Anna Karenina

I have always been a huge Jacqueline Bisset Fan and believe my opinion of her was sealed when I saw this wonderful made for TV movie in 1985. Many women have tried to capture the essence of Anna Karenina but most have never captured all of it. I believe Ms. Bisset has achieved that and the psychologically dependent, multi-faceted Anna is totally believable in Bisset's hands as she agonizes over the choices life is now presenting her with. On the surface, the differences between Karenin and Count Vronsky are clear and yet...divorce was anathema for women living in that era. Paul Scofield is superb as Karenin and no one has done it better than he! So too Anna Massey, Judi Bowker, Joanna David and Ian Ogilvy are quite creditable in their roles. The only drawback for me was the casting of Christopher Reeve as the "dashing" Count Vronsky. He did not have the "dash" or flair and certainly did not possess the acting chops to handle such a stylized, European role. As tall and as handsome as he was, he never had the finesse necessary for such a piece and outside of the terrible coincidence involving the accident with his horse, which paralleled his real-life tragedy...I do not believe he should have been cast.

Is okay, Anna. If its any consolation now.... I would not have been able to resist Count Vronsky either.

The best production of this story I've seen. Christopher Reeve in his prime. Jacqueline Bisset gives a flawless performance. Stunning cinematography, costumes, the Hungarian interiors, all superb. Filmed in 1985. I write this review in 2024. Obviously much has happened in that time span. "Superman" was not for me. Reeves' best movies, in my mind, were "Somewhere in Time", "The Rose and the Jackal", and this movie. "Remains of the Day" should be included, but he had only a small part. Loved loved loved Mr. Reeve. Rest in peace, sir.

When Count Vronsky, played by Christopher Reeve, falls off his horse in the race scene I shiver; knowing that is how that fine young man was later incapacitated in real life. It is absolutely chilling!! This is not the greatest adaptation of the novel Anna Karenina but it is certainly the most memorable due to the fate of the actor!!

This 1985 version of Anna Karenina (unfortunately unobtainable at present on DVD) has some good things in it - mainly the performances of some of the actors. Chief among these are Jacqueline Bisset as the eponymous heroine, mature yet still youthful and sensual though never over-dramatic, and Paul Scofield, who makes Karenin very human despite his cold nature. It is unfortunate that Christopher Reeve is only adequate as Vronsky, his acting was rather wooden though he looks impressive, but although eight years younger than Bisset he comes across as being about the same age, which should not be the case. Joanna David is good as Dolly, but Judi Bowker's limited range is unable to make much of Kitty, although the script (see below) gives her limited scope anyway.

The worst aspect of the film is the script. It dumps completely the Kitty/Levin parallel plot, probably for time considerations - Levin does not appear at all, and Kitty does so only when needed in relation to Vronsky. This causes at least two serious losses - the stark contrast between the Anna/Vronsky and Kitty/Levin relationships, which is an important thread running through the book; and the contrast between the formality and dissipation of city and society life on the one hand, and on the other, the simplicity and truth of the countryside. These were very important to Tolstoy. Even in more minor ways, though, the script is poor - it changes parts of the Anna/Vronsky/Karenin story, and even has scenes which are not in the book or are almost unrecognisable because they have been changed.

The suicide scene is well staged, which is often far from the case; but the scene at the start with the railway worker's death is not shown properly at all, which somewhat destroys the intended comparison.

Production values put an emphasis on quietly luxurious settings. The film was shot with rather dark lighting, which although probably realistic, now seems very old-fashioned.

As a Christopher Reeve fan and one who is in the middle of reading the Leo Tolstoy novel, I was excited to see this rendition of "Anna". Although it was good to see Chris in his pre-accident years, the movie was fairly weak. The soundtrack doesn't hold up well almost 20 years later, and the writing isn't great. They virtually ignore the storyline involving Levin and Kitty, and I didn't find Bissette's performance to be very riveting. However, Paul Scofield did an excellent job as Karenin-- I actually felt some empathy for him.

A better version of this story was done in 1997 with Sophie Marceau ("The World Is Not Enough") and Sean Bean ("Lord of the Rings"). There is far more chemistry between those two actors, and the quality of the movie should hold up better over time.