tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post7561726382769590642..comments2023-11-05T02:01:53.847-06:00Comments on Antagony & Ecstasy: THERE ARE AS MANY ADAPTATIONS OF ANNA KARENINA AS THERE ARE HEARTSTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-12294708531097511122013-01-11T09:04:03.721-06:002013-01-11T09:04:03.721-06:00Aaaaw, I liked this one more than you although you...Aaaaw, I liked this one more than you although you win in saying why you don't care for it against my in trying to say why I do (no surprise there).<br /><br />A few things, I think inasmuch as the film focused on the excesses and sumptuousness it never does actually rob the story of its emotion. The film doesn't stop to breathe, for me, because Stoppard wants to get everything in but because it's mirroring the way that Anna (somewhat stupidly, and overzealously) falls in love. Even as the sets are fake I don't ever doubt the emotions and I feel that it's that observation of the dichotomy between the two he's going for.<br /><br />But, I think some things we just disagree on - for one I think the entire ensemble is on point, not so much for Tolstoy's projections of the character but for Wright and Stoppard. I pause in my head at Johnson at Vronsky, but it works in this iteration of the story.<br /><br />The use of the train imagery, like focusing on Sergei's toy train isn't as much a winking nod as a fatalistic note from Wright - that, look how deadly trains are but ultimately they're really just children's toys, which is why the cut from the toy train to the "real" train to the prop train work. The collapsing walls only serve to highlight for me the fragile nature of all those involved.Andrew K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01104647944747041277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-1229098253998485102012-12-07T20:36:36.261-06:002012-12-07T20:36:36.261-06:00I agree it's a flawed film, but I think you...I agree it's a flawed film, but I think you're underrating a couple things: 1. In terms of performances, I think Jude Law stands out as the best of the pack, and some of the other side characters come off quite well, and more importantly, 2. Tom Stoppard's script is actually quite complex, clever, and original. It turns the whole story into an investigation of the meanings and varieties of love, as the characters attempt to realize it as an ideal, and by giving time to Levin (though, unfortunately, not as much as he should have), these themes get to be mirrored and juxtaposed between the two plots. Anna's story is a tragedy, as passionate love drives her to destruction, and Levin's is a comedy, as misunderstandings eventually give way to the coming together of two people who are genuinely worthy of each other in a spiritual union as much as a physical one.<br /><br />Tolstoy obviously does this better, what with a thousand pages to work with, and Wright's direction sort works against all this by focusing on surface instead of emotional depth, but the screenplay isn't the problem here.StephenMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16588260639227694557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-88752868886952853792012-11-28T10:16:03.937-06:002012-11-28T10:16:03.937-06:00I would describe my level of anticipation for that...I would describe my level of anticipation for that movie as "unjustifiably intense"..Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-41577926010621995252012-11-27T14:38:39.493-06:002012-11-27T14:38:39.493-06:00Tim, just a random question from a longtime reader...Tim, just a random question from a longtime reader, are you in any way anticipating the Les Miserables movie coming out in less than a month? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18004976993973408660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-80668254863429588712012-11-27T07:05:31.991-06:002012-11-27T07:05:31.991-06:00The technique is actually much closer to Ingmar Be...The technique is actually much closer to Ingmar Bergman's <i>The Magic Flute</i>, which I almost mentioned; but ultimately, it's so different in (non)-effect from either that or <i>Henry V</i>, or the couple of other films I thought of and have no forgotten, that I decided not to spoil them by the comparison.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-29638220184449480432012-11-27T02:56:46.229-06:002012-11-27T02:56:46.229-06:00"and it is very much his idea, too"
Bor..."and it is very much his idea, too"<br /><br />Borrowed from Laurence Olivier?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com