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Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina

2012
Drama
2h 9m
Keira Knightley re-teams with director Joe Wright (Atonement) for this visionary adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel about a society woman torn between loyalty to her husband and the desires of her heart. (tiff.net)
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Anna Karenina

2012
Drama
2h 9m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 46.47% from 1170 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1170)
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Rated 09 Dec 2012
6
34th
In all fairness, Wright's adaptation easily ranks amongst the most extravagant, unbelievably staged films of the last decade. But this imposing technical proficiency translates into a severe emotional disconnect with the infamously passionate material. I've also lost complete interest in Keira Jawface and her annoying performances by now; I've however become a huge fan of Alicia Vikander, a raw talent with the sweetest voice in the world.
Rated 23 May 2013
75
77th
Stoppard's adaptation of my favorite novel is surprisingly inclusive in terms of plot but I wish he had found a way to give us access to the inner lives of the characters and to give more room to other themes than that of the artifice of upholding appearances in Russian high society. Wright's presentation ranges from highly effective to plain annoying. The same goes for Knightley here. But all the supporting performances are very strong, Vikander's in particular. At it's best, it's pretty great.
Rated 16 Feb 2013
52
9th
This movie was a thing of sheer boredom. There was really no actor or actress that really stood out to me. The writing was pretty bad and I found myself thinking about anything but this movie while watching this. I know I actually checked the clock many times during this over two hour long film. The one saving grace was the production design and costumes. It was all beautiful when they were showing it off. I loved the transitions into the theater setting. I wish they did that more.
Rated 21 Nov 2012
78
71st
Definitely not hitting the spot but this experimental shit makes it fresh
Rated 17 Jan 2013
38
7th
Melodrama gone wrong is a sorry sight, and ANNA KARENINA goes very wrong indeed. The central gimmick--a deliberately theatrical setting--is done poorly and inconsistently, and given no help from the editing or directing. The script, perhaps the worst thing Tom Stoppard has written, reduces the overrated novel to a sketchy soap opera. The acting is mostly overwrought or dull. There are lovely images throughout and the odd decent scene or performance, but the ultimate feeling is one of boredom.
Rated 14 Feb 2013
63
50th
This is fine, I guess. The cast is (expectedly) spot-on, Wright's unique, pseudo-stage-bound approach to the material is interesting, and I'm a pretty big fan of Tolstoy's story. But, you know...boring. Dry. Enjoyed seeing it, but there were occasional droopy eyelids. Worth a one-time watch of you're a fan of Knightley and/or the source material.
Rated 02 Dec 2012
69
37th
terribly cold and distant.. There must be a law against ruining such a beautiful masterpiece in cheap circus esthetics... I simply hated Vronsky who looked like a boy band singer and Keira Knightley with her fake emotions and irritating mouth...
Rated 09 Dec 2012
60
23rd
Technically breathtaking with Oscar-worthy cinematography, production design and costumes, but the story failed to keep my interest. Joe Wright sets almost every scene in sound stages giving the film the feeling that it is a play. This is a brave attempt to go in a new direction for a costume drama, but it also becomes a distraction. Knightley is great, as are the supporting cast including Jude Law, Emily Watson and Kelly MacDonald.
Rated 06 Dec 2012
60
55th
Wright brings a lot to the table with his interpretation of this tale, but the execution is lacking in a lot of areas. The third act primarily devolves into a cluster of hard to follow motivations and harder to follow visual storytelling. However, Wright's experimentation is at least visually striking and put together enough to entertain.
Rated 05 Dec 2012
2
14th
A glacial, deathly slog. Aggressively unenjoyable. I've achieved greater emotional connection in the last month with 30-second TV commercials for consumer products.
