A new movie of Anna Karenina has been attacked by film fans because the hero – described as dark-haired in the classic novel – looks like a ‘blond poodle’.
They say the portrayal of Count Vronsky by actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson – who stars opposite Keira Knightley – couldn’t be further removed from the brooding cavalry officer created by author Leo Tolstoy.
Many who have seen a trailer have poked fun on the internet at Taylor-Johnson’s blond locks and ‘dandy’ costume.
The Russian novelist wrote: ‘Vronsky was a squarely built, dark man, not very tall, with a good-humoured, handsome, and exceedingly calm and resolute face.
‘Everything about his face and figure, from his short-cropped black hair and freshly shaven chin down to his loosely fitting, brand-new uniform, was simple and at the same time elegant.’
The novel, which focuses on the love triangle of heroine Anna, her husband Alexei – played by Law – and Vronsky, was named the greatest ever written in a poll of 125 contemporary authors in 2007.
Producers hope the new version, which was scripted by Sir Tom Stoppard and made by Atonement director Joe Wright, will have an edgier and sexier feel.
Some academics have wondered if the makeover of Vronsky is part of an attempt to tap into some of the deeper themes of the novel.
Professor Andy Kaufman, a Tolstoy expert at the University of Virginia, said: ‘One of Tolstoy’s themes is the conflict between Russian values and Western values, and there’s the idea that Vronsky, as a Westernised, particularly Germanised, Russian would be an outsider, and his having blond hair could be a way of demonstrating that.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2197005/Who-IS-blond-poodle-kissing-Keira-Knightley-Fans-criticise-adaptation-classic-novel-Anna-Karenina-gives-dark-hero-X-Factor-makeover.html
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