Notes on Anna Karenina opening scene

The film Anna Karenina is based on a book by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. The opening scene, it plays a dated style music which sets the century of in which the film is taken place in (1700s). The music is also typically Russian. The opening action shots are like a theatre production, with different rooms being changed by the set. It could relate that the book which was turned into a play and is currently a film. As the opening sequence progresses we are are introduced  to one of the male characters in the film as he sits down on a chair to be shved. The way the shaving is taken place it is almost like a performance, the way it is exaggerated. The barber has a red cloak this could make reference to spanish bull masters and their exaggerated dangerous job. There is a close up shot of the character showing his features so that he audience knows who he is throughout the film. The features and clothing of the character could mean that he is an important man with in society. We get the impression that the main characters are in the higher class.
We are then introduced to the main character Anna Karenina (Kiera Knightly) who is being dressed by her maid, this further supports the point that the main characters come from a higher class. There is an extreme close up of her ring, this could emphasise the fact that she is married, and that this is an important feature in the film. When the she is fully dressed she is followed by the camera with a tracking shot through out the sets as they change. This follows by the interaction between her and her husband and son, this is when the first part of the plot line is put into place. Her husband is seen as the dominant one in the household, as the levels are used.
When she says goodbye to her son their shadows reveal that they are hiding which could mean there are secrets with in the entire film that need to be presented.