Movie plagued with scandal

The drama of love, adultery and scandal plague today’s tabloids but are not new topics of conversation, as seen in the film adaptation of Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,” directed by Joe Wright.

The cinematography in the film is something I have never seen to such a grand extent before. The movie centers around a stage highlighting the performances given by imperial Russia’s socialites as opposed to the “real” life search for love displayed by Levin (Domhnall Gleeson).

It took me a little more than a minute to catch on to that fact. I was suspended between the idea that I may have been watching an opera or ballet. The movie was neither, but definitely had its moments with incredibly graceful scenes. The movement and choreography during Kitty’s (Alicia Vikander) ball was beautiful.

Anna (Kiera Knightly) stole the show, much to Kitty’s dismay, with her dance with love interest Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

Affairs are a common theme throughout the movie. There are intricate circles being drawn between the characters. Vronsky’s mother, whom Anna meets on the train ride to visit her sister-in-law Dolly (Kelly Macdonald), was a woman talked about in the upper class.

Anna feels the need to visit Dolly to advise her to forgive her husband Stiva (Matthew Macfadyen) for cheating on her. And then, of course, Anna herself is found to break her vows with her husband Aleksei (Jude Law) for Vronsky.

Through the turmoil of the characters I found myself admiring the risky move of having the socialites play their life out on the stage and also was reminded of “The Scarlet Letter” for the social shunning of the individuals involved.

The attention to detail for the costuming and the seamless precision in which each scene was portrayed was enough to invite seeing the film . . . and maybe the abundance of awesome imperial mustaches.

“Anna Karenina” opens in limited release today and is rated R for some sexuality and violence.