MATTHEW MACFADYEN

ANNA KARENINA
Keira Knightley Shoots Anna Karenina
28.09.2011
Film London (filmlondon.org.uk)

Filming starts this week in the UK on Joe Wright's adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley as the Russian heroine.

Julien Duvivier's 1948 version of Anna Karenina with Vivian Leigh was shot at Shepperton Studios during a hotter than usual English summer. Artificial snow beat against locomotives hurtling the characters between St. Petersburg and Moscow and all the cast were swathed in furs and brocades.

Now Keira Knightley is set to follow in the footsteps of Leigh when she takes the title role in Wright's film, which shoots this month and which will visit locations around the UK, including London, and Russia.

Knightly reunites with Pride & Prejudice and Atonement director Joe Wright to shoot the adaptation. Working Title is producing the epic romance, which is often cited as one of Tolstoy's greatest works of fiction, and one of the greatest love stories of all time. The period piece set in late 19th Century Russia high-society has been scripted by Academy Award® winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love).

Knightly will be joined by Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes, Hugo 3D) playing her husband Aleksei Karenin and Aaron Johnson (Kick Ass, Nowhere Boy) as Count Vronsky. They are supported by Alicia Vikander, Kelly Macdonald (No Country For Old Men, Boardwalk Empire), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter franchise), Andrea Riseborough (Made In Dagenham), Matthew MacFadyen (Pride & Prejudice) and Olivia Williams (Hanna).

Also reteaming with Wright on Anna Karenina are Academy Award®-winning composer Dario Marianelli, twice-Academy Award® nominated costume designer Jacqueline Durran, and three-time Academy Award® nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood. The cinematographer will be Academy Award® winner Philippe Rousselot.

The film is expected to release in the second half of 2012