|
Post by oldounce on Dec 24, 2007 2:34:38 GMT -5
I once very loved to see Anna Karenina because I saw "Kevin Vronsky" looked quite handsome... Thank Pattirose she finally gives me a chance to see this show...though it's not yet complete but I can't wait to reach some clips. Believe or not I just melted into tears when I saw Vronsky shot himself...I even didn't remember what exactly they were talking about and why Anna was preparing to stay with her husband. But that scene was totally moving me: "He looks so upset, and he hears the baby cry, then he stares at the woman who was holding her baby, suddenly he rushes into a room and picks up a gun..."I don't know why I felt so sad as I was standing in his room and looking at all of this. Finally, I heared the gun shot....and Vronsky lies down on a bed...with a bullet in his body... OMG...I couldn't/can't breathe even now.... This is the clip I'm talking about: www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=6587084377&oid=4184507733
|
|
|
Post by pattirose on Dec 24, 2007 13:14:40 GMT -5
Yes, that was very devasting to me also. The ending of the movie is also heartbreaking.
|
|
|
Post by oldounce on Dec 25, 2007 23:17:11 GMT -5
Sometimes those destinies of his roles are too tragical...I love the end of Bedrooms and Hallways...hahaha...he gets that girl!!!That's the best thing I had seen....
|
|
|
Post by oldounce on Jan 7, 2008 17:20:25 GMT -5
I can't wait finally I finished to watch this show, had kept the Disk 2 for a while.
Anna was a sick woman I guess she had postnatal depression, but not sure she looks pretty healthy when the second time she left her husband, it's outrageous she and her brother never showed any real sorry on her merriage, I hated her brother he's a stupid guy. Anna wasn't that stupid she was quite spiritually greedy, she couldn't just take everything she wanted and leave all the matters to others in suffering. I felt her husband was quite innocent, first of all her wife suddenly loved a young official, secondly she gave birth to a bastard...her husband didn't blame her too much, she left again so mercilessly....Vronsky adored her and always kept his faith, but Anna was acting like the whole world owed her.... The result wasn't so heart breaking as expectation cos I felt: Finally she was gone, then Vronsky though he would like to die, he had some chances to breathe easier finally. And this show wasn't perfect cos obviously it was comparing the different conditions of marriage, I hate that point of the result, I haven't any intrerest on another couple, their story was extremely unconvincingly decorated.
|
|
|
Post by anaterra on Mar 28, 2008 6:24:35 GMT -5
My Anna Karenina DVD finally arrived!!! I´ve watched it it and found it excellent. I´ve seen another version with Sophie Marceau and Sean Bean a few years ago, but thought this one is better. So good it made me want to read the book. I thought that Kevin and Helen McCrory had just the right chemistry here. It´s interesting how they would play a totally different couple in North Square.
Oldounce, I think that maybe you´re desconsidering the position of women in that society. Both Anna and Vronsky were "guilty" (after all, it was him who seduced her), but Vronsky could get away with it because he was a man, and it was considered accetable for men to have affairs, even with married women. Anna´s brother was also continually unfaithfull, but again still could keep his marriage. There´s also a lot of hypocrisy. People usually married without love (for reasons of social position, financial interests etc.) and affairs were tolerable as long as they were kept secret. But Anna and Vronsky decided to make their love public, and that´s why they´ve paid a high price. Well, even when you marry the person you love or think you love, sometimes love doesn´t last forever and people are bound to make mistakes and have second chances. But in that society breaking up a marriage was considered a scandal and people were supposed to remain married even when they´re unhappy.
|
|
ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
|
Post by ruralstar on Sept 12, 2008 19:48:22 GMT -5
I finally got my copy of Anna Karenina today. A few thoughts:
I enjoyed the secondary plot of Kitty and Constantine. Kitty went from little more than a diversion for Vironsky to a fully fledged woman who could handle even the challenge of Constantine's complicated past and family. The movie does not explore exactly who he was before their marriage. His diaries imply recklessness and womanizing. His brother Nikolai states that Kitty is a child and will never be a true match for Constantine. Still, their feelings persist and I was happy to see them discover a true love that was ultimately stronger than Vironsky and Anna's for all of the latter pair's passion.
It would be easy to hate Alexie Karenin for not granting Anna a divorce. By the end of the film I pitied him. His 'friend' Countess Lydia used God and the church to manipulate him into a living arrangement that actually suited her needs and not his. You never find out what happened to the son Anna and Alexie shared. Instead we see a broken man with Lydia fawning all over him. Sad.
Steva and Dolly were another interesting pair. I couldn't dislike Steva even though he was unfathful to Dolly for years. He was a well-meaning cad whose friends and wife actually meant the world to him. By the end you see that he has learned a lesson from Anna's death. He sees what really matters and you can imagine he will be faithful to Dolly for the rest of their days.
