The figure of Anna Karenina is one of the most famous in Russian literature: the tormented protagonist of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel, she is caught between the pressures of a rigidly stratified and conventional society and her desire for true happiness. The BBC's lavish ten-part adaptation of the novel, on the 100th anniversary of its publication, brings Anna's story and the story of her friends, family, and society vividly to life.

Anna Karenina centers around the title character (played by Nicola Pagett), but the cast and the scope of the tale is far larger than that. In Anna's immediate circle, we get to know her husband, the dignified Karenin (Eric Porter), who turns out to be more complex than we might have expected, and her young son Seryozha. In the household of Anna's brother Stiva, we also come to know Stiva's wife Dolly, Dolly's younger sister Kitty, and Stiva's friend Levin (Robert Swann), whose progressive ideas and religious doubts put him slightly apart from his friend's whole-hearted conventionality. Through Levin we get a glimpse of the lower classes of Russian society, from the peasants who work on his farm, to the fate of his brother Nikolai. And, of course, there is the character of Count Vronsky (Stuart Wilson), whose relationship with Anna sets the carefully balanced elements of her life, and the lives of many others, wildly spinning.

In many ways, Anna Karenina has a similar storytelling style to I, Claudius, a BBC production around the same time that's one of my personal all-time favorites. While Anna Karenina isn't as good as I, Claudius, the very fact that they're comparable at all is praise for Anna Karenina, and I suspect that viewers who appreciated I, Claudius will find quite a bit to like in Anna Karenina as well. For instance, the introduction of characters is handled extremely well: even though I typically have a great deal of difficulty keeping track of large casts, I had no problem with the "who's who" of Anna Karenina, and I even knew all the characters by name very early on.

The story of Anna Karenina becomes even more interesting when we realize that the original novel was written from a completely contemporary viewpoint. This gives us a fascinating perspective on all the events of the story, from little things like the "fad" of lawn tennis (all the rage in England!) to deeper under-currents like the growing stratification of the upper and lower classes that would eventually lead to the Communist Revolution. Anna Karenina reveals a very stratified society: an aristocracy reminiscent most of all of pre-Revolution France balanced on top of a very poor working class and peasantry. We see their utterly patronizing attitude of the aristocracy, who treat the peasants as children, and set up committees and commissions to study ways of dealing with the situation, but never really come to grips with it.

Stronger than the political undercurrent, though, is the recurring emphasis on the place of women in this society. The stories of Anna, Dolly, and Kitty show us three different aspects of how a woman is defined only by her relation to her husband and her children, how she is completely under the power of other men, and how swiftly the societal stigma falls on those who dare to break the rules. Anna's story in particular is paralleled by that of Kitty: the two women briefly connected through their relationship with Vronsky, but after that, headed on entirely different trajectories.

With ten 55-minute episodes to play out the story, Anna Karenina takes a very slow pace overall; this isn't a series for the impatient. The miniseries gets off on the right foot with its first episode, as it presents us with a handful of intriguing characters and interesting situations; after that, each episode develops the story a bit further, and shows us more of the characters and their situation. And it's the characters who really compel us to keep watching: they're all three-dimensional, with no "heroes" and no "villains" either.

Vronsky starts off as a despicable character, a playboy, and while I never truly liked him, he does develop and show himself to have more depth and inner strength than I'd have given him credit for. Karenin, for instance, is a conflicted man whom we learn has a lot of good in him; it's just that he's always in situations that highlight his weaknesses rather than his strengths. Anna herself is a loose cannon. Nicola Pagett does an outstanding job of portraying this passionate woman, with the difficult job of making it believable that Anna can be, on the one hand, the charming and intelligent woman whom Vronsky falls in love with, and on the other hand, the self-absorbed, selfish, and unstable woman who disrupts the lives of those who love her.

The DVD

Anna Karenina is a three-DVD set, packaged in a fold-out cardboard case that fits into a glossy cardboard case.

Video

This 1978 production is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and offers satisfactory image quality. The indoor footage looks quite good, with a generally clear and clean appearance, decent contrast, and natural-looking colors. Some edge enhancement and a few instances of haloing effects appear, but infrequently. Outdoor shots are much worse, looking washed-out and grainy, and with print flaws. Fortunately, the vast majority of the miniseries takes place indoors, so overall I'll mark Anna Karenina as a bit above average.

Audio

This dialogue-driven series is handled capably by the Dolby 2.0 soundtrack. The sound overall is clear, with the dialogue always easy to understand. A touch of harshness creeps into the sound on a few occasions, but only a few; on the whole, the sound here is entirely satisfactory.

Extras

There are no special features.

Final thoughts

The 1977 BBC miniseries of Anna Karenina offers a very enjoyable experience for viewers who are ready to appreciate the series' leisurely pace. With solid performances from the entire cast, an interesting story, and excellent production values that effectively re-create 19th Century Russia, Anna Karenina is recommended.