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Cutting straight to the heart of Tolstoy's classic, Channel 4 Television's innovative adaptation draws on the realism and raw emotion that defines this unique masterpiece.
Set in the 19th Century Russia, the story moves between the decadent social surroundings of palaces in St. Petersburg and the simplest of rural life. Anna Karenina is the story of three contrasting couples whose dilemmas strike a contemporary chord in this century.
Abandoning her empty marriage to Karenin, Anna embarks on a reckless and passionate affair with dashing army officer, Count Vronsky.
In constrast to the carnality of Anna and Vronsky, Levin struggles to find spiritual meaning in his life by adopting a peasant lifestyle and pursuing a relationship with the innocent Kitty.
And the marriage of Anna's brother Oblonsky to Dolly is put under constant pressure by his obsessive womanising and repeated betrayal.
Featuring the story of three couples whose dilemmas strike a contemporary chord, this is the epic story of a woman who risks everything to follow her heart.
Helen McCrory