Keira Knightley - Keira Knightley’S ‘Anna Karenina’ Won’T Be For Everyone: But That’S How They Want It

A boredom with convention and a willingness to portray a Hollywood star in a different light has given an edge to director Joe Wright’s new film adapted from a novel of the great Russian writer Tolstoy. Anna Karenina, the new film that stars Keira Knightley is a departure from the straight period drama that many would be expecting of the film, the movie instead taking place amidst a crumbling play house.

"I think some people will really love it and I suspect some people will really hate it," said Knightley of her latest venture, according to the BBC. Much of the change has come from director Wright, who commented that, after visiting a number of locations in both Britain and Russia, he didn’t want to re-tread where so many had been before. "It felt like I was treading the same ground again, which became slightly depressing," he said. "I really felt I had to do something different with it."

Wright’s relocation of the entire story caused some raised eyebrows, not least at home: "My wife said that I was turning a fairly straightforward commercial proposition into something that was possibly deeply uncommercial.” However, Knightley pointed out that this is a book that’s been adapted many times before and so a fresh take was necessary. "What was the point of doing it the same way again?” She questioned "What we have on screen is naturalism most of the time, and this was totally going off into a different realm. Normally in film you can sit back a lot more and let it wash over you. Doing it this way requires the audience to work in order to be a part of the experience."