Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina’s Life, History, and Design Lessons

“Anna Karenina” is a 2012 film directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightly, Jude Law, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It is based off of Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 novel, also named Anna Karenina. This book has been regarded by many writers as the greatest novel ever written. The movie does a great job of embodying the themes that made the book so timeless, like loyalty, friendship, jealousy, forgiveness, revenge, faith, and trust. The movie is a great historical representation of life for the members of high society in 19^th century Russia. It follows Anna Karenina, a married aristocrat and socialite. Anna has fallen out of love with her husband, but still has to uphold her image as a wife in high society Russia, a country with very traditional customs and expectations, especially in the 1800s, when the film is set. Anna has an affair with a military officer and leaves her husband. Anna and her husband have a son together, and then Anna and her lover have a daughter at the end of the movie. The movie illustrates the complicated relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and between friends. 

The film shows the struggle between choosing to do what is expected of one verses doing what makes one happy. Anna struggles with this choice throughout the majority of the film. She sacrifices everything to follow her heart. She loses her family, her status, and most of her friends in the process of leaving her husband. She is happy, for a while. But when she let’s other people’s opinions of her and her own doubts get to her, this is when she loses her happiness. At the end of the film, she is so unhappy, jealous, and insecure that she decides to commit suicide by throwing herself in front of a train. 

Another great reason to watch and use this film for a school project is that the film is a visual masterpiece, with the majority of the film set on a theatre stage. The shooting style, costumes, hair and makeup are absolutely remarkable. The film would be perfect to watch for a costume design, sewing, set design, or makeup class. Through my experience with Theatre NDSU, I have learned a great deal about set and costume design, and I think that almost all of the theatre department’s classes would benefit from watching this movie. Art and design students would also appreciate this movie. The visuals in it are absolutely amazing. Every scene is meticulously designed, the set, costumes, and themes throughout the film are beautiful and engaging.