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8-Part Film Adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina Is Free Online
- kragen 4y agoWhat's the license? That doesn't seem to be mentioned in the article.
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago
- shuntress 4y agoIt's a difficult thing. In the long term, certainly we want to be able to appreciate the positive contributions made by talented creative people. But in the short term, it feels pretty awful to contribute to anything that might even in some small way support an unjustified war of aggression.
- rob74 4y agoWell, if you don't have to pay for it, you watching it might be considered a net negative, so the opposite of support. OTOH, https://literarydevices.net/beware-of-greeks-bearing-gifts/ https://literarydevices.net/beware-of-greeks-bearing-gifts/
- jnsaff2 4y agoYou don’t pay for watching propaganda, yet it influences. Some of the rus authors have had a significant role in shaping the current rus culture and imperialism. The same that thinks it’s alright to murder, loot, rape and pillage. So I’d still be careful. Edit: just saw your otoh link
- Nitrolo 4y agoI understand that train of thought, but does this really apply to Anna Karenina? It's a pre-soviet work from well over a century ago, from a time when the Russian state and society were very different from what exists today.
- mavhc 4y agoDoes that apply to a filmed version though?
- watwut 4y agoThis movie was made in 2017. Soviet era ended in 1990. War in Ukraine started in 2014.
- jnsaff2 4y agohttps://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/25/russia-ukraine-war-literature-classics-imperialism-ideology-nationalism-putin-pushkin-tolstoy-dostoevsky-caucasus/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/25/russia-ukraine-war-lite...
- foverzar 4y agoWow... Well, I guess I should be used to the fact that western media often treats their readers as illiterate idiots without their own opinions, but still... Wow!
- shakow 4y ago> Some of the rus authors have had a significant role in shaping the current rus culture and imperialism. The same that thinks it’s alright to murder, loot, rape and pillage. You don't really know Tolstoy, do you?
- watwut 4y agoBut the director of this movie is among of those people.
- shakow 4y agoI don't know this guy; maybe he is a raging monster, no idea. But in any case, he has virtually no influence in shaping “rus” (you know they switched to “russian” for over five centuries now, right?) culture and imperialism.
- foverzar 4y ago> Some of the rus authors have had a significant role in shaping the current rus culture and imperialism. I don't believe that you have any first-hand knowledge of Russian culture or literature. In fact, this seems more like ignorant western propaganda talking points.
- jnsaff2 4y agoI had to chew through quite a few of those rus books in school, read Dostoyevsky again later. Quite enjoyed Bulgakov. But still most of the big names convey rus greatness and how suffering for the czar is honorable. Also nice ad hominem, well done.
- foverzar 4y agoNo they don't. That's like the opposite of Russian literature (at least that which had survived through the ages) I'd get if this was a difference in interpretation, but I don't understand how can you even make such a claim, when it is a historic fact that most of the "big names" had been in confrontation with czars, had problems with overcoming censorship or were altogether considered crimanals and were exiles. Either you are confusing the author's point of view with the point of some character (maybe due to cultural perspective and different traditions of virtue signaling), or maybe you don't get the Aesopian language, or worse. Also, ad hominem is quite a valid argument, especially if it comes to subjective stuff. Especially if we have to consider cultural background.
- samatman 4y agoAny strategy of war must be effective. Russia maintains a positive trade balance, largely by exporting commodities, and most of the world remains happy to buy them. On 1st January, a Euro would buy you 85 rubles, today, you'd get 62. It might feel like the right thing to do. It might even be the right thing to do, the West is wealthy and can afford to take certain haircuts as a moral stance. It doesn't appear to inflict any harm to the target, however. Asia makes all the electronics and Russia has its own heavy industry, what can we deny them, Facebook? No they have their own one of those as well. The harm it does to our side is obvious, and the polite thing is always to ignore it, but that's premised on the sanctions harming the enemy in some fashion, which, they don't.
- lotusmars 4y agoEurope pays billions for gas daily basically sponsoring invasion. It’s enough for Russian elite to flourish and pay people and companies reliant on state (most of Russia). Putin’s bet is that sanctions will be lifted before tech embargo hits anyway. Western politicians already drag their feet on arming Ukraine. Just mentioning unrest and refugee influx from North Africa due to hunger is enough. They will pressure Ukraine to surrender and gradually lift sanctions.
- havblue 4y agoI'm not sure if I see how boycotting a free version of a series based on a long dead author's public domain work makes a difference one way or another.
- tokai 4y agoYeah sanctions/boycott related to the Russo-Ukraine war is not even close to tangibly related to this.
- lotusmars 4y agoSeries director Shakhnazarov is one of the ultra pro-war and pro-Putin celebrities. He’s almost daily on Russian TV spewing hatred against Ukrainians, Americans, minorities. Be careful. It’s tempting to say “not all Germans”, but this case is clear-cut. Anna Karenina is great and there’s plenty of other versions to watch.
