OVP: Anna Karenina (2012)

Film: Anna Karenina (2012)

Stars: Keira Knightley, Aaron Johnson, Jude Law, Kelly MacDonald, Matthew McFadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Olivia Williams, Emily Watson

Director: Joe Wright

Oscar History: 4 nominations/1 win (Best Costume*, Art Direction, Score, Cinematography)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

There are a few tales that the cinema insists on telling over and over and over again-Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Hamlet, and of course, the tale of the doomed Russian socialite, Anna Karenina. For those who have read the book (which I have, albeit a decade ago), you know the draw here-there are few more passionate love stories, more engrossing tales, than Leo Tolstoy's tale of betrayal, lust, societal ruin, and suicide.  And yet, since we've seen the story so often, it was a little difficult for me to get excited for the film, but leave it to Joe Wright, one of the most visually arresting directors to come to the forefront in the past few years, to keep me enchanted with a story I know so well.

The story, for those of you who have been living under an academic rock or did not take Russian Lit in college, is the tale of a Russian aristocrat (Knightley), who falls in love with a younger Count (Johnson), despite being married to an older man who is working his way up the occupational ranks and is a very proper, but devoted man (Law).  The film, which cannot possibly cover all of the characters and plots, focuses primarily on the novel's two major love stories-that of Knightley/Law/Johnson and the one between Levin and Kitty.

The film takes a sort of Baz Luhrmann-style approach to its subject.  We open with a curtain being raised, and throughout the film, the art direction and the set seems to be unfolding, and it's hard to tell how much of a fourth wall is being busted open.  Wright never addresses whether they are actors playing a parts in a production of Anna Karenina, or if they are characters in a world that is slowly unfolding.  That metaphor works quite a bit better, as the rapidly expanding set and world of Anna and her compatriots focuses less and less on the set as a stage as the film progresses.  Still, it's a rather daunting and beautiful way to further highlight the rich set and art direction on display from Katie Spencer and Sarah Greenwood (both gunning for their fourth Oscar nomination here, their third from a Joe Wright film, and I think they'll get it).  It also keeps you guessing, even if the set is never addressed, and you are left with an oddly open question of identity.

It seems silly to discuss the overall plot of such a famous book, so I'll just highlight a few bits that stand out to me.  Primarily, there is the performance from Knightley.  Knightley as an actress has come a long way from being simply the beautiful, feisty actress from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  Unlike a couple of her peers, she hasn't tarnished her actorly reputation with idiotic comedies or endless supporting roles in mediocre dramas just to earn a gargantuan pay day.  She, instead, has struck a very distinct path-working with directors like Joe Wright and David Cronenberg in provocative, occasionally under-seen period and sci-fi films.  It's paid off tenfold, in my opinion-there's no doubt these days that Knightley, ten years after her first big mark on the cinema, is an actor of considerable talent and will be working for years and years to come, and films like Never Let Me Go, A Dangerous Method, and Atonement are just going to improve with age.

Here, her Anna is a sporadic, almost bipolar creature that is constantly swinging in different directions.  You at first assume that she's just a rich woman, bored by her husband, and wanting a new thing to amuse her, but slowly you see the years of monotony and being neglected have left her with little self-esteem.  The magical thing about Knightley's performance is that she spells that out with her eyes, her voice, her constant swings of emotion and impetuousness.  It doesn't have to be said verbatim, it's just seen as we watch her unravel.  It's the sort of stirring performance that deserves critical love, but awards bodies are going to prefer something gentler, more straight-forward and less jutting.  A woman consumed by lust and rage is not a character the Academy will respond to very well, particularly with more traditional choices like Jennifer Lawrence or Jessica Chastain are there for the plucking.

The rest of the cast pales in comparison, and while I enjoyed the bit parts played by MacDonald and McFadyen, I wasn't drawn to either Law or Johnson, both characters so distinctly lacking in depth that their "big moments" come across as hollow, particularly compard to the lightning that Knightley is projecting on-screen.  The film suffers as a result, and Johnson, in particular, I am starting to question as an actor of serious means-his films seem to rely on his exotic beauty far too much, and on his actorly skills far too little.  Law, who hasn't been given much opportunity since his ridiculously wonderful run in the early Aughts, will have to go on searching for a role worth of his 1999-2004 self.

Overall, though, this was a welcome break from the "Academy-friendly" films that usually fill up December and January-it's not too heavy, but deep and rich, and is yet another vehicle for Knightley to continue her thespian ascent.