Originally Joe Wright (HANNA) was planning to shoot ANNA KARENINA, a tale by Tolstoy about love and adultery amongst the Russian aristocracy, as every other “costume drama” has been shot – lush old houses, fancy costumes, the whole bit. But he became worried that he would just be falling into the same pattern as that of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and ATONEMENT, so Wright decided to do something a bit more eclectic with this particular movie shoot.
“As a result of his reading of Orlando Figes’ 2002 history of the Russian aristocracy ‘Natasha’s Dance’ — that Wright says ‘described them as living their lives upon a stage, that it was all a performance’ — the director decided to shoot the majority of his Russian epic on and around a single location, a run-down theater built from scratch at Shepperton Studios outside London.
Inspired by his idea that the book is ‘about the search for the authentic life,’ the film will see the world of Anna, her husband Karenin and her lover Count Vronsky intrude on this theatrical setting, with full-size trains running through one moment and the ‘stage’ converted into an ice rink the next. Other rooms will connect directly to the theater, while toy trains and dollhouses will represent exterior locations. As Wright says, ‘There is a fluid linearity. You can walk from one house under the ‘stage’ straight onto the horse training ground.’ Producer Paul Webster (EASTERN PROMISES) adds, ‘We are creating true cinema, this elastic universe. You can go through a door and you’ve even got a Russian landscape.'”
And what is perhaps most interesting of all? In a further subversion of classic costume drama practice, as Anna Karenina’s sanity unravels historical anachronisms will begin to manifest themselves in the world of the film.
Wow, Joe Wright. All of a sudden I’m actually interested in this project. Well done.
ANNA KARENINA will release in the UK this September (with no US date yet set) and stars Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Domhnall Gleeson, and Olivia Williams.