Anna Karenina (1935)

 Clarence Brown's "Anna Karenina"

In adapting the 1877 Leo Tolstoy novel "Anna Karenina," Clarence Brown offered another starring vehicle for famed actress Greta Garbo. In keeping with a lot of themes that can be found in his other films, this film deals with 'forbidden' love. Playing the lead role, Garbo once again gets to portray a melancholic character who must decide between love or honor.

The plot centers on Anna Karenina, who is the wife of Karenin, a Czar. She falls in love with a military officer named Vronsky. The two are not so discreet about their affair, which causes Karenin to throw his wife out and forbid her to see their son. After Vronsky chooses the honor of battle over being with Anna, she decides to kill herself. 

It is apparent that the source material for the film is thematically complex. However, this 1935 Hollywood romance film is only able to scratch the surface of these complexities. For example, the story of Anna Karenina is concerned with the individual pursuit of breaking free from social structures in an attempt to pursue individual liberty. However, doing so only creates the imminent downfall of the individual, thus creating the need to cling to the very social structures that oppress you in order to survive. This creates a vicious and inescapable trap with no hope of individual freedom. Any attempt at freedom tears everything from you, leaving you with either economic and social isolation or the relief of death. The film is able to touch upon this theme. Anna is constantly judged for wanting to be with another man. She is defying not only the normalcy of social dynamics but the very sanctity of marriage in a religious aspect, as well. She is stripped both economically and stripped of her son. Despite everything being taken away from her, it is important to note that the men in the film do not face the same consequences. The men of the film act in whatever ways they wish, on whatever whim they choose. They cheat on their spouses and yet do not receive the social exile of Anna. In fact, it is the women of the film who help enable this patriarchy. In the beginning, Anna convinces her brother's spouse to stay with him, despite his debauchery and infidelity. After Anna begins her affair, it is the women of high society who cast judgment. This reinforces the thematic point that the individual helps enable the very social structure which oppresses them. 

The film was both a commercial and critical success. It reinforced Greta Garbo as a superpower in the film industry, not that her resume needed enforcement. This would not be the final collaboration between Garbo and Brown, however, it was the last major collaborative success of their career.