Anna Karenina (1997 film)
Encyclopedia
Anna Karenina is a 1997 film by director Bernard Rose
, and starring Sophie Marceau
and Sean Bean
. The film is an adaptation
of the eponymous novel
by Leo Tolstoy
. It was the first international version to be filmed entirely in Russia
, at locations in St. Petersburg and Moscow
.
is a young and elegant wife of Alexei Karenin, a wealthy nobleman
twenty years her senior. She is unhappy and lives only for their son, Seriozha. However, during a ball in Moscow, she encounters the handsome Count Alexei Vronsky. Vronsky is instantly smitten and follows her to St. Petersburg, pursuing her shamelessly. Eventually, Anna surrenders to her feelings for him and becomes his mistress
. Although, they are happy together, their relationship soon crumbles after she miscarries his child. Karenin is deeply touched by her pain and agrees to forgive her. However, Anna remains unhappy and, to the scandal of respectable society, she openly leaves her husband for Count Vronsky.
Using her brother as an intermediary, Anna hopelessly begs her husband for a divorce. Karenin indignantly refuses and denies her access to Seriozha. Distraught by the loss of her son, Anna grows severely depressed and self medicates with laudanum
. Before long, she is hopelessly addicted. With Vronsky she has another child, but he is also torn between his love to Anna and the temptation of a respectable marriage. Anna becomes certain that Vronsky is about to leave her and marry a younger woman. She travels to the railway station and commits suicide
by jumping in front of a train.
Vronsky is emotionally devastated by her death and volunteers for a 'suicide mission' in the Serbian war against the Turks. While travelling to join his regiment, he encounters Konstantin Levin, who has married Vronsky's former sweetheart, Princess "Kitty" Shcherbatsky. Levin attempts to persuade Vronsky of the value of life. Vronsky, however, can only speak of how Anna's body looked at the train station. They separate and Levin returns to his family. He writes the events of the film and signs his manuscript
, "Leo Tolstoy
."
and Warner Bros.
. The film has international cast with the participation of Russian cast and additional crew from the Lenfilm
Studios in St. Petersburg, Russia. The project was started with the help from Mel Gibson
, who was approached by Sophie Marceau
, and initiated the main budget of about $20 mil coming from his company Icon Productions
. Casting was made by Marion Dougherty, casting director of Warner Bros. Studios. Sreenplay was written by writer/director Bernard Rose. Filming was done entirely in Russia between February and August 1996. Post-production was made partially in Europe and the final editing was completed by Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles.
The original director's cut was not released to public; it was reduced from 140 minutes down to 108 min. The shorter 108 min version of the film was distributed internationally by Warner Bros.. The US theatrical premiere was in April 1997, followed by the European premiere in May 1997.
, Menshikov Palace
, Yusupov Palace and other locations. Several minor scenes were filmed in Moscow, Russia.
under the baton of Sir Georg Solti. The score was recorded in The St Petersburg Philarmonic Hall, where Tchaikovsky's Sypmhony No. 6, "Pathetique" first premiered. Incidentally, this symphony is played most prominently in key scenes from the film. Director Bernard Rose and Sir Georg Solti both agreed that the Symphony bore parallels with Anna Karenina's story, mainly for the music's excessively tragic tones and Anna's melancholy.
editions were released internationally after 1997. Some DVD editions in Europe are variants of this title: "Tolstoi's Anna Karenina" and "Leo Tolstoi's Anna Karenina" and may vary in film running time from 104 to 108 minutes. The original director's cut was over 140 minutes, but it was not released.
Bernard Rose (director)
Bernard Rose is an English actor and film director most famous for his direction of the 1992 urban horror film Candyman and the 1994 historical romance film Immortal Beloved....
, and starring Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...
and Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
. The film is an adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the eponymous novel
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger...
by Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
. It was the first international version to be filmed entirely in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, at locations in St. Petersburg and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Plot
Anna KareninaAnna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger...
is a young and elegant wife of Alexei Karenin, a wealthy nobleman
Russian nobility
The Russian nobility arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution of 1917.The Russian word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo , derives from the Russian word dvor , meaning the Court of a prince or duke and later, of the tsar. A nobleman is called dvoryanin...
twenty years her senior. She is unhappy and lives only for their son, Seriozha. However, during a ball in Moscow, she encounters the handsome Count Alexei Vronsky. Vronsky is instantly smitten and follows her to St. Petersburg, pursuing her shamelessly. Eventually, Anna surrenders to her feelings for him and becomes his mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
. Although, they are happy together, their relationship soon crumbles after she miscarries his child. Karenin is deeply touched by her pain and agrees to forgive her. However, Anna remains unhappy and, to the scandal of respectable society, she openly leaves her husband for Count Vronsky.
