Anna Karénine

Visually this movie is a black sheep among the other Soviet movies: it's shot absolutely astoundingly for a Soviet movie! Lighting and scenery are astonishingly crafted, wide-angle objectives, cranes and dollies are artfully used throughout the film making it look, despite of the poorly emulsified film (though not that bad for those times), like a highest-budget Hollywood movie. Photography direction and editing are also up to the highest notch! Direction and acting are great, no reason to praise anyone higher than the others (though my favourite is Nikolai Gritsenko as Alexander Alexandrovich Karenin). Truly a piece of a pure cinema art, absolutely creative, original and rich. Watch with pleasure.

This movie was done well. The filming was beautiful and Tolstoy's novel (in so far as it is possible) was presented in a good light. The only spot that marred an otherwise-good film was the performance of the leading actress, Samoilova, playing Anna Karenina herself. So inept, clumsy,, irritatingly false and unconvincing was her performance that my single greatest sentiment throughout the film was: "Come on! Throw yourself on the train-tracks and get it over with!" Sadly, for over two hours my prayers went unanswered. A positive note, however, was struck by the stunning performance of the former legendary ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya in her role as the social lioness, Princess Betsy Tverskaya. Vasilij Lanovoj (memorable as Shervinsky, in 'Dni Turbinykh) was also a pleasure to watch as he made the most out of the relatively small role of Vronsky. In short: This would be a higher-than-average film, but for the tragically poor performance of the single actress that was under particular obligation to play well.

Anna Karenina by Leon Tolstoy is the best novel I have ever read. I have seen a few movies based on it, but the best one on my opinion is that old version with Samoilova, Lanovoy, Vertinskaya and of course the amazing Maya Plissetskaya. What a wonderful cast! For me, Samoilova is the closest physically to Anna's character and for that, I can forgive the gossips about the influence of her father in obtaining this role. The movie is great and until now, 2005, nobody can beat it. Even taking into account the dark ages when this movie was done, it it regretful that it is not known enough throughout the world. I just keep hoping that it will be screened again at least on TV.

I think that Aleksandr Zarkhi's adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's famous novel "Anna Karenina" is one of the best screen versions of the book. It was filmed on the locations where the novel's events took place, its characters speak in the original language, and the spirit of the book was successfully transferred to the screen mostly due to the performances and the cinematography by Leonid Kalashnikov.

Tatiana Samoylova (radiant Veronica of "The Cranes Are Flying") plays Anna exactly as Leo Tolstoy had intended her to be, a victim of overwhelming passion, a woman who had lost herself to love, for whom the whole world had concentrated in her beloved Alexei Vronskiy, and once she felt he had became tired of her, she simply could not and did not want to live. The world famous Soviet ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya took a role of Anna's friend, Princess Betsy Tverskaya and just to see her walk is worth watching the movie. There is much more in it. Some scenes are unforgettable after so many years. Among them, the Vronsky's horse race with the rapid cuts from the faces to horses' heads scene that has to be seen to believe; the first dance of Anna and Vronsky - during the dance the lives of many people had changed forever, or the scene in the theater where Anna dared to show up after she had left her husband and moved in with Vronsky. For a woman of her social position, it was absolutely shocking and totally unforgiving. She was crucified with the looks of the St. Petersburg's Aristocracy but she was standing on the balcony all alone, beautiful and smiling and no one knew what she was going through.

The original music for the film was written by Rodion Shchedrin who would write later the ballet based on "Anna Karenina" and his wife, Maya Plisetskaya will be dancing Anna - but it is a different story altogether

I must agree with 'iliawarlock' on Samoylova's performance - but even though this is undoubtedly the weakest link, the film doesn't hold on many stronger points. Samoylova, who is best suited to play Soviet peasant or worker, is only the emanation of the overall psychological flatness, ignorance and self-content, characteristic of many destroyer-of-classic-texts communist era films. Plisetskaya is brilliant, and Lanovoy is also delightful. An interesting fact is that, before a screening which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, the still magnificent Vasiliy Lanovoy commented that his character Vronsky was incapable of the great love which Karenina had the gift for. From his performance, I got quite the opposite impression of a highly sensitive and devoted Vronsky - but thats the greatness of a complex text. Too bad we cannot witness a complex (if any) psychological interaction with Karenina in this dramatization.