Anna Karenina

Turns out this blog is just going to be a movie review site for a while.

Liz and I have wanted to see Anna Karenina since the remake was released on DVD in February, but because we are cheap, I put it on hold at the library.  Finally this weekend it came, and we watched it tonight.  I had low expectations, because I started reading Anna Karenina twice (like, 200 pages of it before I gave up), and also the reviews of the movie were kind of "eh, it's okay."

NO.  IT WAS EXCELLENT.

Like holy cow, I finally understand what the big deal is.  I get why Tolstoy is a genius and why his books are literary classics.  He told a story founded on morality, but never became moralistic.  Apparently he started off the book wanting to write about a sinful wife and her righteous husband, but then he fell in love with Anna.  By loving her, she became a full-bodied individual human being, and we fall into adultery with her, understanding but hating it, and then we fall even deeper into consequences and despair and paranoia.  We live with her, and feel for her, and want to tell her to yes, go on! and stop, don't do it!  It's brilliant.

And that's just the plot.  The mastery of the framing of the story is just sensational.  The woman who plants the seed of "adultery is fun" in Anna's mind turns out to be Vronsky's mother, who later does all she can to break them up.  The death by train that causes Anna to admire Vronsky at the beginning foreshadows her own death at the end.  (And sidenote, the use of train wheels throughout the film to symbolize the uncontrollable descent of emotion is stunning.)

Anna is torn between passion and safety, and all the supporting characters live out little romances (or lack thereof) that deepen her story and reveal further nooks and crannies of what it means to love or to love well.

IT'S FREAKING AWESOME.  When it was over, Liz and I stared at each other before kind of screaming low and dying.  I love stories.  I am pretty easily won over by stories.  For instance, I loved Iron Man 3 last night.  But sometimes you encounter a story that is just beautiful in its truth and complexity, and you think, "OH, that's what storytelling is for."  What an amazing story, and a spectacular adaptation.

Already in my amazon wish list.