Finally there is Anna and Alexie Vironsky. She is a classic heroine who is ultimately too weak to deal with the crisis she's helped to create. It's easy to hate her because in the end she drives Alexie away with her paranoia and unfounded fears. He loves her unconditionally from the moment they meet. Losing her is his downfall in every way. The viewer gets to see his loyalty when he loses his temper at the party and defends Anna's place in society. We see his pain when she nearly dies in child birth, when he tries to assuage her fears and at the end when he rejoins the service, longing for death. A couple of times I wanted to slap Anna silly for the way she treated him. Her juvenile 'love test' of the headache made me want to scream. But, I think it proves how far gone she already was. She was right when she told Alexie that his indiscretions would be overlooked by society because of his gender. After a certain point Anna is too far into her affair to ever turn things around. As for Alexie: at first he was a bit creepy. Stalker-like in his pursuit of Anna. As the movie progresses however it's obvious that she wanted that pursuit from the start. She's not happy in her marriage but I don't think it's really Karenin's fault. She seems a bit spoiled and self-absorbed. One could say the same about Alexie Vironsky but in the end he proves how much he was willing to give up-his very life-for Anna.
The storylines of Anna/Alexie and Kitty/Constantine are loosely connected through famlial ties. The connection is thin enough that the story seems a bit disjointed. Perhaps Tolstoy dealt with these discrepancies better in the book? I read on the official website for the film that the producer played a bit with Vironsky's suicide attempt. He wanted the viewer to feel more of his despair at the idea that Anna would not survive the birth of their daughter and that she would not go to him even if she did. He succeeded to some degree. I thought Kevin was well cast as Vironsky and while I was not familiar with the rest of the actors I thought they seemed comfortable in their roles. I liked Helen McCrory opposite Kevin on North Square. Her Rose was full of fire and purpose. Anna was a bit too pathetic for her to play. I thought the actress was floudering as much as the character after Anna left Karenin and moved to Italy with Vironsky. Kevin seemed to find a new level of passion and plausibility as Vironsky struggles to make Anna happy and to deal with the conventions of society that make their life impossible. I expected a bit more overt emotion at the train station when he tells Constantine that he has rejoined the service and wants to die. It is possible that the director wanted a more restrained, empty Alexie for his final scene. Kevin certainly delivered if that is the case.
I did make a few screen captures to share with you all. I discovered several in the main site's galley so I will be picky in my choices, which will be in the forums photos section.
|
|
|
Post by anaterra on Sept 18, 2008 18:34:49 GMT -5
Ruralstar, this is such a good, in-depth review of the mini-series that I think BBC/PBS should hire you!!! Totally agree with your analysis regarding Kevin´s bit "lack of emotion" in the last scene - but as you well observed, it could have been the director´s instructions. But I did feel that Helen McRory conveyed Anna´s insecurity and fears (which I also agree are kinda annoying, but not that much if you think of her not as a "modern heroine" but as a woman belonging to her time and class - I mean, this is Russian aristocracy in the XIXth century!)well, although Tosltoi does offer a very different example in Kitty´s character. Anyway, nice thoughts, I guess that to go further we should read the book ...
|
|
ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
|
Post by ruralstar on Sept 18, 2008 19:02:45 GMT -5
Ruralstar, this is such a good, in-depth review of the mini-series that I think BBC/PBS should hire you!!! Totally agree with your analysis regarding Kevin´s bit "lack of emotion" in the last scene - but as you well observed, it could have been the director´s instructions. But I did feel that Helen McRory conveyed Anna´s insecurity and fears (which I also agree are kinda annoying, but not that much if you think of her not as a "modern heroine" but as a woman belonging to her time and class - I mean, this is Russian aristocracy in the XIXth century!)well, although Tosltoi does offer a very different example in Kitty´s character. Anyway, nice thoughts, I guess that to go further we should read the book ... I suspect the book might be quite a slog. Those types of period pieces usually are. Very true in regards to Anna being a product of her environment. She is a classic character and the movie is high melodrama with all of the trappings intacted. It would have been nice to see a bit more attention paid to authentication. The atmosphere of the film seemed more European than strictly Russian in feeling. Maybe I missed something LOL.
Thanks for reading my 'review'
|
|
|
Post by mariemjs on Sept 27, 2008 11:34:25 GMT -5
Hey everyone... I was wondering, where did you buy the dvd??? I've been looking for it but no luck so far... Found a bunch of region 1 but I can't read them on my computer... extremely disappointing, I really want to see it and I've never found it! For some reason I can't even find it on UK websites either...
|
|
|
Post by Leanne on Sept 27, 2008 16:20:16 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by mariemjs on Sept 29, 2008 7:33:17 GMT -5
Yeah that's what I found but 33£ for a dvd? No way... It's not available as a new dvd anymore, too bad
|
|
|
Post by Leanne on Feb 13, 2009 10:32:58 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by angelamermaid on Mar 2, 2009 1:28:21 GMT -5
I got my AK DVD through amazon.ca. I watched it this weekend - OMG, does Kevin do lust and love and tortured so well. Must watch again!
|
|
duchovlet
Kevin McKidd Online staff
EBAY events team "McSeller"
Do Good. Give to charity. Volunteer.
