Anna Karenina (2013)

Ummmm, are you sure this wasn't directed by Baz Luhrmann? Really?

Director Joe Wright has given us films such as Atonement, Pride and Prejudice and Hanna. All quite straight forward, beautifully styled, narrative driven films.

Anna Karenina is something quite different. From the opening scene, we are placed in a theatre setting. This gives us the feeling of the whole story being a work of pretense, of show. And this works well with the story of Anna Karenina.

It is unfortunate that this style does not always work in the favour of the film. It is hard to know when the characters are at the theatre (as happens several times) or if it is simply an effect. At times it is slightly confusing and doesn't allow the film to fully tell the story that Tolstoy intended.

Keira Knightley plays Anna Karenina, the wife of an important Russian diplomat, who falls in love with a young soldier. She resists, but eventually falls to temptation. This at first is overlooked by Russian society, but when Anna continues to insist that there is nothing wrong with her relationship, things become more and more public.

Her husband, Karenin (Jude Law), is at first patient but mildly embarrassed, but then devastated. He throws her out to live with her lover Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and she is shunned by the society that once held her up as the ultimate woman of St Petersburg.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is somewhat bland as Vronsky. I cannot see why Anna would give up anything for this insipid little man, so that aspect of the story makes no sense. Although one must wonder how Jude Law feels when he was for so many years the gorgeous young lover.

If you are a fan of mise-en-scene, this is, I must say, glorious. The costumes, the art direction, the use of hair and make-up to show Anna's slow decline into madness are all beautifully done. The dialogue also has a wonderful pace to it (the screenplay being written by Tom Stoppard, responsible for so many beautiful screenplays, but I think he excels at comedy more).

But despite the fascinating techniques, the film is frustrating in parts, where you get a little lost as to what is real and what is being dreamed. And some of the performances are insipid and not very memorable.

Well worth seeing, but definitely not destined to become a classic.

3 Orsons.

For those who like to spot people they know, look for minor players Kelly McDonald (Boardwalk Empire and Brave), Emily Watson (War Horse) and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey).

The Impossible (2012)

First of all a warning. I had been told that several people were having trouble with the early scenes of this film, making them physically ill. The scenes that feature the natural disaster are quite shockingly realistic that it does make you feel ill. The camera work is fast, all over the place, the sound moves in and out as if you were being carried along by the water, and the screams of people make you feel like you are amongst them.

If you are in any way squeamish, or if you are unable to cope with truly distressing scenes, I would suggest that you watch this on video, as the big screen impact is quite full on. But don't let it put you off the film. This film is worth your time.

The Impossible is based on the true story of Spanish family, the Belons, who took a holiday in Thailand in Christmas 2006. This is of course was when the horrendous tsunami hit Asia on December 26th. The film has created a semi-fictional family that we meet on the plane to their holiday.

Naomi Watts is Brilliant as Maria Bennett, the mother of the family, who saves her eldest son but is seriously injured and falls into extreme illness. The rest of the film is about how the family search for each other, the fact that they never give up hope, even in the most dire of circumstances.

Ewan McGregor is also strong as Henry, the husband who looks for his wife and children.

But the real impact of this film is made by young English actor Tom Holland, as eldest son Lucas, who begins as a typical, surly teenage boy, and has to find the strength and maturity to care for his mother and find his family.

Whilst the second section of this film is fantastic, the stress and distress caused by the first half depicting the tsunami will lose a lot of viewers. I know of several who left the cinema to be ill. But if you can cope, please stick with it. As a very squeamish woman, I coped. and the result was worth it.

4 Orsons.