Anna Karenina (1935) R2 Greta Garbo

R2 originaali, ei suomitekstejä.

This version of the Tolstoy classic lingers longer in Moscow during the weeks that follow the initial meeting of the starstruck lovers-to-be Vronsky and Anna Karenina. The story -- as it unfolds -- also focuses on Kitty, a young woman who is related to Anna's sister-in-law whose marital rift has brought Anna to Moscow. Until Anna shows up, Kitty had hopes of getting Vronsky, who is single and well connected, to propose to her. Ignored by Vronsky, Kitty turns her attention to another suitor, a man who seems to have a lot in common with Tolstoy.

• Actors: Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan, May Robson
• Directors: Clarence Brown
• Format: PAL, Black & White, Mono, Full Screen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Classification: U
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• Run Time: 89 minutes

How do you compress a many-layered novel like "Anna Karenina" into a 90-minute movie ? You can't.

But if it must be done, this is the best version because Greta Garbo plays Anna and she is perfectly cast as the fascinating heroine. Garbo makes this potentially unsympathetic part extremely touching. She had acted the role in an earlier silent film, and in 1935 at the height of her career Garbo agreed with David Selznick to play Anna again.

Tolstoy's novel is pruned to its principal theme, and this lavish but abbreviated version of the story was sensitively directed by Clarence Brown. (His quiet manner suited Garbo and he directed more of her films than anyone else.) Most of the other actors in the film have dated, but this doesn't matter because Garbo herself has such charm and is so magically real, she seems timeless, and the movie is constructed around her.

Very little acting that came out of Hollywood has the depth and nuance which Garbo consistently brought to her performances. Garbo's technique has been called inexplicable. This actress achieves everything, whilst apparently doing almost nothing. Maureen O'Sullivan, who plays Kitty, said she was astonished that in front of the camera Garbo appeared to be doing nothing at all. But with Garbo the camera is a truth-machine, it reads a mind and photographs thought. On the screen everything required is there, perfectly judged.

For example, watch the scene where Karenin forbids Anna to see their son and banishes her from the house. There is a memorable crane-shot which follows Anna as she walks past Karenin, descends a staircase, crosses a hall, and goes out. All she does is walk. But the desolation conveyed by Garbo's face and body-language (without a trace of histrionics) is extraordinary, and powerfully true.

This is acting from within. One of her Swedish directors said, "Garbo is more sensitive to emotion than film is to light". Garbo herself said that each time she made a film she gave herself completely to the role she was playing.

Garbo is photographed by her favourite cameraman William Daniels, and in this film Garbo's nordic face possesses stunning beauty and dignity. This is partly a result of Daniels' skilful lighting, but also possibly because there isn't a false note, even for a moment, in her performance. The film is only an outline of Tolstoy, but no screen interpretations of Anna have come near to surpassing Garbo.

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