While other versions of "Anna Karenina" worked because you sympathized with Anna's plight, here I'm afraid that it is the husband (Ralph Richardson) who gets my support here, not Vivien Leigh's Anna who seems more interested in keeping things going with her lover (Kieron Moore), hardly at all involved with her son. In fact, the poor kid is hardly seen at all, making it difficult to believe that there's any type of closeness between mother and son. At first, it is easy to see why Leigh could be taken with the dashing Moore, but after the infidelity is revealed and Richardson takes her back, that-a should have been the end of that-a. You see the gossipy fishwives bad-mouthing Anna to Richardson's Karenin, initially seen as cold and distant, but he forgives her. As the saying goes, "Hurt me once. Shame on you. Hurt me twice. Shame on me."
This creates mixed feelings towards the film's heroine. Certainly, Leigh is absolutely beautiful, and the photography shines the spotlight on her, making her look absolutely radiant in the snowy settings. The problem is how the focus lies here, not on the relationship between mother and son or the decaying relationship between husband and wife, but between the two lovers whose scandal shocked the Russian nobility and made her practically an outcast. As the details of the film are expanded, Anna is revealed as far more selfish than her husband is cruel, which as it turns out, he is never actually cruel to her, only officious, then finally having the strength to say enough when she cheats on him for the second time with the same man.
I really wanted to like this a lot more. After all, there is much to enjoy here in the story of the last days before the Russian Revolution, and some haunting metaphors as Anna's impending doom is hinted at. Even the presence of a ghostly figure in her dream creates a feeling of tragedy, so as the famous finale approaches, it appears to be leading to a tension that sadly never arises. Richardson gets acting honors here, and a great cast of supporting players (among them Martita Hunt, famous for her Miss Haversham from "Great Expectations" and a young Sally Anne Howes) round out the ensemble. There's no comparing this with the Greta Garbo version where you sensed that the mother loved her son and the husband was certainly a lot less likable and sympathetic than Richardson is here.
This creates mixed feelings towards the film's heroine. Certainly, Leigh is absolutely beautiful, and the photography shines the spotlight on her, making her look absolutely radiant in the snowy settings. The problem is how the focus lies here, not on the relationship between mother and son or the decaying relationship between husband and wife, but between the two lovers whose scandal shocked the Russian nobility and made her practically an outcast. As the details of the film are expanded, Anna is revealed as far more selfish than her husband is cruel, which as it turns out, he is never actually cruel to her, only officious, then finally having the strength to say enough when she cheats on him for the second time with the same man.
I really wanted to like this a lot more. After all, there is much to enjoy here in the story of the last days before the Russian Revolution, and some haunting metaphors as Anna's impending doom is hinted at. Even the presence of a ghostly figure in her dream creates a feeling of tragedy, so as the famous finale approaches, it appears to be leading to a tension that sadly never arises. Richardson gets acting honors here, and a great cast of supporting players (among them Martita Hunt, famous for her Miss Haversham from "Great Expectations" and a young Sally Anne Howes) round out the ensemble. There's no comparing this with the Greta Garbo version where you sensed that the mother loved her son and the husband was certainly a lot less likable and sympathetic than Richardson is here.