Cheap Anna Karenina (1948) (Video) (Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson) (Julien Duvivier) Price

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Customer Reviews of Anna Karenina (1948)

Vivien is remarkable
She is clearly one of the best actresses of all time.The movie itself was not that great, but Vivien Leigh manages to bring some life into it. The movie falls when she's not on the screen.The quality of the movie is somewhat bad. There are times when the screen goes a little bit black and you cannot see what's going on. There's some problem with the speech,a few instances when you cannot hear properly. But overall phenomenal performance by Vivien Leigh.Buy it to see Vivien give yet another extraordinary performance.

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Classic Tragedy
While this is not as sweeping an epic as Gone with the Wind, Vivien Leigh is still the beauty that makes this movie come alive. Even in black-and-white, she is stunningly beautiful and the costumes and authentic 19th century sets are perfect.

This is of course an adaptation of Tolstoy's novel and deals with a mother caught in a loveless marriage. She wants her stuffy bureaucrat husband's (Ralph Richardson) attention, but when he refuses to give her what she needs, she turns to army officer Vronsky.

The consequences of her search for love is unthinkable, yet does she really have any other way out of her absolute heartache? She can't have the love of her family and the love of her lover at the same time. It just isn't possible in this situation.

While we want to feel sympathy for Anna, her decision to pursue her own interests at the expense of her children's happiness seems unforgivable. She is likeable, just we can't understand why she doesn't find a way to protect her children and still pursue her passions.

This movie is covered in snow. There is snow swirling everywhere. The chilly aspects show the harshness of the situation. There is a scene by the fireplace which seems to warm up the movie, if slightly.

Tragedy and passion in an unforgiving society. A movie that, like the modern "Unfaithful," makes you think about consequence of action.

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Another Great Role for Vivien Leigh
What a beautiful and talented actress she was! Though most only remember her for Gone With The Wind, Miss Leigh's other roles were equally captivating. My copy of the DVD is fine, no quality issues, and it features Miss Leigh on the cover, not Garbo as another reviewer mentioned.

On to the romance. Anna Karenina is locked in a loveless marriage to a much older count. She falls in love with a handsome, dashing younger man and defies society by running off with him. In one scene, she comes back "home" to sneak in to see her beloved young son, whom she left to pursue her passion. What a heart wrencing scene that is!

Treat yourself to a night of classic cinema. Buy Anna Karenina!