One of five Kareninas I have on DVD, this miniseries with Nicola Pagett was made by the BBC and shown on television in 1977. In ten episodes of around fifty minutes each (some more, some less - in those days you could take the right amount of time to tell a tale), the classic Tolstoy novel about a Russian noblewoman who has married for convenience, and then finds love, shines from the screen.
Pagett was best known at this time for playing Elizabeth Bellamy, the daughter of the house in 'Upstairs, Downstairs'. Elizabeth had married for love and then found convenience as a way out, which makes Pagett's appearance in 'Anna Karenina' somehow ironic. As Karenina, she veers from being a society flirt to a desperate outcast, juggling her love for her young son Seriozha (Paul Spurrier) and her passion for her new lover Vronsky (Stuart Wilson).
The longer running time than film versions of the same story allows the relationships outside of the main love triangle to be developed, mainly the partnership of Kitty (Caroline Langrishe) and Levin (Robert Swann). We also see the contrasts in society attitudes when the transgressions of Karenina's brother, Stiva (Davyd Harries), when he has an affair, are accepted - no such luxury for a woman.
The suicide scene at the end could look ridiculous in the wrong hands but here it is done with the right touch; also correct is the portrayal of Karenin as a complex man, not just a cold and unfeeling monster. While we have pity for Anna and her situation, and even now and then for Vronsky, who could only be described as selfish and rather naive, we also understand Karenin - and I think that is important.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment