Customer Reviews

Crime and Punishment [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Brillant screen performance of one of the best psychological stories ever. Beautifully done in black-and-white this version holds completely true to the written work so much so that you could follow along with book in hand from scene to scene. While completely in Russian, the mesmorizing performances and emotionl feel of the film come through just as powerfull to non-Russian speakers.

I first caught this version on TV while living in Moscow, and ironically had just re-read Crime and Punishment the previous week and as such would usually have just passed it by. However the performances of Sofia and Raskonikov are so powerfull and captivating that I found myself sitting completely through it from start to finish (and its quite long at nearly 4 hours). You will be haunted by Sofia's performance and her eyes, the tremble of her voice; this perfectly innocent soul comes of the screen in her unspoken words. Just as memorable from this version is Raskonikov's performance as he slips into insanity, and again her the highlight comes from what he doesn't say.

All in all an enjoyable version for all. Those who already know the story will find new love for it in the two passionate performances of its leads. While those who have perhaps never read the book will find it easier to understand because of the powerfull emotion that transends the words.

A visually impressive film that is faithful to Dostoevsky's novel. However, the bad black-and-white print of the movie is made even worse by the fact that the subtitles are in white -- in most scenes, they are completely unreadable!

Without any doubt, this film is the most perfect and the most faithfull adaptation of a great novel ever done. It is a long film, but when you watch it, you won't regret, I can assure you. Congratulations to Amazon for allowing us costumers to buy this cinematic treasure. Also, the DVD is at a great price, considering that it has a lot of extras, interwies, etc. Buy it today!

This film mesmerized me with its eerie sound effects and intense performances. A film Russian in its elemental humanity, German in its expressionist mis-en-scene. It's loud, even when it whispers. That the film itself haunts seems appropriate given that it is a ghost-story of sorts. If you're just looking for entertainment, look elsewhere. This is a film about ultimate questions.

The transfer looks okay on analogue television, but on my laptop it lacks definition, as if it were transfered from a second-rate VHS tape. Wish the folks at Criterion would get their hands on this one. I would not hesitate to upgrade.

If you like stately and intensely reflective films about the interior of the soul, by all means RENT this.

This film is being used in teaching an Advanced Placement English IV high school class. It is a fascinating experience. Quite different from a typical American made film, it is passionate and intense. The English dubbing is well done, except for the occasional lapses when the characters speak Russian. However, at those points English subtitles come on. The film captures the starkness of Russian life in that era and follows the book quite well. I highly recommned it for serious purposes. As strictly entertainment, maybe not.

Gauging from the numerous limitations of a Soviet era production, this is an excellent piece of work and a worhty adaptation of the original novel. I doubt that more modern, American productions could capture the Russian feel and ultimate focus that Dostoevsky was concerned about (the book, D.'s only true commercial success within his lifetime, was a reaction against various similar murders in Pertersburg in the 1860's, and a direct attack on all the radical Bazarovs. _The Demons_, written a little later, is the masterpiece culmination of the "superman, socialist, nihilist" type character(s) and plot).

The subtitles are hardly a distraction. If you know the novel, even in those scenes where the subtitles are completely whited out, then you understand what the characters are saying.

The acting ranges from good to okay to poor, good being Porfiry and Raskolnikov, okay Dunia, Sonya, and Svivdrigalov [sp]. Poor acting jobs go to Luzhin, who while the most flat and one dimensional character of the novel, was given a general lackadasial portrayal.

Obviously, there were many scenes and ideas cut (the dream about the peasant and the horse, haymarket and most of the bar scenes, Svivdrigalov's struggle at the end, and finally the entire epilogue in Siberia). But that's to be expected.

Though there are some outstanding scenes that truly live up to the novel. The classic scene where the quiet man runs up to Raskolnikov's flat and walks away, only to bark back when Raskolnikov pursues "Murderer!" is an excellent example. The concluding scenes at the police station also do justice to the final paragraphs, as well as the character of the lieutenant.

I was lucky to find an acutal Russian movie version of 'Crime and Punishment'. It was made in the 70s, but is in black and white. The directors and producers have done a fine job here in staying faithful to the book and going into the mind of the main character. It was the very psychological book and so is the movie. The movie is not as sad as the book though because very few people could duplicate Foydor's mastery. Read the book and then watch this movie (if you can find it).

Among the adapted versions translated to screen this is perhaps, the most successful. This classic story deals about an impoverished student living In a rooming house who decides to murder an old pawnbroker.
No matter how many times you have watched or read this brutal story. This novel was the true pivot, the great gate to the existentialist movement. Think for instance in Dostoievsky's prodigal son; Albert Camus and the Happy death: you will find similar traces.
This Russian adaptation maintains the mystery and sinister poetry, where all the centuries of Czarists oppression would seem emerge with all the potency of a volcanic eruption.
Filmed in glorious black and white to accent the climax.

"Atmosphere" isn't enough in a cinematic transcription of Dostoevsky's great philosophical/political novel, but it's all you get in this four-hour black-and-gray snoozer. I'm astonished that other reviewers have praised it. I ordered it on their recommendations, but never have I been so disappointed. There is not a single indication in this film of Raskolnikov's thinking before his crime, or of the intellectual ferment in mid-19th C Russia, the potting soil from which C&P sprouted. Even Dostoevsky's religious message is cast aside in the film-maker's lugubrious effort to include every bit of the "story" without even a hint of the ideas.

There's also a problem with the technology. If you choose the English dubbing rather than the original Russian with English subtitles, the film flip-flops from English to Russian every three or four 'chapters'. If you choose Russian over dubbed English, and depend on the subtitles, you'll find it hard to read them fast enough while also keeping an eye on the actors. It's a botched job of editing all around. Skip it. Read the book, and if you read it years ago, read it again.

This poor quality black and white production with English subtitles makes viewing laborious for one not fluent in Russian. There's supposed to be a new English langauge production mini-series out this fall, so I'll wait for it.