Shavegeek nitpicking

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Dec 01, 2012 10:26 pm

Well, okay then...so I just saw the current film version of Anna Karenina and I have a question. In the opening scene one of the characters is quickly shaved by, presumably, a servant. The man briskly hones up the edge on what seems to be a four sided sharpening steel, similiar to what one might use for a carving knife. This is in itself kind of an interesting twist and as he's doing this one gets a quick glimpse of the razor. It appeared to me to be a full hollow ground blade. The story is set in the 1870s so, were hollow ground blades already in use at that time or no?
Regards,
Gordon

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 4:35 am

Yes, they were. I haven't seen the movie so I can't comment on the steel - but I'm not aware of any such thing being used on razors.

Chris

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 10:33 am

How was the rest of the film?

clive

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:05 am

Does our clean shaven hero get the girl? You see, I have neither read the book nor seen the movie. Of course I've heard of the existence of the book, but evidently this was not assigned as a class project when I was floundering about junior high and high school. Maybe I can pick up a few details about the story from googling it or searching wikipedia. You guys wouldn't expect any less from me, would you?

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 10:39 pm

Clive, I thought the movie was good but was a little too surreal or 'artsy' for my taste. I caught part of an interview with the producer and the screen writer on Charlie Rose and he was saying how he was looking for a unique approach since the story had been done on film more than once before. Well, he succeeded in that, but not having seen the other versions I would have preferred it if he'd played it 'straighter'. I've not read the novel; Tolstoy's two major works have always been just too daunting a trip for me. I'm not a big reader of fiction and those books are seriously long and complex. With movies like this I always get hooked into making note of the historical detail; you know, how accurate did they get it. In that regard this gent is aces. He's the same man that brought us Pride and Prejuice and the nuances he captured in that one were truly impressive. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie well enough but I don't think I'd go out of my way to see it again. I'll be interested to hear if anyone else has a take on that bit with the sharpening steel or the razor itself.
Regards,
Gordon