Film review: Anna Karenina (12A)

British film-maker Joe Wright sets the adultery and deception on a theatre stage where images of 1874 imperial Russia are dropped into shot or wheeled on by cast members as moveable sets.

All of the technical virtuosity is choreographed with split-second precision. Costumes and art direction are ravishing, and Seamus McGarvey’s cinematography shimmers with rich colour. However, such fastidiousness snuffs out any faint flickers of emotion and disjoints the narrative.

Anna Karenina is a big, expensive bauble: pristine, polished and admirable, but structurally brittle and completely hollow.

Keira Knightley pouts with intent as she pursues Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s man in uniform with lust-fuelled fury. Their solitary sex scene is shot like a perfume advertisement. Jude Law is more restrained, successfully internalising his character’s emotions.

It’s evident that this is Wright’s most concerted effort to woo Oscar voters and make amends for the snub for his adaptation of Atonement.

Rating: * * *