Rated 30 Dec 2012
75
81st
Nice try :D
Rated 30 Mar 2013
45
18th
Everything in this film felt so banal and empty. It's a gorgeous piece of nothing. The screenplay had lot of flaws and the ambitious approach by Wright totally failed. I coudn't care less for the lead characters. I got bored with Keira's performance and Johnson is terrible as usual. But Law and McFadyen (and Vikander to a lesser degree) are terrific and the only redeeming qualities of this film. And the music and costumes are as beautiful as expected
Rated 29 May 2021
40
39th
Beautifully made but dull like a two hour long perfume advert. I mean they've all got themselves into a pickle but they're super rich so meh, fuck em.
Rated 16 Nov 2015
100
96th
3
Rated 03 Jan 2021
80
79th
The theatrical conceit is uniquely effective, moving the story along creatively and with good pace. The production design and choreography are sumptuous, but it is difficult to keep up with all the characters and relationships, which diminishes the power of the romance and tragedy. Ultimately, the lavish spectacle is at the forefront, and Macfadyen's moustache is the especial highlight.
Rated 04 Dec 2013
22
3rd
I have never been so turned off by a movie's preening sense of its own ingenuity. I could not stand this.
Rated 24 Nov 2012
60
62nd
It's a costume drama about the upper class in the late 1800s. You pretty much know what you're getting into before it even starts. And, for the most part, you're right. There are some things that are done in an attempt to spice it up -- a fun secondary story and some visual panache, for the most part, do a good job at this -- but it's still just a costume drama even underneath all of this fun. It's a good version of one, I'll admit, and I got into the film once it got started.
Rated 03 Jan 2013
7
51st
The costumes were fantastic and Wright made the scenes blend together was....interesting. I enjoyed the acting, but, for the life of me, I cannot understand why Anna thought Aaron Johnson's looks were seductive; instead, he looked pained and awkward. Not really something I look for when I want to get it in.
Rated 13 Sep 2013
70
68th
Acted, scripted and filmed as a stage play. Not a bad thing.
Rated 06 Jan 2014
63
35th
Joe Wright's energetic adaptation of Tolstoy's classic romance is a bold, visually stylized work -- for both better and worse.
Rated 21 Jul 2013
17
9th
The story is flat and no one else does enough to save it. Only saving graces are the sets/costumes and the energy of the first 15 minutes. Kiera Knightley needs to eat some some pies or something, her skeletal structure being so prominent is disconcerting.
Rated 16 Jan 2013
72
41st
"You can't ask why about love," says Vronsky to Anna in a moment of passion. This is actually not true, and the film's willingness to sidestep the why of this relationship is its failing. There are interesting women here, but we are given only the shallowest glimpses of them, and that's a shame. A little more development of Anna's relationships with Kitty and Dolly might have given this movie some heart and soul. As it is, it is only skin, and lovely though that skin may be, it is not enough.
Rated 02 Jun 2013
60
47th
I really wanted to like it more. Visually it was great, but I think Joe Wright took the story for granted, and assumed we all knew how it went already, making the movie for a first timer unclear.
Rated 29 May 2018
66
26th
65.00+.50 = 65.50.
Rated 27 Nov 2012
70
54th
Superbly filmed Russian period piece soap opera where just about everybody is screwed up. This story has been done to death in all periods in every art medium. But at least it had a good ending. :)
Rated 06 Feb 2013
36
15th
Visually brilliant but failed to engage me in any way due to poor writing and acting.
Rated 22 Aug 2022
85
59th
Go with the desires of your heart girlie
Rated 12 Dec 2012
83
67th
Glorious in its visuals and an innovative take on the material, however it falls a little in its high concept and mystery.
Rated 07 Feb 2013
35
38th
Visually this is quite enchanting, but storywise it's emotionless and shallow; none of the characters get through as interesting and/or sympathetic. There are glimpses of something better, so I assume it's just a poor script and not weak source-material. *Preview*: #13#, exp-3*, hype, story, reviews, (source Tolstoy/1), director Wright/2, cast, R2.
