Product Review

Four passionate people. Two burning romances. Leo Tolstoy's powerful novel of love in 1880s Imperial Russia glows anew in lavish splendor from the acclaimed writer/director of Candyman, Immortal Beloved and Ivansxtc. Shot entirely in and around St. Petersburg, it is set to a majestic soundtrack of music by Tchaikovsky, Rachamaninoff and Prokofiev. Wealth. Prestige. Family. Anna (Braveheart's Sophie Marceau) has them all in her marriage to aristocratic Karenin (James Fox). Then dashing Count Vronsky (Sean Bean) enters her world of ballroom dances, ornate palaces and pastoral dachas. But where romance sweeps Anna along uncontrollably, landowner Levin (Alfred Molina) struggles to nurture his delicate love with heartbroken Kitty (Mia Kirshner). Both tales unfold in spellbinding fashion as this fifth and most dazzling film of Tolstoy's masterwork memorably explores the power of the heart and its consequences.