Whenever director Joe Wright and actress Keira Knightley get together to make movies, people tend to take notice. Their first two collaborations – 2005’s Pride and Prejudice (not to be confused with the long-gestating Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) and 2007’s Atonement – both had solid box office earnings as well as plenty of awards attention. Now the pair is poised to release their third literary adaptation with Anna Karenina.
Based on Leo Tolstoy’s celebrated 1877 novel, the film will face the challenge of distinguishing itself as a worthwhile endeavor, given that the source material has already been adapted a number of times before. We’ve already seen the film’s poster and trailer, but the above six-minute clip, courtesy of Oh No They Didn’t, offers an even closer look at Wright’s unique approach.
With his Anna Karenina, Wright aims to create – in his words – a “fluid linearity” throughout the film, wherein actors can physically move from scene to scene. This effect was created by constructing more than 100 sets in a single integrated location where nearly all of the film was shot. Wright (whose previous film was last year’s action thriller Hanna) has demonstrated such ambition in his past work and will likely utilize the technique to its full effect here.
Sharp viewers may recall the five-minute tracking shot in Atonement which featured a seafront view of the war at Dunkirk. For those who haven’t seen the film, the sweeping sequence allows the camera to follow a group of soldiers as they survey the devastation that the war has left in its wake, capturing a wide array of inspiring and heart-wrenching events along the way. It’s among the standout moments from that film and, from a technical standpoint, makes a good case that Wright is just the director to make a similar effect – albeit on a grander scale – work beautifully in Anna Karenina.
Knightley stars alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson (of Kick-Ass fame) and Jude Law, and between that cast and Wright’s unique vision for the film, Anna Karenina could garner plenty of attention this fall, conveniently entering theaters just as Oscar season heats up.
Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina is due for release on November 9th, 2012.
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Source: Oh No They Didn’t
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I did love Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice
which was the best version of that book.
I finally just saw Atonement this week and
the ending if that film has been haunting me.
Joe proved he is up to the challenge of this.
My only concern from the clip is the casting
of Aaron Johnson who is not the Count Vronsky
I would picture in my mind but I’ll remain hopeful.
He is more Vronsky with his natural dark hair. Not sure why Joe Wright went with the blond….
An affront to Leo Tolstoy and Russian literature. Apparently, none of those making this film bothered to read the novel first.
Its such a powerful story. So much detail.