The Idiot

Mironov is Myshkin - incredible acting, with or without words, you know exactly what he is thinking and feeling. Absolutely wonderful adaptation of one of my favourite books. Mashkov is also outstanding as Rogozhin, a very scary man indeed! Mashkov does have a very commanding screen presence in everything I've ever seen him in (try Vor), but this was just great. All the lead actresses were great in my view, especially Olga Budina as Aglaya Ivanovna. I do have to echo the comments about the subtitles though! I was really surprised to find them on my DVD (no idea about international availability, bought here), I didn't think that a Russian TV series would have them, but I supposed the International Television Festival attention - and award for Mironov made them necessary. Very sad that a better job wasn't made. I was very glad I didn't need them! Some bits are fine, and others have daft spelling mistakes, and elementary mistakes in grammar and translation. What was going on? It really distracted from the actors' work. The best films with subtitles are those where you forget that you are watching a subtitled film. This cannot happen with these.

I did not expect to actually enjoy this. I had heard it was well done, so I thought I ought to force myself to watch at least some of it. Well, I've seen the first three episodes and can't wait to watch the rest. The acting is incredible, the cinematography imaginative, the pacing very good, and the dialog, since it is pure Dostoyevsky, is, of course, stellar. I've read the book (in English) a couple of times, but this movie brings the characters to life for me in a way the book never did. Perhaps the translation I read was not too great, but I think the biggest difference is the wonderful acting and directing in this mini-series. Eye contact, pauses, changes--or lack thereof--in tone of voice, all make such a big difference.

The DVD I am watching, from the Russian company CP Digital, has reasonably good-quality images, but terrible subtitles. For instance, one character told another, "You shouldn't miss this opportunity (to marry a very rich man)," but the subtitle said something like, "Isn't that interesting!" I know enough Russian to be able to tell when the subtitles are inaccurate, but unfortunately, not enough to watch it without subtitles. Perhaps the second or third time through I'll watch with subtitles turned off.

If only we could all have even a drop of Prince Myshkin's humility, compassion, love, honesty, candor.

Vladimir Bortko's Idiot is a faithful translation of Dostoyevsky's novel. I had read the novel again just recently before watching this 10 part, nearly 10 hour miniseries and I don't think that any of the key characters or events are left out, which is quite a feat in itself. All the characters are true to the novel. I found that parts, especially in the second half, were slow, but I found the novel to be slow in those parts as well.

As an American with no knowledge of Russian, I had to rely on the translation, which varied from very good (at least grammatically correct) to nearly incomprehensible. It was as if the translator went occasionally crazy and then recovered. However, it was good enough in all parts to follow although I found myself hitting the pause button to read some of the longer captions. The DVD, as far as I know, is available in the US only at www.rbcmp3.com.

I found myself comparing this version to Kurosawa's. I think the two Russian male leads (Prince M. and Rogozhin) were as good as their Japanese counterparts, which is saying a lot, since Masayuki Mori and Toshiro Mifune were great in those parts. Mironov and Mashkov both capture the essence of their characters, the Prince's innocence and Rogozhin's violent love--hate relationship with Nastassya. I don't think the two female leads were as good as their Japanese counterparts, but it's difficult to beat the great Setsuko Hara. Kurosawa's film, cut down to 166 minutes, could only present a fraction of the novel's events and characters, but did a great job in choosing the ones to include. Only the character of Lebedev was really missed in the Japanese version. Lebedev, by the way, is terrific in this version. The Russian version really lets you get acquainted with the more minor characters like Hippolite and Keller.

Inna Churikova is a standout as Lizaveta Epanchina, a key character in both the films and novel.

Definitely recommended for fans of the novel and anyone who likes to settle into a good ten hour drama.

The director's daring quest to film a script as close as possible to the book is also the movie's greatest weakness. The second half of the book, and hence of the movie, is emotionally much less active than the first half, so the contrast is naturally emphasized due the movie time format. The result is that the second half of the movie is plain boring.

Everything else is a success - photography, music, cast ( a brilliant cast, except an overly hysteric and non-charming Nastasya ), costumes, the very atmosphere of the dark and psychotic Petersburg of Dostoyevsky are meticulously combined into a theatrical, even intimate, show. The Prince's protagonist Parfion gives energetic, raw-power perfomance ( too bad he wears same black suit through the whole movie, a bit pathetic ). The Prince's best parts are his thralling monologues, when one can almost physically sense how the others' cynicism is extinguished by his naive sincerity.

The movie should appeal to the fans of 'psychological' genre, as special effects and action are obviously absent here.

This is so extraordinary that each episode is absorbing and exhausting. It is also cathartic and draining. It has an intensity unknown in almost all TV. This is emotionally intense and almost deranged in the craziness of the characters as they purge each other, destroy the facades of each other, and continue to live as desolate souls.

This is not easy to watch and it follows the book closely. The acting is superb, the direction and overall production style is rather like those films of the 1970s that Bertolucci made in that era, but the intensity is turned up to absolute maximum.

This is really the most powerful piece of TV or film in a long time and shows how the writer shapes the final experiences because this story is utterly wild. It digs deep into the soul and does not relent.