- mellosouls 4y agoThis interview clip of him pushing back against that narrative would seem to suggest your own case here is not so clear cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Ue45dJxy0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Ue45dJxy0
- watwut 4y agoThat is not exactly all that much. It is tiny little something ... and still promotes narrative of Ukraine being "bound" to Russia.
- pessimizer 4y agoSo the problem with him is that he's not sufficiently supportive? That's a scary goalpost move.
- watwut 4y agoI will repeat comment you responded to: Series director Shakhnazarov is one of the ultra pro-war and pro-Putin celebrities. He’s almost daily on Russian TV spewing hatred against Ukrainians, Americans, minorities. Be careful. It’s tempting to say “not all Germans”, but this case is clear-cut. Your link is not showing ANYTHING to cancel out the above or undo the damage. He is still spewing hatred. There is literally no goalposts movement, except yours. Lets quote Shakhnazarov in state TV saying approvingly: "The opponents of the letter Z must understand that if they are counting on mercy, no, there will be no mercy for them. [...] There will be concentration camps, re-education, sterilisation of those who oppose the letter Z". This is him saying what should happen.
- dmos62 4y agoSame with sanctions, or any other form of violence (violence, in the most abstract sense). The idea is to positively influence by exerting pressure. That's the ideal, anyway. It can become difficult to tell whether violence is motivated by noble intentions, or vengeance and disdain. Or, whether it's done by conscious choice, or via group-think.
- makeitdouble 4y ago> bringing nations closer together People are asked to bear sacrifices to hurt the Russian nation through all out sanctions, and you are also asking them to have empathy and identify with Russian characters through their Russian life. Some people compartmentalize enough to be able to do both, but that's a tall order.
- DeWilde 4y agoHurting the Russian nation state through financial and technological sanctions is one thing. Vilifying Russian culture or the Russian people is more slanted towards fascism--the same thing the Russian government is doing in Ukraine towards Ukrainians. What you propose is also pretty ironic seeing that the majority of civilian casualties and destroyed cities in Ukraine are from areas that have majority of Russian speakers. Not really fair towards those people I suppose :).
- foverzar 4y ago> the same thing the Russian government is doing in Ukraine towards Ukrainians. It is so fun to see how this whole thing was turned upside down. Just a small advice: when researching this topic and googling for information, consider setting a time limit on before the conflict, before propaganda machines had been turned on at full power. It is just very insightful to see what people had to say on some matter, before it became politically significant.
- DeWilde 4y agoI'm not picking up on your implications, what are you trying to say?
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago> What you propose is also pretty ironic seeing that the majority of civilian casualties and destroyed cities in Ukraine are from areas that have majority of Russian speakers. This is the terrible irony of this war! I've had many colleagues in eastern cities like Kharkov. They would all identify as Russians. It wasn't a big deal, ever - they were Russians living in Ukraine, speaking Russian just like everyone else, of course knowing some Ukrainian but not caring about that much. And most of them would welcome joining Russia just like many people in Crimea did. But a few days or weeks after the war they realize they are just insignificant pawns in the hands of cruel people: their own kind were shelling them, killing their families and so on. They realized this way too late, it's a tragic situation. (Fortunately most of my colleagues managed to escape, but not everybody was able to, especially old people.)
- the_af 4y agoWhy would anyone boycott Anna Karenina or any of the Russian classics? How can you even be "torn" about it? There's only one right answer.
- InCityDreams 4y ago>There's only one right answer. Everybody make your own damn mind up.
- DeWilde 4y agoBoycotting cultural works unrelated to this war crosses in the territory of fascism for me, so there is not much making of mind that I have to do.
- watwut 4y agoIt is fascist to decide to not watch movies made by fascists? People are free to not read feminists books and most of them don't precisely because of who authors are. But, why is willingness to go out of your way for art made by fascist always the mandatory test? (And yes the director counts in that category.)
- lotusmars 4y agoEven Russians don’t really watch vanity garbage made by this director (Shakhnazarov). The only reason he gets huge budgets and heads state filmmaking companies is because he’s an enormous Putin and war supporter.
- DeWilde 4y agoI wasn't referring to this movie in particular but just culture in general. But that also applies to this movie if the creators ideology hasn't leaked into it. Haven't watched so can't say.
- lotusmars 4y ago[flagged]
- curiousgal 4y agoThe whole boycott at the consumer level is stupid in my opinion. Shops have already paid for their inventory so your impact is literally zero.
- telesilla 4y agoWon't it mean shops will be refusing new orders? It's affecting future purchase decisions.
