If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Excellent but underrated film

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I wasn't 100% sure about this show, being a huge fan of Tolstoy, so I was pleasantly surprised at the drama and the consistency with the storyline of Anna Karenina. The casting was superb, and the setting was surprisingly consistent. Sarah Snook as Anna was an amazing casting choice. Her portrayal was perfect, beginning to end. She played out the snowball of drama that came about from that initial decision in such a meticulous way, drawing it out and making me (i.e. the viewer) feel the heart-wrenching conclusion to this classical story in a surprisingly new way. The other noteworthy casting choices: Sophie Lowe as Kitty (that melodramatic, super-clingy and naive little girl who transitions into a mature, considerate woman); Daniel Henshall and Celia Pacquola as Kingsley and Dollly; and Alexander England as Peter. If you want to experience Tolstoy in a new and unexpected way, give this series a try. (It's also incredibly easy to binge-watch.)

The review I just read suggests that I watched a different mini-series. However, that is not so. The difference of opinion, fortunately, is just that. Some people like me liked it, others like the person who gave it two stars obviously did not. It is not high-brow, but it is interesting and entertaining, and at least to me, that's enough. Sarah Snook deserves good scripts, and this one probably did not stretch her. Worth a look and a listen because some of the music is very interesting, and I found the emotional tension quite realistic. The irrational behaviours exhibited by several of the characters were believable, and not unlike what I have seen in real life. Not all productions are going to be highly cerebral, and that is alright because sometimes it is entertaining to just watch, not think too much, and enjoy watching reasonable actors and actresses.

I am not really sure how true to the famous novel this telling is. I have never read the book. Viewing this with no pre conceived notions I find it very enjoyable. The main characters are very appealing visually and you can't help connecting emotionally. Kitty and Anna are both beautiful in totally different ways and both flawed and frustrating in different ways as well. At times I found myself rooting for each of them and other times wishing to shake them for their self centerness and foolishness. Either way they are compulsively watchable, light up the screen. These two actresses will go far I am sure. Overall it is a very talented cast. All of the supporting cast turn in fine performances, are very well written. Perhaps Kitty's parents characters are a bit lightly drawn. I love this series and commend all involved. Good TV viewing.

Taking the story of a classic like Anna Karenina is at once an appealing notion, rather like reworking Shakespeare in a modern version, and a way to see it again. The issue here is that the revision is just one story of the great novel; it's an adaptation of all the previous film versions and therefore dispenses with the other more interesting material in the novel to leave only the melodramatic and increasingly psychotic romance.What is shown in the TV series is typical in contemporary styling: the usual camera angles, the settings in homes and airports, with standard everyday dialog. The dialog in this version has a soap opera quality, like Neighbors in its banality and ordinariness. Some dialog is clumsy and akin to adolescent expression in its deliberate use of image and metaphor but poorly written and the overall effect is inept. The voice over narrator is less accomplished, both unnecessary and questions the purpose of the drama as it fills in the back story of all the characters.This is a stale and cliché borne infested production which has meretriciously yoked a great book in order to market itself and thereby disguise its defects and lack of artistic value. It didn't need a Russian novel at all; the old book serves no use at all because this is simply a modern adultery story which is really just day-time soap opera. The Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov had a Russian word for this: poshlost, which in English means, kitsch, pretentious rubbish.