Crime e castigo

Modern adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic novel, originally published in 1866.

The novel is a classic of universal literature, which inspired philosophical, sociological and psychological thoughts in the second half of the 19th century and also in the 20th century, namely Nietzsche, Sartre, Freud, Orwell, Huxley, among others. It's no surprise that it had more than thirty film adaptations, between 1909 and 2019.

This 1983 Finnish adaptation is practically Aki Kaurismäki's directorial debut (before this film he had only directed a musical documentary, in 1981, together with his brother Mika Kaurismäki, who here takes on the role of producer).

It is a promising film, although it neither captures the depth of the novel (none of the adaptations do, obviously) nor shows, still fully developed, the Kaurismäki style, of which it already gives good indications, but only appears mature in the following film, Calamari Union. However, both have in common a taste for minimalist absurdity, which would become the Finnish director's trademark.

An interesting work, mainly because it is the debut of an important director, but it ends up being too conventional, within the Finnish master's work as a whole.

Still, it certainly deserves to be seen.