Movie of the Week - Anna Karenina

We have been curious about Joe Wright's adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's admired novel for months before it was released and finally saw it this week. The movie is mostly set in a theater and the change of theatrical sets and other unusual effects make it just gorgeous. It was a really good depiction of 19th century Russian society with their values and traditions, particularly aristocrats with their huge castle-like houses, fashion and the use of French as the demonstration of their sophistication.

Our favorite scene was Karenina/Vronsky dance which was simply breathtaking and radiated their passion and strong attraction. Vronsky (Aaron-Taylor Johnson) was insanely handsome while Karenin (Anna's husband) was opposite of sexiness. It was really hard to notice Jude Law's good looks in his costume.

Wright and Keira Knightley have previously worked on screen versions of Atonement and Pride and Prejudice.We love Keira Knightley in most of her movies and think she's an incredible actress but we couldn't stop thinking about other actresses who could have nailed the role. Knightley is gorgeous but haiving read the book, she's just not Anna for us. Bernard Rose's version of Anna Karenina stars Sophie Marceau which in our opinion was perfect for the role.

The costumes were designed by Jacqueline Durran who added a lot of 1950s details on Anna's dresses. He said their aim was to  make audience recognize that this wasn't an authentic period piece. Anna also wears Chanel jewelry throughout the film.
The most memorable fashion moment is when Karenina is wearing a gorgeous black dress while the rest of the aristocrats are in pastel colors. She's stunning.  Durran said that he tried to frame Anna's beauty while creating his version of the most famous dress in literature.

Sophie Marceau as Anna Karenina