Using her brother as an intermediary, Anna hopelessly begs her husband for a divorce. Karenin indignantly refuses and denies her access to Seriozha. Distraught by the loss of her son, Anna grows severely depressed and self medicates with laudanum
Laudanum
Laudanum , also known as Tincture of Opium, is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight ....
. Before long, she is hopelessly addicted. With Vronsky she has another child, but he is also torn between his love to Anna and the temptation of a respectable marriage. Anna becomes certain that Vronsky is about to leave her and marry a younger woman. She travels to the railway station and commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by jumping in front of a train.
Vronsky is emotionally devastated by her death and volunteers for a 'suicide mission' in the Serbian war against the Turks. While travelling to join his regiment, he encounters Konstantin Levin, who has married Vronsky's former sweetheart, Princess "Kitty" Shcherbatsky. Levin attempts to persuade Vronsky of the value of life. Vronsky, however, can only speak of how Anna's body looked at the train station. They separate and Levin returns to his family. He writes the events of the film and signs his manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, "Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
."
Cast
- Sophie MarceauSophie MarceauSophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...
as Anna Arkadyevna Karenina - Sean BeanSean BeanShaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
as Count Alexei Kirillovitch Vronsky - Alfred MolinaAlfred MolinaAlfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
as Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin - Mia KirshnerMia KirshnerMia Kirshner is a Canadian actress and social activist who works in movies and television series. She is best known for her portrayal of Jenny Schecter on The L Word and for her role in the 2006 crime film The Black Dahlia as Elizabeth Short.- Early life :Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario,...
as Princess Yekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatsky, "Kitty" - James FoxJames FoxJames Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
as Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin - Fiona ShawFiona ShawFiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
as Countess Lydia Ivanovna - Danny HustonDanny Huston-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
as Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky, "Stiva" - Saskia WickhamSaskia WickhamSaskia Wickham is a British actress best known for playing Dr. Erica Matthews in the ITV television drama series Peak Practice between 1996 and 1998.She is daughter of the British actor Jeffrey Wickham....
as Princess Darya Alexandrovna Oblonskaya, "Dolly" - Phyllida LawPhyllida Law-Personal life:Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of William and Megsie Law, who divorced after World War II. She was married to Eric Thompson from 1957 until his death in 1982. Their two children Emma and Sophie Thompson are both actresses...
as Countess Vronskaya - David SchofieldDavid Schofield (actor)David Schofield is an English actor who was born in Wythenshawe, Manchester, Lancashire in 1951. He has appeared in numerous television programmes and feature films during his career.-Early life:...
as Nikolai Dmitrievitch Levin - Jennifer HallJennifer HallJennifer Hall is an American actress. She is most known for portraying herself on HBO reality show Unscripted and Missy on the NBC comedy series Up All Night...
as Betsy - Anna Calder-MarshallAnna Calder-MarshallAnna Calder-Marshall is a British actress.Her husband is actor David Burke and her son is actor Tom Burke.-Filmography:-External links:...
as Princess Schcherbatksy - Petr ShelokhonovPetr ShelokhonovPetr Illarionovich Shelokhonov, was a Russian actor and director, designated Honorable Actor of Russia .-Childhood:Petr Shelokhonov was born in 1929, in Belarus, then a part of the Soviet Union; Peter Larionovich Shelokhonov...
as Kapitonich, Karenin's butler - Vernon Dobcheff as Pestov
- Larisa Kuznetsova as Agatha
- Jeremy Sheffield as Boris
- Justine WaddellJustine WaddellJustine Waddell is a South African born, British actress. Her roles include playing Estella in the 1999 BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and her dual role in 2006 feature film The Fall...
as Countess Nordston - Nora Gryakalova as Myagkaya
- Valeri Kukhareshin as Doctor
Crew
- Director: Bernard RoseBernard Rose (director)Bernard Rose is an English actor and film director most famous for his direction of the 1992 urban horror film Candyman and the 1994 historical romance film Immortal Beloved....
- Screenplay: Bernard RoseBernard Rose (director)Bernard Rose is an English actor and film director most famous for his direction of the 1992 urban horror film Candyman and the 1994 historical romance film Immortal Beloved....
