The stunningly elaborate Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina landed itself in all its cinematic glory in theaters across the U.K. this week after appearing at TIFF along with some excellent company. Although fans across the pond still have a few months to wait, photos of the entire cast have now been released to give them some idea of what they have to look forward to.
The images appear to be visually dynamic while possessing a sincere elegance to them, which is a nice combination considering the source material. Anna Karenina is the story of several wealthy Russian families intertwined by their indiscretions and running the gambit of morality. If you’ve read the novel, which is one of my favorites, you may have been skeptical about the possibility of bringing this tragically beautiful tale to life.
Keira Knightley, who plays the title character, had some thoughts of her own about the complex nature of the project:
I went, ‘Oh!’ It’s not a romance at all. I don’t think that Tolstoy is saying this is what you should do for love; quite a lot of the time he is saying the reverse,” she told Vogue recently. “He hates Anna at certain moments. She is both a villain and a heroine. She can be incredibly vain and manipulative. She is somebody who breaks her own moral code, and yet the shame and disgust she lives with because of that make her fascinating.
Knightley seems to have a passion for period pieces, having previously starred in other intense book adaptations – Pride and Prejudice, Atonement – and will surely give a compelling performance in the film, despite her character being utterly obnoxious on many levels.
You can watch Keira Knightley rebel against her upper crest traditions when Anna Karenina rolls into theaters stateside on November 16th.
Check out the newest images of Knightley along with Aaron Johnson, Jude Law, Matthew Macfadyen, Alicia Vikander, Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams and Emily Watson.