- curiousgal 4y agoFuture purchase decisions are already affected by the sanctions. Shops will already not be able to restock. So consumers not buying the current stock is moot.
- rcMgD2BwE72F 4y ago>"boycott all that is Russian" Is that a thing? I mean, besides a few extremists. I'm French and I haven't heard anything recommending to boycott Russian cultural goods. We can discuss this but it's probably negligible so let's not make this an "issue" until it is.
- cal85 4y agoIt certainly was a thing. There was a spate of things like this happening in the first couple of months of the war: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60684374 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60684374 https://www.newsweek.com/college-backtracks-banning-teaching-dostoevsky-russian-1684080 https://www.newsweek.com/college-backtracks-banning-teaching... Hopefully that particular brand of stupidity is mostly over now though.
- watwut 4y agoWestern people did not exactly read arab poets while ISIS was expanding their territory either. Also, people in west were never too quick to read Ukrainian, Polish, Czech or whatever literature. My point here is: if art of other countries is so important for nations being together, why is the Russian one being constantly treated as more important then everyone else? Why not urging us to read Finnish, French, German, Polish, Slovak and Ukrainian? Or literature from Belarus for that matter? Seriously, why did emphasis on Russian art went UP after the latest invasion?
- DeWilde 4y agoRussian literature has been a mainstay among western audiences for the last hundred years. Works like Punishment and Crime, War and Peace, Anna Karenina are widely known across the world.
- watwut 4y agoFirst, I am saying that emphasis on them went UP after last invasion. I am not saying no one ever read them. Second, I am asking why should we treat Russian art as more important then everyone elses - or even as representants for Eastern Europe in general.
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y agoThis is just tradition, personally I don't believe Russian writers of 18/19 centuries were better or worse than their counterparts living in Eastern Europe, for example. It is indisputable Russia produced some great writers and poets, such as Anna Akhmatova (but especially for poetry 70% is lost in translation). The reason that Tolstoi and Dostoyevski got famous is largely geopolitical; what we are doing now is just a part of tradition. I remember I relatively enjoyed reading Crime and Punishment, but when I started to read Brothers Karamazov, I started to have a feeling there are so many better ways to spend my life than reading these two bricks and this feeling only increased with time. YMMV.
- foverzar 4y ago> Why not urging us to read Finnish, French, German, Polish, Slovak and Ukrainian? Or literature from Belarus for that matter? So why don't you? AFAIK, Alexander Dumas for example is studied in schools all over the world. Or Thomas Mann? Nikolai Gogol? > Seriously, why did emphasis on Russian art went UP after the latest invasion? Because some freaks tried to "cancell" it and it backfired.
- tombert 4y agoHonest question; how do you force yourself to get through a book like Anna Karenina? I have sincerely tried multiple times to get into it, and haven't been able to make it more than 30 or so pages. I'm generally a fairly well-read guy, so I would like to knock this classic out, but I am not sure how.
- jperoutek 4y agoI listened to it as an audiobook over the course of a week or two, and it was pretty bearable. I know there is some debate about whether that counts as "reading" the book, but on something like this I consider it close enough.
- bombcar 4y agoAn audiobook and a character name cross-reference can be instrumental in getting through some of these massive Russian tomes. I was definitely confused by War and Peace (I think it was) until I realized that there was one character with fifteen various names and not fifteen different characters.
- throwaway6734 4y agoIt's a great read that sucks you in. I couldn't put it down and finished it over a vacation.
- adamors 4y agoCouldn’t agree more, I read it last year and it’s as good as everyone says it is. That said, I did read a lot of Russian literature during that period so the constant names/nicknames didn’t bother me.
- throwaway6734 4y agoLevin's monologue at the end might be my favorite part of any book. Also war and peace is truly amazing in the same vein
- 4y ago
- fredley 4y agoNo Such Thing As A Fish has ruined Anna Karenina for me.
- syntaxfree 4y agoAndroid Karenina did it for me.
- nextaccountic 4y agoWhy?
- throwawayarnty 4y agoI hear a lot how people find it difficult to slog through anna karenina because of its length and numerous characters. They cannot see how such a book could be one of the greatest of all time. I think the analogy to music may be like: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is one of the greatest of all time. But it’s a really long and complex piece lasting over an hour. It can be hard to pay attention to the entire piece. That said, the recommendation for reading Anna Karenina would be to read it fast or watch a good tv series on it. War and piece 2016 tv series was excellent for example.
- carabiner 4y agoI find AK pretty easy going, and I've read it 3x, each time a different translation. War & Peace OTOH is impenetrable. I tried to build a habit of 10 pages each day. I lasted 8 days. Brothers Karamazov was similar. The most I got was 100 pages in during a 10-hour flight with no wifi, then put it down, probably forever.
