While the production design, photography costumes etc are all quite spectacular this is only half the book. That it is not really the book which may seem a normal quibble, but all the other details which are so rich in the original, is lost here and what is left is a melodrama.
One reason is that the length of a great novel cannot ever be crammed into a film of normal endurance. The problem then becomes one of audience engagement and also character motivation because the characters are so attenuated in the film. The rich back histories and the social settings and discussion of current ideas is also fundamental to a Tolstoy novel and here it is only hinted at in parts.
Some level of implication is good in a film, unlike a novel, but in this case it is reduces a novel to a text message.
The result is not a bad film, but is unfortunately superficial. The task the filmmakers set is enormous - too big for what is accomplished. It's solution is not in this medium and at this length: a multi-part TV series would be have been better.
One reason is that the length of a great novel cannot ever be crammed into a film of normal endurance. The problem then becomes one of audience engagement and also character motivation because the characters are so attenuated in the film. The rich back histories and the social settings and discussion of current ideas is also fundamental to a Tolstoy novel and here it is only hinted at in parts.
Some level of implication is good in a film, unlike a novel, but in this case it is reduces a novel to a text message.
The result is not a bad film, but is unfortunately superficial. The task the filmmakers set is enormous - too big for what is accomplished. It's solution is not in this medium and at this length: a multi-part TV series would be have been better.