Anna Karenina Page #10

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He c*cks an eye at Anna: how did it go with Dolly? Anna moves her head:

upstairs.

ANNA:

. . . and God go with you.

Kitty catches the moment.

OBLONSKY:

(LEAVING)

You can introduce me to your new governess.

TANYA:

She's old! She's a hundred!

Which leaves Anna and Kitty alone.

ANNA:

I know why you want me to come. You want

everyone to be there because you're sure it's

going to be your night.

KITTY:

How did you know?

Anna's smile is her acting out a mock-mysteriousness.

ANNA:

I know everything.

She has moved alphabet letters around to spell out VRONSKY. She laughs

at Kitty's tearful, joyful nodding, genuinely happy for Kitty.

ANNA (CONT'D)

Oh, to be your age again . . . surrounded by

that blue mist, like mist on the mountains

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that clears slowly to reveal the terrifying,

beautiful valley you must enter to become

grown-up . . . I was eighteen too, when I

got married . . .

A quiet note of regret hangs in the air between them for a moment before

Anna dispels it.

INT. RECEPTION ROOM, OBLONSKY HOUSE--NIGHT

With only a lamp or two lit, and the door open, Anna sits alone at the

card table, with a neglected book, one hand playing idly with the alpha-

bet bricks. Their pleasant clicks are the only sound as she remains lost in

thought. She closes her book, marking the place. She is going to go up to bed.

She hears the sound of the doorbell.

INT. ENTRANCE HALL, OBLONSKY HOUSE, SAME

TIME--NIGHT

Vronsky has been let in spattered with snow.

SERVANT:

. . . no, Your Excellency . . . He's just gone

up. . . . The Princess retired early . . . Is

there a message?

Vronsky glances up and sees Anna looking down. Their eyes meet. A second

passes. Vronsky is about to speak. Anna turns away and moves out of his

view, towards further stairs, with her book.

VRONSKY:

No.

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EXT. NEAR POKROVSKOE--DAY

Levin is coming home in a sleigh, driven by his one-eyed coachman, Ignat.

He is huddled under a bearskin blanket. The house is in sight.

The sleigh overtakes a Peasant Woman, Serafina, walking to the house car-

rying a big bundle of willow wands strapped to her back: a strong young

woman with a handsome face. She stops and bows her head. Levin looks at

her. She then looks him in the face.

Laska, barking joyfully, races from the house.

INT. BATHHOUSE, POKROVSKOE-- DAY

The bathhouse has a stove which heats water. There is a brazier to create

instant steam, but not now. Levin, almost naked, lies on a plank deck,

thoughtful, staring at something . . . no, at someone: Serafina, who is put-

ting on her clothes. Postcoitum. She has no angst. Dressed, she crosses herself.

LEVIN:

Will you go to confession?

Serafina nods indifferently.

LEVIN (CONT'D)

God will forgive you.

SERAFINA:

And you also, master. He is watching.

LEVIN:

God forgive us then, for committing the act

of love.

She nods without irony.

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SERAFINA:

He is merciful.

LEVIN:

"Not according to my deserts, O Lord,

but according to thy mercy"--that's a fine

prayer. But I'm full of doubt. Sometimes I

even doubt that God exists.

SERAFINA:

How can there be anything if God didn't

make it?

LEVIN:

I don't know. One day science will tell us.

SERAFINA:

That's sinful talk if the priest heard you.

LEVIN:

Well, I won't go to confession.

SERAFINA:

(SHRUGS)

Your father built the church. You're con-

fessed a while yet.

Levin feels outplayed.

SERAFINA (CONT'D)

Will you bring me something from

Moscow?

LEVIN:

What would you like?

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SERAFINA:

Soap, the kind wrapped in paper to look

pretty, and smelling like for a proper lady.

Levin is touched. He nods.

SOUND OVER--MUSIC OVERLAP WITH THE BALL.

INT. THE BALL, MOSCOW--NIGHT

Kitty enters the Ball, a proper lady.

This is a gilded affair, conducted by a Master of Ceremonies. The Host

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