With award season right around the corner, today we get another look at a film which is expected to make a big impact this year, Joe Wright‘s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s epic love story, Anna Karenina. This new 6 minute clip gives us a nice, revealing look at the film, as well as an introduction from Wright himself.
The film will be Joe Wright‘s third collaboration with his muse Keira Knightley, who stars in the titular role. Expectations are quite high for this one, and with good reason. It marks Wright’s return to the period piece genre, after his last two films, Hanna and The Soloist, took him to new modern-day territory.
For those of you who haven’t read the fantastic novel or seen any of the previous adaptations, the story follows:
Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley), who maintains a passionless marriage to a well-respected aristocrat twenty years her senior, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law), in accordance with Russian social norms of the time. After sparks fly between Anna and an age-appropriate bachelor named Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson), however, she gives thought to pursuing her own happiness – even at the high cost that would come with such a decision.
The film was shot mostly on a stage and though that seems to fit quite well with the look that Wright is going for, it does seem very stylised, which is a little different from some of the director’s other work. In saying that, it still looks visually stunning and Knightley looks to be giving a career best performance.
A Venice or Toronto Film Festival premiere for the film seems likely and don’t be surprised if it makes a big push at the awards season later this year.
Anna Karenina stars Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Ruth Wilson and Holliday Grainger, and will be released on November 9th, 2012.
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