, based on the novel "Anna Karenina" by Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
. - Producers: Bruce DaveyBruce DaveyBruce Davey is an Australian film producer.A partner in Icon Entertainment alongside Mel Gibson, Sydney-born Davey has produced many films including Apocalypto, The Passion of the Christ, Push, and Braveheart for which he won an Academy Award. Davey began as Gibson’s CPA after being recommended by...
, Stephen McEveetyStephen McEveetyStephen "Steve" McEveety is an American film producer. The son of Joseph McEveety, and nephew of Bernard McEveety and Vincent McEveety, Hollywood film directors/producers, he has over 30 years experience in senior positions in the entertainment industry....
, Jim LemleyJim LemleyJim Lemley is an American film and television producer based in Paris and Los Angeles. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with leading directors, actors, and producers to create both feature films and television across various genres.-Early life:Born March 9, 1965, Lemley is the son of...
, Mel GibsonMel GibsonMel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
(uncredited). - Cinematography: Daryn OkadaDaryn OkadaDaryn Okada, A.S.C. is a cinematographer and the current president of the American Society of Cinematographers.-External links:...
- Film Editing: Victor Du Bois
- Production design: John MyhreJohn MyhreJohn Myhre is an American production designer who has been working in Hollywood since the late 1980s.He received his first Academy Award nomination, for Best Art Direction, in 1998, for Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth, bringing him to the forefront of Hollywood production designers...
- Art director: Sergei Shemyakin
- Costume design: Maurizio MillenottiMaurizio MillenottiMaurizio Millenotti is an Italian costume designer. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Costume Design: the first time for his work in Otello ; the second time for his work in Hamlet .- External links :...
- Music Director: Sir Georg Solti
- Casting director: Marion Dougherty
Production
The 1997 film "Anna Karenina" is an international project, a joint production by Icon ProductionsIcon Productions
Icon Productions LLC is an American independent production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey.-History:Icon started when Gibson was having trouble in financing the 1990 film Hamlet...
and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
. The film has international cast with the participation of Russian cast and additional crew from the Lenfilm
Lenfilm
Kinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios,...
Studios in St. Petersburg, Russia. The project was started with the help from Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
, who was approached by Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...
, and initiated the main budget of about $20 mil coming from his company Icon Productions
Icon Productions
Icon Productions LLC is an American independent production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey.-History:Icon started when Gibson was having trouble in financing the 1990 film Hamlet...
. Casting was made by Marion Dougherty, casting director of Warner Bros. Studios. Sreenplay was written by writer/director Bernard Rose. Filming was done entirely in Russia between February and August 1996. Post-production was made partially in Europe and the final editing was completed by Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles.
The original director's cut was not released to public; it was reduced from 140 minutes down to 108 min. The shorter 108 min version of the film was distributed internationally by Warner Bros.. The US theatrical premiere was in April 1997, followed by the European premiere in May 1997.
Locations
Filming was made entirely in Russia. Main filming locations were in St. Petersburg; at several of the palaces of Russian Tsars as well as historic mansions of Russian Nobility, such as The Winter Palace, PeterhofPeterhof Palace
The Peterhof Palace in Russian, so German is transliterated as "Петергoф" Petergof into Russian) for "Peter's Court") is actually a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the...
, Menshikov Palace
Menshikov Palace
The Menshikov Palace is a Petrine Baroque edifice in Saint Petersburg, situated on Universitetskaya Embankment of the Bolshaya Neva on Vasilyevsky Island. It was the first stone building in the city...
, Yusupov Palace and other locations. Several minor scenes were filmed in Moscow, Russia.
Music
Music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev was recorded in performance by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic OrchestraSt. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra was formed in 1882 and is Russia's oldest symphony orchestra.It was initially known as the "Imperial Music Choir" and performed privately for the court of Alexander III of Russia. By the 1900s it had started to give public performances at the...
under the baton of Sir Georg Solti. The score was recorded in The St Petersburg Philarmonic Hall, where Tchaikovsky's Sypmhony No. 6, "Pathetique" first premiered. Incidentally, this symphony is played most prominently in key scenes from the film. Director Bernard Rose and Sir Georg Solti both agreed that the Symphony bore parallels with Anna Karenina's story, mainly for the music's excessively tragic tones and Anna's melancholy.
DVD
Several DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
editions were released internationally after 1997. Some DVD editions in Europe are variants of this title: "Tolstoi's Anna Karenina" and "Leo Tolstoi's Anna Karenina" and may vary in film running time from 104 to 108 minutes. The original director's cut was over 140 minutes, but it was not released.