- briandarvell 4y agoVery interesting! I as well really enjoyed AK, but I also extremely enjoyed The Brothers Karamazov, even more than Anna Karenina. It's probably my favorite Russian classic! I too gave up on War and Peace however about 200-300 pages into the story. I find timing plays a big part of my enjoyment of tougher classic novels. If I'm extremely busy or don't have time to dedicate to reading in decent chunks (an hour or more per day) then I find it hard to maintain motivation to read dense novels. I somehow got through Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow but don't recommend anyone do that, I was just too stubborn to let it get the better of me :)
- WastingMyTime89 4y agoI have read the first book of War and Peace a long time ago and had a fairly similar experience to you. I never got to reading the second one because I didn’t have the time to do so at the time. I remember it as long but easy reading however. War and Peace definitely is entertaining. > I somehow got through Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow but don't recommend anyone do that, I was just too stubborn to let it get the better of me Strangely I think everyone should do that. It’s an insanely fun book once you have accepted you are not supposed to get everything. Pynchon is probably my favourite author all things considered. Still I think starting with Inherent Vice, The Crying of Lot 49 or Vineland is probably a good idea.
- georgeecollins 4y agoIf you enjoy classic Russian films, many of the Soviet era are available on YouTube including Stalker, Come and See and other unusual classics.
- billfruit 4y agoYes, many Mosfilm classics seems to be on YouTube. I recommend Assa https://youtu.be/VOeDP6eUgD0 https://youtu.be/VOeDP6eUgD0 Such crisp, captivating film making from beginning to end. I do think the Soviet era is sort of mis-characterized in Western portrayals. Compare the Assa and the recent Chernobyl, both depicting about the same era. Also "Assa" seems like a Soviet mirror image of how Blood Simple depcits the USA.
- transistor-man 4y agoAnother great Mosfilm, Kin-Dza-Dza!. Spaceships run on matchsticks while rusty bolts are required for intergalactic travel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUtZOl_QxvY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUtZOl_QxvY
- myth_drannon 4y agoIt's much deeper than that... But honestly I don't think Western audience will appreciate the movie. It's such profoundly prophetic look at future of Russia after collapse of USSR.
- para_parolu 4y agoFor many non Russians I know this is the first film that comes to their mind when I ask what Russian/USSR movies they have seen. Kindzadza is not only about particular country. It show wide set of social issues even in modern world.
- actionfromafar 4y agoI love it after stumbling upon it somehow. (Non-ex-USSR-ian here.)
- j7ake 4y agoBrowsing open culture I realised there is enough free content to last several life times … why do you think people still pay for content like books, music, movies if the classics are good and free? Is it a marketing problem ?
- sudobash1 4y agoI think that it is partially a matter of relevance. For instance, there are vast newspaper and magazine archives which are free to read, but they don't have the same relevance as (eg) the latest New York Times articles. (Not that they are without value by any means, but reading them serves a different purpose). Perhaps a better example would be someone in the 60's choosing to listen to an old Andrew Sisters record, or purchase a new Bob Dylan LP. The Andrew Sisters (as fun and lovely as their music is) would not speak to that present moment in the same way that Bob Dylan would. Many aspects of art and culture are timeless, but many are not. There will always be a demand for new works to respond to the current day.
- j7ake 4y agoI’m totally binging now on this TV series, it’s great so far!
- gmadsen 4y agonot sure who you interact with regularly, but the vast majority of people are not interested in watching classic film
- IshKebab 4y agoThe classics generally aren't as good. There are exceptions (e.g. Star Wars) but old films generally have terrible pacing. Film making skills have not stood still. The only thing that hasn't got better is speech clarity which is often terrible in modern films.
- magarnicle 4y agoI watched Battleship Potemkin the other day. Sure, some of it is a bit pokey compared to modern films, but the editing doesn't drag and there aren't many films in history with better shot composition.
- aasasd 4y ago> The uploader has not made this video available in your country In Russia, that is. Har har har. Not sure what's going on here and who blocked whom, but when people propose boycotting this vid due to its provenance, I have trouble even counting the layers of irony. There are at least two, but then it gets confusing.
- anthonybsd 4y agoI refuse to watch propaganda garbage made by the Russian fascist who is enthusiastically cheerleading the genocide of Ukrainians (1). If you are interested in Anna Karenina - do yourself a favor and just read Tolstoy. It's a fantastic book by one of my favorite writers (although War and Peace appeals more to me). 1. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10785295/Russian-TV-host-threatens-concentration-camps-sterilisation-opponents-letter-Z.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10785295/Russian-TV...
- denkmoon 4y agoIt behooves one to know their opponent. The mere act of viewing the media does not "support" the film-maker or the regime, assuming you're not paying for it.
- tyronehed 4y ago