Anna Karenina (2012)

In this stagy adaptation of Leo Tolstoy Biography’s 1877 epic novel, Tom Stoppard, experienced playwright and Academy Award-winning screenwriter for Shakespeare in Love, skillfully trades plot points for stylized set pieces to put on display the artifice and dramaturgy of 19th century Russian society. Directed by Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement), the latest big-screen version of Anna Karenina focuses on spectacle, choreography and costume yet also offers transitory glimpses backstage. Read the full review here.