Crime & Punishment - The Complete Miniseries
by Michael Darlow
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Carinthia West, David Dodimead, Francesca Gerrard, Tim Brown, Yvonne CouletteDirector: Michael Darlow
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Published); Spanish (Published)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 225 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: WEA
Movie Reviews of Crime & Punishment - The Complete Miniseries
Movie Review: Know what you are buying!
Summary: 5 Stars
Here we have a very excellent mini-series, all-inclusive, three episodes on one DVD (225 minutes total running time), of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment". This movie is simply terrific and, by having twice read the book (two different translations), I can say that this film is totally true to its origin, with just a few of the less notable scenes omitted which is what one would reasonably expect.
Now, the reason for my cautionary title is that "Crime and Punishment" is a story about the extreme misery of the Russian people, and to put this theme into historical perspective, it transpires during the era in which the U.S. Civil War was just reaching a conclusion. To summarize the Russian social environment of that same period, serfdom had just been reluctantly abolished (1863) but it actually continued on in pocket regions for a time. And times for the masses were incredibly difficult in the larger Russian cities such as St. Petersburg which is where this story mostly transpires. Large portions of the population were starving, alcoholism was rampant, and revolution was in the air, (this finally came to a head in 1905 and, successfully for the Bolsheviks [Communists] in 1917 but those two events are not directly a facet of this particular story.)
So what I'm telling you is that this tale is mostly one of extreme misery and is largely responsible for the egregious myth that ALL Russian literature is equally gloomy, (a myth which can be immediately dispelled by reading The Inspector-General, Dead Souls: A Novel, Oblomov, etc.) But "Crime and Punishment" is pretty depressing which is actually why it's such a great life story. So if you cannot endure such films, you'd best skip this one because in addition to all the gloom, this mini-series is quite lengthy so there's a lot of it!
THE STORY: Briefly, Raskolnikov is a rather contumacious, off-and-on Russian student who faces multiple problems: his personal ethics are grossly distorted; he has no money, and; he is emotionally and physically ill.
Almost at once, while raising a few kopecks by way of pawning some personal trinkets, he has an encounter with a spiteful and venomous old woman, the local pawnbroker who continually takes an abhorrently unfair advantage of everyone with whom she does business. This dreadful old hag also has a half-sister living with her, a girl of very limited intelligence whom she psychologically abuses.
It's no spoiler to say that, based upon his personal philosophies about the value of various people's lives, Raskolnikov murders the old woman with a hatchet to the forehead. But unfortunately the half-sister makes an unexpected appearance during the murder and he makes the hasty decision to kill her as well, an actuality which begins to haunt him from the moment he commits the act.
The entire remainder of the story is based upon this horrific act of violence, albeit there are some sub-plots, all of which heap even more burdensome stresses upon Raskolnikov. One of these side trips involves an older man by the name of Marmeladov. This venerable fellow would be a fine man were it not for his extreme and endless drunkenness which has resulted in the ruination of his entire family. In fact, his alcoholism has driven his own daughter to become a prostitute, a blameless girl with whom Raskolnikov falls in love.
Finally, the highlight of the story involves the local police inspector, a man by the name of Porfiry, who epitomizes the "Columbo" of the Russian police! His mild and indirect (but irritating) manner of interrogation drives Raskolnikov to extreme emotional reactions and Porfiry's character adds as much to the film as it does to Raskolnikov's mental burden. It's just short of comic relief.
I will have to stop at this point to avoid any major spoilers but, rest assured, this is a complex tale which is well-told via this marvelous mini-series. John Hurt plays Raskonikov and he's perfect in this role. The film is in color, the scenes and sets are nothing short of excellent, and the aspect ratio is full-frame. This last feature is the only item I'm curious about -- the packaging states "full-screen version" which conveys to me that there might actually exist a widescreen version, which I would very much love to view! The mini-series was directed by Michael Darlow and, of course, this is a BBC Production so all the actors are British and thus one should not expect to hear Russian accents.
Highly recommended for appropriate audiences.
(See my numerous Amazon Listmania lists for more Russian film and literature recommendations.)
Summary of Crime & Punishment - The Complete Miniseries
Experience the gripping tale of pride, remorse, and redemption set among the 19th-century Russian working class in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. Two-time Academy Award?-nominee John Hurt stars in this moving BBC dramatization that brings to life the classic story of an antihero doomed by his misguided sense of intellectual moral authority. A former student with fierce and rational intellect, Raskolnikov feels that he is above the law and even capable of shedding blood without penalty. When he commits a murderous act, he is forced to confront his inner demons as well as a clever adversary determined to bring a killer to justice. But Raskolnikov slowly realizes that he will never find peace until he admits his guilt to himself.Art House & International DVD Video
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