Anna Karenina

“The multiplicity of pronunciations of Karenina by various people is a trifle distracting,” a Variety reviewer observed in 1948, in one of many critical drubbings of the film. And yet Duvivier's screen adaptation of Tolstoy's novel, one of British producer Alexander Korda's most lavish postwar productions (and biggest flops), has its irresistible pleasures: the great Henri Alekan's moodily atmospheric cinematography (showcased in this pristine print), Russian designer Andrej Andrejew's set designs, Cecil Beaton's costumes, Ralph Richardson's magisterial Karenin, and Vivien Leigh's desperate performance as the doomed heroine.

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