SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

just watch it!

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Anna Karenina Film Review I think that this is an excellent movie. Audiences see how a strict social code dictates the way people live and the choices they make or in some cases don't make. While Anna does have an affair with Vronsky and breaks moral codes, the audience feels for her because she is trapped in a marriage with no way out. Anna is a tragic and condemned character because she is a superfluous women. Anna has wealth and privilege, but she is also bored and disregards the social values of that time (by openly having an affair with Vronsky). Anna was a character who was far ahead of her time. The themes of Anna Karenina include social norms, family and love. Social norms during that time wouldn't let Anna have a divorce from her husband so she could be with Vronsky. Anna suffered terribly for her choice to be with him. She was ostracized by the community, the Russian aristocracy, lost her husband and her son, Seryozha. Eventually Anna is driven to madness and commits suicide. The social norm was also the double standard between men and women. An example is Anna's brother, Stiva, who has an affair with a governess and yet, unlike Anna, faces no public scorn or humiliation. Vronsky also doesn't suffer nearly as bad as Anna. Vronsky is able to move within society with relative ease. The double standard only applied to gender. Women represented purity and any woman who had an affair and tainted that image faced serious repercussions as Anna experienced. The theme of family is evident throughout the film. Anna destroys her family because of her affair with Vronsky. Anna is forced to sneak back into her old home to see Seryozha on his birthday. On the other hand, Levin builds a family and his storyline concludes with him finding happiness. In the end, Anna has lost all meaning in her life without her family. Whereas Levin's life gained purpose with his marriage to Kitty. The final message is that family and happiness go together. Love is an important theme in Anna Karenina. Anna wasn't able to find love in her marriage to Karenin so she looks to her affair with Vronsky to find love which leads to her death in every sense of the word. There is a conflict between her love for Seryozha and Vronsky. Anna abandons her son to be with Vronsky and the consequence is that she is unable to love and trust anyone which was the one thing that she was looking for. There was a case of a women who was a mistress of one of Tolstoy's neighbors. In a jealous attack she threw herself under a train ending her life. This case is exactly like that of Anna Karenina. Both were mistress's who ended their lives due to the impact that their affairs had on their lives. These events in real life and the novel lead back to the double standard that women faced when having affairs and the repercussions of their actions (being ostracized by society).

This adaptation of the film is FAR superior to the 2012 version with Keira Knightley. If you're reading this and want to know which version you should watch, do pick this one. The "stylization" of the other film is just inappropriate for the subject matter. It makes the film look like a joke in comparison. Sophie Marceau is phenomenal as Anna Karenina. Keira Knightley? She doesn't capture the heartbreak as well as Sophie does, in my opinion. It saddens me to think that people will see that version and not this one. Just putting that out there. P.S. Why does IMDb force one to write ten lines? They are also attempting to correct "misspellings". If I spell something wrong, it's meant to be. Fascists.

I'm not sure how this movie slipped past me, as I try to stay on top of the period movies that come out. Nonetheless I caught it on one of the Encore channels last night, and I'm glad I did. Visually this movie is incredible! The cinematography could not have been much better, down to small details such as Levin "mowing" in the fields with the scythe in perfect rhythm with the workers.As much as I like the film, however, I'm disappointed that Sophie Marceau's portrayal of Anna was not more passionate. On the whole I thought her performance was pretty good, but I agree with the comments above that she could have exhibited a much more involved and emotional presence in the face of a love that she could not resist. Ditto for Sean Bean, although he was somewhat better at it than Sophie. It's a situation where one fervently wishes that the actors were better than they were, because you know that it would have made the movie a "10." Both Bean and Marceau did provide some excellent glimpses into the souls of their characters, but only glimpses. One would wish for more intimate looks into their motivations and their respective desolations. I was not at all put off by accents of the actors. So Marceau has a mild French accent...French was the dominant language of the Russian court up to the Revolution, so it would not have been out of place at all.The story of Levin and Kitty fares better, if only because of the stellar performance of Alfred Molina. Offhand I can't think of a more underrated actor (save perhaps Ron Perlman). Ms. Kirshner was fine as Kitty, although her journey from infatuation with Vronsky to love for Levin was given short shrift.Overall I loved this movie, but I just wish it had been two marks better.

I disagree that this was terrible. I am a big time historical movie and costume buff, so I watch everything I can get my hands on and there is hardly a period drama I have not seen. I have also read the book. While the story line of the movie doesn't necessarily follow the novel, I am still sucked into it every time I see it. I found their chemistry wonderful, the costumes lovely and very period accurate, the music and cinematography fabulous. I have seen it over a dozen times (bought the DVD) and STILL never get bored. Sophia Marceau was a perfect choice in my opinion. She is classically beautiful, and the right combination of all the elements that made her character.....chaste wife turned star crossed lover, strong, confidant woman melted to vulnerable young girl. I adored Sean Bean also. I found him totally believable, and I fail to understand how anyone even remotely interested in period dramas could fail to appreciate this film.