Rated 25 Feb 2013
84
83rd
Put simply, I liked this movie. They actually went for a unique, artistic take on a classic novel. Granted that I haven't read the original novel, so I can't attest as to how true this movie is to it, but it tells an interesting story and has some brilliant production design. There are a couple of questionable directing choices, but altogether it's a good film that probably would have been nominated for Best Picture if there wasn't another adaptation of a classic novel on the list.
Rated 02 May 2016
7
15th
W2E0P1S0V2M1A1R0. Watchability: 27/50; Premise: 6/10; Story: 3/10; Visuals/Effects: 9/10; Acting: 6/10; Resonance: 3/10.
Rated 09 Mar 2014
99
74th
unique, dramatic, romantic, tragic, and beautiful. Anna is his beautiful horse that he rides into the ground. breathtaking.
Rated 05 Jan 2013
65
23rd
Great acting by Kiera Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen but the arty directing was distracting to the story.
Rated 02 Jan 2013
70
27th
Just a little space for acting and creating something deeper than fashion (intention?). No prejudice intended, Anna was swapping with her British cousin so much that I could not stop seeing it.
Rated 24 Dec 2013
62
9th
visually stunning and innovative. i really applaud joe wright's vision with this film, and appreciate how difficult it must have been to produce. as a story, however, it was lacking. everything from casting to dialogue to story structure to pacing was nearly unbearable. there were too many characters that were underdeveloped, and each character became a caricature of what he/she thematically represented. the film sacrificed story for spectacle, and suffered as a result.
Rated 07 Sep 2021
43
27th
The theater idea works some of the time, sometimes doesn't, while making the film into something unlike the book. Whether what that is works or not is personal preference, and personally it didn't work for me. Jude Law is an outstanding Karenin. Knightley is a bad Anna.
Rated 30 Oct 2015
24
11th
With all the uber-stylized sets that aren't intended to stand in for real locations, I kept expecting some of the brilliance and charm of "The Grand Budapest Hotel". Alas, it never came. So lousy as to be nearly unwatchable.
Rated 07 Jun 2015
48
19th
A visually arresting and technically flared adaptation of one the most vastly overrated pieces of literature around. People seem to be complaining about some of the actors' performances when the real problem is how utterly unsympathetic almost all the characters are in the book. Mercifully cuts shorts Levin's boring adventures of boring in the boring countriside, but otherwise lacks merit.
Rated 26 Jan 2013
7
60th
teribble casting, beautiful cinematography and music. too british anyways.
Rated 11 Oct 2013
75
13th
An okay movie on its own terms, but a crime against Tolstoy.
Rated 10 Dec 2012
70
56th
I enjoyed it. I liked Wright's vision and cinematography (or whatever you would call him making it a "stage play" of sorts). I enjoyed most of the actors as well, except Aaron Johnson. He wasn't terrible but he's not the most believable actor in igniting absurd amounts of passion in someone.
Rated 05 Feb 2021
83
37th
müzikal gibi yapmasalarmıs daha iyiymis ama np izledik bi sekilde yine roman uyarlaması oldugu icin yorum yapmıcam sanki fikir bunlara aitmis gibi oyuncu kadrosu super
Rated 08 Jan 2013
40
34th
Beautifully shot, yet no "Russian spirit" in it.
Rated 07 Sep 2014
55
19th
Masalsı ve teatral bir anlatımı var insanı zaman zaman etki altına almayı başarıyor mesela Vals başta olmak üzere çok etkileyici sahneleri var fakat tempo çok düşük işleyiş çok yavaş olduğu için sıkılmamakta elde değil. Jude Law performansı hariç eski filme göre zayıf bulduğumu söylemeliyim ama kitabı sevenler için yine de izlenebilir güzel film.
Rated 10 Mar 2015
50
29th
Knightley is endearing as Karenina, the Stoppard script is witty and the soundtrack is effective as well as memorable. It's a shame then that Wright's insistence on all things visual ultimately distracts from the good things about the film.
Rated 02 Jan 2024
100
96th
perfect.
