as he is still seen flirting with another beau, much to the insecurity of Anna.
A complication and a near-death situation at around the time of delivery draws Alexis to his wife and he forgives Anna for her actions. Anna's relationship with her lover gets worse over the days with Anna overcasts Vronsky every contact with a person of the opposite sex. The stress proves too overbearing for Anna to stomach. She commits suicide by jumping in front of a speeding train.
In the last scene, Alexis sees, his son and the love child, Anya run playfully in the meadows. He must be probably be looking into the horizon pondering, if children can accept each other for what they are, why can't we adults do the same?
In the story, there are also other subplots. Anna's brother's free-spirited friend, Stiva, is a wanderer who spends a lot of his time with gipsies and peasants, much like what Tolstoy eventually advocates against aristocracy and private land ownership. Stiva is initially disheartened when the love of his life has only eyes for Vronsky. Vronsky is, of course, Anna's lover. Not a love triangle but a parallelogram!
Leo Tolstoy is considered the greatest novelist of all time and his novel 'Anna Karenina', the greatest novel ever written. His earlier work, 'War and Peace' does not qualify as a story as it is classified as a philosophical discussion. Tolstoy is one who believes that stories should not just have their entertainment value but need to stimulate the mind to think. His other story, 'The Death of Ivan Ilych' is about a dying magistrate as he evaluates his life on earth trapped on his deathbed as his family care for him as if he is just recovering from a minor ailment.
Tolstoy can be said to be the spark that became the hero of non-violent movements of MK Gandhi and Rev Martin Luther King Jr.
The novel 'Anna Karenina' had been adapted to the silver screen many times. This 2012 version is a British one with Kiera Knightley brilliantly cast as Anna. The scenes were quite peculiar in that they appear to move from one set to another in a giant multi-tiered and sometimes revolving stage. The essence of the story is same. The characterisation may differ according to what you perceived the characters to be.
Anna is a bored aristocrat married to a politician Minister, Alexei, and is quite at ease with the Moscow and St Petersburg's socialite circles. She is bestowed with an 8-year-old son. Her life seems deprived emotionally as her husband is too preoccupied with his work. A chance meeting with a cavalry officer, Vronsky, at a railway station, changed her life forever. This sexually deprived lady is lovestruck and starts a love affair with this young officer. They keep their liaison no secret and is quite an embarrassment to everyone, including the husband, Alexis, who feels guilty for giving her too much freedom.
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| Leo Tolstoy |
A complication and a near-death situation at around the time of delivery draws Alexis to his wife and he forgives Anna for her actions. Anna's relationship with her lover gets worse over the days with Anna overcasts Vronsky every contact with a person of the opposite sex. The stress proves too overbearing for Anna to stomach. She commits suicide by jumping in front of a speeding train.
In the last scene, Alexis sees, his son and the love child, Anya run playfully in the meadows. He must be probably be looking into the horizon pondering, if children can accept each other for what they are, why can't we adults do the same?
In the story, there are also other subplots. Anna's brother's free-spirited friend, Stiva, is a wanderer who spends a lot of his time with gipsies and peasants, much like what Tolstoy eventually advocates against aristocracy and private land ownership. Stiva is initially disheartened when the love of his life has only eyes for Vronsky. Vronsky is, of course, Anna's lover. Not a love triangle but a parallelogram!
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