This story begins in 1870 at a little town somewhere in Russia. It processed the real "Nyecsajev story". A group of young revolutionists wanna ruin the system with violence. They think this is the only chance to reform the old Russian Society. The leader of this group is Pierre.
Dostoievski was a giant and a master painter of the Russian soul. This film is a good rendition of his work, altogether prophetic (on the Bolcheviks) and coined with pessimism.
The Slavic twist that Wajda brought to the picture is essential. Madness, brittle human relations and utopia are the key ingredients among which a pleiad of very Russian characters evolve. None of them seem to be part of the real world, they seem more rooted in the realm of philosophy.
Reading Dostoievski and Tolstoi could have avoided many ugly things indeed.