Posts: 909
|
Post by duchovlet on May 20, 2009 3:44:54 GMT -5
****SPOILERS****
If you haven't seen Anna Karenina and don't want to know, don't read.
I just got this DVD off eBay (you can still get new/sealed or used copies) and finally watched last night. I wrote marcy with a quick review and thought I'd post the same here with a few extras. I agree with a lot of what rural said in an old post/review too. Here goes ...
-------------------------- ANNA KARENINA -------------------------- I've not seen much of Kevin's work so seeing him so young (and blonde) is an adjustment since I'm used to the red and facial hair of Grey's. I generally think men hit their stride around 35-45 so KMK is *prime* right now It's always fun to go back then and see them when they were younger and how much they've changed and stayed the same.
I do find him adorable in his youth. Goofy at times just like the rest of us. The avatar picture that pattirose uses on the forum cracks me up every single time I see it. I call it the Clown Hair picture. No offense meant to Kevin but it is the picture that will follow him forever. He will never live that one down. (I have to find out where that pic is from.) I know I have skeleton pictures like that in my photo album so lord help me if I become famous (or anyone looks at the ones my sister has posted of me on her Facebook account...) I fall in love with the man every time I see Bozo the McClown.
As for Anna Karenina ... as it went on Vronsky grew and grew on me. I didn't really know the story so it was nice to find out what Tolstoy wrote about finally. The romance seemed rushed (and untrue) at the beginning. Wish that had been developed more. Don't know if that's how it is in the book or just PBS trying to get to the meat and potatoes romance with a lot to tell in 4 hours .. but that's all technical execution stuff. (I'm very into TV and film so I will debate or talk about most any aspect of such.) Still, it seemed like there were 2 hours of the PBS pledge marathon we had missed. I'm guessing the book develops everyone more slowly and this production flops us down and starts out several chapters in. I was wishing for more Vronsky backstory. Again, not Kevin, but the direction of the production in general.
I kept *really* wishing I had someone here to watch it it with or someone on the phone or online who was watching it at the same time. I wanted someone else to hear all the comments I was saying to the characters and TV screen. Nothing like a free flowing brainstorm session when you watch something together that you both want to see.
I loved the end of the first disc where Vronksy shoots himself. Thought it was finally getting interesting. Wondered how much more that was fleshed out in the book. Likewise I loved Vronsky towards the end where he is getting more and more frustrated with Anna. Liked Kitty too, and I know I've seen that actress before. (Thought Kitty-Constantine storyline was probably te stronger story in the piece overall actually.)
A few minutes into disc 2 I was telling all the characters on screen that they were nuts. By the end I was calling them all "freaky wierd Russian people" because they were all so screwed up. Anna turned out to be a total nut job. What did she keep medicating herself with?
Vronsky was gaining on sainthood for staying with her. I felt bad for all the characters -- except maybe Lydia, the religious zealot who was (IMO) secretly in love with Mr. Karenina yet convinced him to not divorce Anna -- and then told Anna's son she was dead! Telling the kid his mother was dead did her in for me. Couldn't really excuse her after that. That was just cruel. If she had any brains she would have told Mr. Karenina to divorce Anna and then everyone could have been happy. But then the book would be short and KMK wouldn't have angst to play.
I had to remind myself occassionally that I was watching a period piece and Anna was a woman made of her time in history. She's neurotic. Her short hair was ugly as sin. Slap that woman silly and tell her she has a stud of a man and not to fight it. She was cruel to Vronsky in the end. I'm guessing the self-medication helped take her down that path. You do not lock a man like that out of your bed ("oh, I have a headache") as a test of whether he loves you or not. STUPID. But Kevin looked fine in slumber when Anna went in and saw Vronsky sleeping. I'd have stayed right then and there. Of course I would have stayed in the bathtub in the beginning ....
I think KMK did OK and his performance got stronger as the piece went on. He looked younger (maybe too much younger) than Anna than what I might normally find to ring true for the time period. (Or maybe that is supposed to be -- I've not read the book -- and the age difference just makes it all the more scandalous??) I'm not gonna read the book to find out. Rural is right, it probably plods. And I absolutely hated assigned summer reading books in school and AK feels like it would be one of those. (No offense Leo but "To Kill A Mockingbird" is the ONLY summer reading book I actually enjoyed. And I detest "Catcher In The Rye" .. but I digress.)
