LAURIE SPARHAM/COPYRIGHT FOCUS FEATURES
Exit
plained. In this one central place
of action, sounds layer and scenes
blend into one another: exit stage
left at a dinner party, enter a wideopen field in the Russian countryside.
Initially, it seems there’s a use for
this shtick. The more than 100 sets
that were built for the job are both
gorgeous to watch in motion, and
ease the progression from scene
to scene (as does Tom Stoppard’s
chiseled, 130-page script). But
Wright’s retelling becomes increasingly aimless, his stage gimmick
prodding plot points along from one
FILM
to the next, without waiting for the
characters catch up.
The film—which opens in the
U.S. next Friday—premiered to
mixed reviews at the Toronto Film
Festival in September. Some were
thrilled by the visual flourishes;
others found that while impressive,
they left no impression. “Whereas
the book is sprawling, searching
and realistic, the film is constricted,
deterministic and counterfeit,”
Todd McCarthy wrote in The Hollywood Reporter, while Time’s Richard Corliss called it “intelligently
ecstatic.” The New York Times’
Terrence Rafferty put it more diplomatically last week: “every movie
adaptation of Anna Karenina is
HUFFINGTON
11.11.12
Anna
Karenina
(Keira
Knightley)
and Count
Vronsky
(Aaron
TaylorJohnson)
in the early
stages of
their affair.