Reference News Network reported on June 21 that the Website of Russian Television Today published an article titled "Celebrity and Rich Second Generation: The Online Version of Anna Karenina Will Be Netflix's First Russian Original Series" on May 21, written by Victoria Belikova and Yana Lalina, and the article said that Netflix will shoot its first Russian original series. The full text is excerpted below:
Streaming service Netflix officially announced its first Russian-language original drama series, Anna Berger. K)," based on Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Svetlana Hodchenkova will star. The directorial team includes Natasha Melkulova, Roman Cantor, Valery Fedorovich, Yevgeny Nikishov and Alexei Chupov.
The plot will unfold in the modern Russian metropolises of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The main actors will also appear in the poor and remote areas of Russia in a harsh environment. In the play, Anna Karenina, as the wife of a famous lady and the future mayor of St. Petersburg, has an extramarital affair with Alexei Vronsky, the heir of the aluminium group. Their affection will have a devastating impact on the family and social bonds of both parties.
In his official copy, Netflix described it this way: "The theme of this play will be passion and loyalty, and will reveal an irrefutable truth that love can give us freedom and can also lead us to extinction, no matter how much wealth." ”
"Bringing Anna Karenina into 21st century Russia with the vast platform of Netflix while presenting it to the world in her native language (and many other languages) was a dream come true for me," Cantor said. ”
Journalist and director Fiorque Tolstaja, great-granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy, said every generation should have its own version of "Anna Karenina." She believes that the series adapted from the novel will have a good quality assurance under the production of Netflix.
Torstaja said: "I will be interested in the finished product. Anna Karenina is the most remade novel (with over 30 films and TV series). ”
Tolstaja noted that remakes are usually based on a "Vronsky-Anna-Karenin" love triangle, but the novel is "much more profound and serious." However, she stressed that the new series is a stand-alone work and should be treated as a series, rather than a retelling of literary classics.
"In that sense, the novel will remain fiction," she said. From a book perspective, any film adaptation will draw the audience's attention to the original book. This is very important for modern people. ”
Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina was first published in the 1870s and has been remade several times. The first attempt to bring a novel to the screen dates back to the era of silent cinema. The film of the same name was released in Tsarist Russia, Hungary and Italy. Later, the work continued to attract filmmakers from all over the world. In the mid-1930s, film star Greta Garbo played the role of Anna Karenina in a film directed by American director Clarence Brown. The film won the Mussolini Cup at the Venice Film Festival.
Later, the famous actors Vivien Leigh, Jacqueline Bissett, Sophie Marceau and Kayla Knightley also played the role of Anna. Knightley's 2012 film also won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
The film by Alexander Zarshi premiered in 1967 and enjoyed a high profile among Soviet audiences. Anna and Vronsky are played by Tatyana Samuilova and Vasily Lanovoy, respectively. This is a remake that is closest to the original book.
The Russian remake of Anna Karenina also includes films by Karen Shakhnazarov, Sergei Solovyov and Yuri Gremov. The short film Dark as Night – Anna Karenina, produced by director Rada Novikova and screenwriter Alexander Zipkin, was released in 2019. Like Netflix's upcoming episodes, the film's story unfolds in a realistic context.
Cover of Anna Karenina
2012 movie poster for Anna Karenina
Source: Reference News Network