Focus Features has a new behind-the-scenes look at Joe Wright‘s Anna Karenina adaptation that showcases the lavish potential of the movie’s look and the experimental bat pointed toward the left field bleachers of Russia.

Wright’s track record is solid for both historical fiction and methods that are out of the ordinary, and it’s excellent to see the two blended here for a Tolstoy novel that’s seen the screen more than a few times already. The only strange thing about this featurette is how joyous and life-affirming it seems in the face of utterly bleak source material.

Check it out for yourself, and see how Wright brought Russia onto a stage and filmed it.

Anna Karenina is in theaters November 9th.