Rated 14 Nov 2012
86
69th
the concept is so brilliant. Stoppard, you've done it again
Rated 06 Dec 2012
25
61st
"The film contains far more passion and a tad more complexity than the dominant and typically more staid model of middlebrow costume drama." - Andrew Schenker
Rated 26 Mar 2015
50
31st
arty farty shots & big dollops of "the Theatre" aren't really my thing but I must say I found the directing interesting.The story's a bit dull mind you.Tolstoy,Schmolstoy
Rated 13 Feb 2013
25
17th
I really thought I would like this, and I really wanted to. The playful style in the beginning got my hopes up way high, but they unfortunately couldn't do it consistently, and dropped the faux-theatre bit for the bulk of the film, making it lean instead on a completely uninteresting love story with completely uninteresting characters. I would rather have seen more of what Gleeson was up to. It had so much potential, and it's really well made, it just doesn't follow through and it's a shame.
Rated 09 Jul 2013
75
78th
Since this is my first meeting with this classic story, I can't determine whether it is a good adaptation. But I can say that I loved the style of mixing theater and film. It gives some amazing visual possibilities that spices up the already well made drama. Jude Law is as always amazing.
Rated 18 Feb 2013
65
36th
Technically exquisite, with fantastic cinematography and production design... but god damn, what an insufferable bitch Anna is.
Rated 08 Oct 2017
64
41st
Russia is pretty small based on this
Rated 14 Feb 2015
75
39th
Very interesting dramatic elements - blend of theatrical art and our usual cinematography. Great soundtrack. I can't say that this movie will top my list for great movies I'll rewatch again, but it's an interesting love story I would recommend to anyone looking for a classical touch. I never fall sympathize with Anna, but her story creates an interesting contrast for Levin's storyline.
Rated 12 Mar 2014
80
83rd
Keira Knightly is awesome and gorgeous in this tragic story of forbidden love. A beautiful married woman and a handsome bachelor fall hopelessly in love. Her powerful husband reluctantly accepts this change, but when she leaves, she soon finds that she has given up more than she had imagined, and her life is shattered by the fall from grace among her peers. There are also some good side stories. Exciting and convincing performances, except perhaps from Jude Law who seems unduly sedate.
Rated 31 Jan 2013
65
52nd
They killed all the emotions of my all time favorite book character to creat a great cinematography.
Rated 31 Jan 2013
25
12th
A soap opera thinly disguised as an adaptation of a great novel. The film sways between ballroom dances and dramatic twists, pausing just for little blurbs of dialogue and keeping the characters and their relationships extremely slight. The pompous orchestral soundtrack dictates mood. The whole thing reminds me of a baby crib mobile.
Rated 14 Jan 2013
70
53rd
not the most exciting movie but it presents a top class cinematogrophy and good usage of the soundtracks
Rated 01 Apr 2013
10
0th
a mockery to the original pointless and ugly
Rated 14 Aug 2016
30
21st
If you are looking for a movie to ruin the novel for you, this is the one.
Rated 08 Jan 2013
80
91st
Very consciously overproduced so that it moves faster and with more wit than your traditional adaptation of a Russian novel. By lining up its narrative and thematic concerns very precisely and theatrically, we're asked not only to empathize with our heroine but maybe also to question her.
Rated 27 Jul 2013
81
66th
Most adaptations of this material struggle with the balance on Anna's character, valorizing her adultery while failing to account for her baseness. Part of the way Tolstoy keeps the balance is through devoting nearly half the time to Levin's story, which is, in my view, a great deal more captivating than Anna's story on its own. That makes the novel a masterpiece, and this film a modest success, given its willingness to spend some (though not enough) time with Levin.
Rated 10 Sep 2012
53
6th
Knightley's performance is great, but the movie as a whole is something of a bore, vacillating between too-clever-by-half and not-clever-enough
Rated 20 Feb 2013
100
98th
Twenty years from now people will be calling this the next Barry Lyndon. Keira Knightley is made for the camera in the way that no female since the new wave has been.

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