I read the book over a decade ago, the entire 900 pages plus, and then saw the 1958 Yul Brynner movie version which was okay and all the principal actors were terrific but the story left out the Grand Inquisitor and Ivan's hallucination with the devil, two of the most memorable chapters in the book. So needless to say there was some disappointment with the Hollywood version. Though I will say it's understandable why those very lengthy chapters, philosophical in nature and not something most Americans have patience sitting through, were omitted.
Thankfully with this 12 part mini series the most essential parts of the book are covered, including the Grand Inquisitor and the Devil scene. The Brothers might have looked differently than what I imagined when reading the novel over a decade ago, but I genuinely found them to be the characters in the book. And since this was filmed almost a decade ago, it's a great companion to anyone who has the read the book. I'm only reviewing this now because someone I know just watched the Hollywood version, but she didn't know about the more complete storytelling of this novel is found in the Russian formats (with necessary English subtitles). This is definitely better than the 1958 Hollywood version, but I still recommend reading the book first.
On it's own this 12-part mini series re-tells the story as close to written words as possible. Really well done, not dull and yes it has a "soap opera" quality that makes it entertaining. Recommended for anyone who had patience to read the novel, then see it in action!
