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This is it! Anna Karenina opens this Friday, November 16th. And I absolutely can't wait. From what I understand director Joe Wright and playwright Tom Stoppard have given us a fairly radical retelling of this tale. The entire story takes place within the confines of a somewhat rundown theatre, the novel's characters, actors presenting it as light opera!
According to Wright in the Washington Post, the theatrical metaphor works for the time period, a point at which the Russian aristocracy was struggling to define itself.
“They really didn’t know where they stood between the East and the West. So they decided they aspired to the West, and in particular to Paris. So they spoke French and they wore the latest Paris fashions — they even had their ballrooms covered in mirrors so that they could observe their performances whilst interacting with each other.”
I hope I am not stretching the point too much to say this post also works for the Dreaming of France meme held every Monday by Paulita over at An Accidental Blog. It's a weekly meme where we share our passion for France. Seems to me if anyone was dreaming of France, it would be Anna. Also, the French have always been the fashion elite, who can blame the Russian ladies for salivating over Parisian fashions ... we're still doing it today.
Oscar-nominated costume designer, Jacqueline Durran—for both Atonement and Pride and Prejudice —told the Guardian the director wanted her to focus "on silhouette rather than surface detail."
"He didn't want to end up with naturalistic 1870s costumes or to get constricted by the period. As the Russian aristocrats were obsessed with French culture in the 19th century, we came up with the idea of tweaking it a bit and using the heyday of couture from the 1950s to emphasize Anna's modern streak. That really helped Keira understand Anna."
According to Wright in the Washington Post, the theatrical metaphor works for the time period, a point at which the Russian aristocracy was struggling to define itself.
I hope I am not stretching the point too much to say this post also works for the Dreaming of France meme held every Monday by Paulita over at An Accidental Blog. It's a weekly meme where we share our passion for France. Seems to me if anyone was dreaming of France, it would be Anna. Also, the French have always been the fashion elite, who can blame the Russian ladies for salivating over Parisian fashions ... we're still doing it today.
"He didn't want to end up with naturalistic 1870s costumes or to get constricted by the period. As the Russian aristocrats were obsessed with French culture in the 19th century, we came up with the idea of tweaking it a bit and using the heyday of couture from the 1950s to emphasize Anna's modern streak. That really helped Keira understand Anna."
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| Keira Knightly as Anna Karenina |