To add to the already tremendous cast of Focus Features’ Anna Karenina (featuring Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Johnson), Saoirse Ronan, Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough have all joined Joe Wright‘s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel. These moves shouldn’t be much of a surprise though, considering Wright is known for his successful adaptations of literary hallmarks like Atonement and Pride and Prejudice.
For those who only “read” Anna Karenina in sophomore-year English, it’s widely considered to be one of the greatest novels ever written. It follows a young woman who, despite being married to an older man, desires a younger chap — which leads to some pretty heavy and complicated shit. In the film, Macfadyen will play Karenina’s brother, Macdonald his wife, Ronan the sister, Williams the mother, Gleeson a family friend and Riseborough a character named Princess Betsy.
Granted, the film will be enjoyable, but it will be interesting to see if the folklore surrounding Anna Karenina will translate to the screen. One of the novel’s greatest attributes is its beautiful language, so removing that will prove to be a challenge. But Wright’s a talented dude, and so if there’s anyone who can handle something on this level, it’s the guy who somehow made an actually good movie about a 14-year-old trained killer.
Source: Coming Soon
