Young and beautiful Anna Karenina is married to count Karenin, a high-ranking governmental official. Upon request for help from her brother she travels to Moscow where she meets count Vronsky, a cavalry officer, and falls under the spell of his irresistible charm. Caught between an unfulfilled marriage and the passionate love affair with Vronsky, she decides - against the rigid social conventions of the upper class - to leave her husband and her beloved son, thereby manoeuvring herself into disg ...