Helena Blasco González

ANNA KARENINA BY KEIRA KNIGHTLEY – FILM ANALYSIS

To begin with this analysis is important to acknowledge the plot of the film and the
historical moment when the novel was written. The protagonist, Anna Karenina is a
woman belonging to the nobility of the mid XIXth in Russia. She betrays his husband,
Aleksey Aleksandrovich, with a young man from Moscow, Stiva, who will later married.

The whole movie kind of takes place in the same 3 rooms that change in colour and
decoration to recreate different spaces, so we all end in the scenario of a theater. At the
beginning of the movie we find that the space are very luxurious, just made for the elite,
to host a lot of parties and social meetings, but if we pay close attention to the details we
are able to observe, for example, the
degradation of the paint in the walls, that
crush with the whole aesthetic of the
environment, the colors, the dresses that the
women are wearing, the social events such
as plays, operas, and private meetings.

We also find a great difference between the spaces dedicated to the high society with the
spaces of the normal people. On the first one, as mentioned before, we have vivid colors,
walls covered in gold, noble materials, and fancy furniture; while in the homes and spaces
of the rest of the society, we find small wood cabins, full of stuff and dirtiness.
 Helena Blasco González

Another important detail that reflects the russian society in the late XIXth century is the
train travels, with an important mention in one of the fist scenes when a worker in charge
of the train encounters Anna, and, while she is perfectly dress with a very imponent and
big dress, the worker is cover in dirtiness, and when he dies, the rest of men just worry
about no one seeing the body; “Stiva” handels the problem giving the man in charge of
the workers some money for the family of the dead worker. This reflects how irrelevant
the poor people were to the high society.

It is also very noticeable the clothes that the women were in their daily baisis and to the
events. Those dreses are made with silk and velvet, very expensive and delicated
materials, and the shape of the dresses makes them unuseful for a normal worker. The
back part of the dresses have a element called “plysons”, that are used to enhance the
femenine steriotipes at that moment. Also is important to mention all the details that had
those dreses as the tails, lace and pearls, tight-fitting fur coats and high hats. Also the
color of the dresses represent the civil status of the woman (single, married, widow), so
the light colours were for the ones that were single and the darker colours were for the
ones married or, I imagine, widows.

As for the events goes, through the movie we find: theater plays, operas, horse races, “tea
hour” and dances. The most remarcable thing for me was in the dances the movements of
the arms and hands, I found them very delicated and soft. As for the social interactions in
all of them, I was able to notice the critic that Tolstoy makes to the high russian society
with all the hypocrisy. Almost all the relations were because of interest. I also found quite
revealing how nobody balmed the brother of Anna for cheating his wife, but everybody
pointed her because she chose “true love” above her legal husband.

To sum up, I just wanted to mention the use of lightning for focusing our attetion and
giving a more intimate atmosphere to some scenes. Related to this the soundtrak that helps
us “feel” what Anna is feeling.