From the synopsis of the story I read on the packaging and elsewhere I thought I would find Mr. Karenina unlikabale. In contrast, I found him sad and I was somewhat in his corner, or at least very understanding of it. I wouldn't want Stephan as a husband but liked him nonetheless, despite not forgiving of his infidelities. I don't think he meant to be cruel to Dolly, he is just a fool. A thin thread ties Constantine & Kitty (the stronger story) to Anna and Vronsky. This has to be more defined in the book but cut for PBS sake. Could have done without Nikolia (a passing reference to his and Constantine's relationship would have sufficed). They should have given that time to developing Anna and Vronksy. For 4 hours I think the writer and director should have made it tighter and more focused on Anna and Vronsky. The book must be **sprawling** if they felt the need to include so many other characters to due Tolstoy justice. In that case they should have gone for a 6 or 8 hour miniseries to properly flesh everyone out. Instead they left this viewer wanting/needing to know more about Anna and Vronsky to truly invest in and believe them (tho Kevin alone sells it in the end) and wanting/needing to know less about a lot of others characters. Again, its mostly the direction TPTB took it that ultimately made some of AK feel disjointed and not fully realized. It wasn't Kevin or most of the other actors. You do the best with the material you're handed. Take advantage of the great actors at our disposal. Don't waste them.
I hope KMK gets to do more pieces like this. When you start collecting his DVDs and watching his work he really does seem to vary himself as an actor. I mean AK is not like Purifiers or 16 Years. I'd LOVE to see him in stage work. How I wish there were DVDs or some bootleg tapes of that!
That's my 2 cetns. Copies can be found on eBay most anytime or Half.com. PM me if you want links.
- duchovlet
|
|
Geniusmentis
KMKonliner
McVid
I only have 2 neurons and one of them is usually sleeping.
Posts: 4,067
|
Post by Geniusmentis on May 20, 2009 4:27:06 GMT -5
I adore "Anna Karenina" and how handsome he is!!!
|
|
ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
|
Post by ruralstar on May 20, 2009 7:11:09 GMT -5
Duchovlet, a couple of things.
I believe Anna was medicating with Lodnum (sp) It did have a terrible effect on the brain when people got addicted to it because I believe it was an opiate. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here.
On the PBS site for the mini it mentions that Vironsky's suicide attempt was actually more fleshed out for the series than it was in the book. Don't know why Tolstoy brings it up and just drops it. Though I've not read the book so...
I found Vironsky quite stalkerish at first and I do wonder if that effect is mitigated by more early character development in the book. Kitty/Constantine's romance was definitely the strongest of the three pairings the movie focuses on. I'm counting Steva and Dolly as the third pair.
Overall AK was okay in terms of a mini series. Melodrama is not my favorite genre and Alexie Vironsky is actual one of my least favorite Kevin characters. Still, he did the best he could with what was given. And I always enjoy him with Helen McCrory.
|
|
|
Post by singer201 on May 20, 2009 15:03:57 GMT -5
Laudenum: a tincture of opium made from a solution of macerated raw opium and 50% alcohol. It is believed to have originated as a secret remedy of Paracelsus, sixteenth century Swiss alchemist and physician.
I bought the DVDs several months ago, and watched them as among the first of Kevin's earlier filmography. Now that I'm more familiar with his acting, I need to go back and watch again.
|
|
ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
|
Post by ruralstar on May 20, 2009 18:29:53 GMT -5
Thanks for the spelling correction Rose. Thought it was an opiate. Very common for a very long time until physicians and laymen alike started to understand the dangers.
|
|
marcy
KMKonliner
Posts: 2,528
|
Post by marcy on May 20, 2009 22:47:51 GMT -5
Yes, opium was dangerous, but was only made illegal in the US due to racial prejudice against the Chinese immigrants who brought the drug with them when they flooded the US during the 1800s.
|
|
ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
|
Post by ruralstar on Dec 19, 2009 8:02:21 GMT -5
Pulling this thread back up for discussion purposes in the movie of the week marathon. I haven't time to watch right now but I can say that AK is a movie I have to be in the mood for. Kevin looks good and his acting is good but the character of Vironsky grates on my nerves. Not as much as Anna and for different reasons, but he still grates. Every time I see those scenes at the train station when he follows Anna home and later outside her house in the snow I think "STALKER!" Melodramas were such a huge part of literature for so long. Funny since they are an exageration of life's realities. And usually a painful one at that.
In the U.S. the era of the mini series for TV was the mid 70s until the late 80s. There were many made after that time but most (not all) ran on public television or cable. I doubt AK would have run successfully on broadcast tv due to its subject matter. It is an interesting study of a certain cultural mind set. I can understand why Anna behaved the way she did but her overall attitude of helplessness and self-absorption.... *groans*
|
|