Anna Karenina (1948)

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Movie
German title Anna Karenina
Original title Anna Karenina
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 139/105 (abridged version) minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Julien Duvivier
script Julien Duvivier,
Jean Anouilh ,
Guy Morgan
production Alexander Korda
music Constant Lambert
camera Henri Alekan
cut Russell Lloyd
occupation
synchronization

Anna Karenina is a British film of the same name Tolstoy -Romans from 1948. Directed by Julien Duvivier 's Vivien Leigh can be seen in the title role.

action

Anna Karenina travels by train from St. Petersburg to Moscow to visit her brother Stefan Oblonski. She shares her compartment with Countess Vronskaya, who is picked up by her son at the train station. When Vronsky saw Anna for the first time, he was immediately fascinated by her. Before Anna and her brother leave the station, a shunter, to the horror of everyone, ends up under a moving train. Anna then greets her sister-in-law Dolly, who wants to divorce Stefan because of adultery. Anna encourages her and ultimately dissuades her from her divorce plans.

Anna and Vronsky see each other again at a ball. Vronsky, who actually promised Dolly's younger sister Kitty the first dance, only dances with Anna the whole evening. Kitty leaves the ball early, disappointed. Knowing that Kitty has spoiled the ball, Anna wants to return to St. Petersburg as soon as possible. At the train station she meets Vronsky, who wants to accompany her. When they arrive in St. Petersburg together, Anna's husband Karenin is waiting for them. Since Karenin, as a senior civil servant, still has urgent business to do in the evening, Anna goes to the opera without him. At the company that followed, Anna told her friends that she was being haunted more and more often by a nightmare with an old, bearded man. She feels the dream as a premonition of her death. A séance then takes place. Meanwhile, Anna gets a cup of coffee and is suddenly alone in a room with Vronsky. She pleads with him not to chase her any more and to restore her inner peace. Vronsky does not want to be discouraged by her, however, and she finally realizes that she can no longer resist his wooing.

When she returns home late, she finds Karenin angry. He wanted to pick her up from society and therefore noticed her indiscreet behavior towards Vronsky. Anna and Vronsky meet again at a horse race. Word has got around about their affair. Vronsky, who took part in the race, fell from his horse shortly before his victory. Anna is very concerned and threatens to publicly humiliate her husband. On the way home in a carriage, Anna openly explains to Karenin that she hates him and is in love with Vronsky. Karenin then wants to file for divorce. Anna now fears that Karenin will take away their son Sergei.

While Karenin is away, Anna gives birth to Vronsky's child who dies immediately after birth. Anna is also in danger of dying. In a feverish dream she sees the old bearded man again. When Karenin returns to find his wife weak and remorseful in her bed, he no longer wants to divorce her. Vronsky, who had also rushed to her and could hear Anna's pleading for forgiveness in the background, finally goes home and picks up his pistol. The next day the news was announced that Vronsky was seriously injured while cleaning his pistol. When Kitty marries Konstantin Levin, Anna pretends to be too weak to take part in the ceremony, but meets with Vronsky in the meantime to travel to Venice with him , where they spend three happy months away from the gossip of Russian society . However, Anna misses her son and therefore wants to return to St. Petersburg.

Karenin, meanwhile, is rising in politics. Anna's return now threatens his career. However, Anna desperately wants to see her son again, whom Karenin told that his mother was dead. With the help of the maid Marietta, Anna manages to sneak into Sergei's room one morning. She is happy to finally see her son again. Karenin appears and wants her to leave. Before she leaves the house, Anna begs him in vain to finally consent to the divorce. When Anna goes to the opera alone and she can no longer bear the hostile glances of high society, she leaves her box and then goes to Moscow with Vronsky. There they get into an argument. Anna believes that Vronsky's love is fading and that he will leave her for someone else. When she returns to her accommodation after visiting Dolly, Anna finds a message from Vronsky. He's going back to St. Petersburg, but will be back in two days. Anna is now convinced that Vronsky is no longer interested in her and regrets having given up her son for Vronsky. At the station where she met Vronsky, she meets an old shunter with a white beard. When she sees a man standing next to a train, she thinks she is seeing Vronsky again. Aware of her mistake, she runs onto a track and lets a moving train run over her.

background

Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina had previously been filmed several times, including in 1935 with Greta Garbo . Producer Alexander Korda was able to win Vivien Leigh as the lead actress for his version . The occupation of Vronsky turned out to be difficult. Leigh's husband Laurence Olivier was filming Hamlet (1948) and was therefore out of the question as Wronsky. Korda eventually chose Irish actor Kieron Moore , then 24 , who was under contract with Korda's production company London Films. Julien Duvivier was hired as director . Originally, Duvivier wanted to make an adaptation set in modern France that glorifies Anna's suicide as her only way out. The French playwright Jean Anouilh had already written a corresponding script with Duvivier. However, Korda was not interested in such a version. He finally hired Guy Morgan, who again approximated the script to the Tolstoy model. Filming took place from May to August 1947 at the London Film Studios in Shepperton . Some exterior shots were taken in Venice .

The film adaptation was premiered on January 22, 1948 at Leicester Square Theater in London . Despite the cast with Leigh, lush film structures by Russian-born Andrei Andreyev and lavish costumes by Cecil Beaton , the film adaptation turned out to be a flop. On December 23, 1949, Anna Karenina was also shown in German cinemas in an abridged version. On August 25, 1964, the film was shown on German television for the first time by ARD . It was first released on DVD in 2005.

Reviews

Most of the contemporary criticism was negative. The abundance of costumes and decorations overwhelmed the actors' play. Anna was also portrayed on one side as "the cold, nose-wise victim of the traditional film-triangle relationship". Comparisons with Greta Garbo, who was considered the ideal cast of Anna Karenina in the adaptation of 1935, were made again and again, which is why it was "not easy" for Vivien Leigh. There were, however, voices for whom Leigh was as "impressive" as Garbo. In particular, Kieron Moore's cast as Wronsky was criticized. He is too clumsy, which is why it is difficult to understand what Anna Karenina thinks about him.

In retrospect, similar conclusions were drawn by the critics: "A rambling film adaptation of the Tolstoy novel, burdened by incorrect casts, which hardly does justice to the literary original," found the lexicon of international film . Also Cinema was not impressed by Duvivier adaptation and described it as "[s] chwülstige Tolstoy adaptation". The Protestant film observer, on the other hand, was able to gain some positive aspects from the film despite its weaknesses: "The Tolstoy novel in a film adaptation that has been made with a lot of effort and care, which is too superficial, but offers the opportunity for some excellent acting."

German version

The German dubbed version was created in Berlin in 1949 . The film, which actually has a running time of 139 minutes, was shortened by 34 minutes.

role actor Voice actor
Anna Karenina Vivien Leigh Ruth Hellberg
Alexei Karenin Ralph Richardson Werner Hinz
Count Vronsky Kieron Moore Axel Monjé

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b cf. Frank Miller on tcm.com
  2. ↑ a b In the shadow of Garbo - Vivian Leigh doesn't have it easy . In: Der Spiegel , February 7, 1948.
  3. ↑ Anna Karenina. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 27, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ cf. cinema.de
  5. ↑ Protestant film observer . Evangelical Press Association Munich, Critique No. 197/1950.
  6. ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de