The Idiot (4 DVD Set)

I'm a big fan of The Idiot and approached this production with enthusiasm, but it's not giving me quite the pleasure I'd hoped for. Yes, the director is wonderfully faithful to the book, but by trying to include everything, he sometimes has to shave off 10 or 20% of everything, often losing material which makes a scene really comprehensible, or funny, or stinging. The early scenes between Myshkin and Ganya suffer from this cutting, so that you get a taste of Ganya's amazing petulance, contempt, and careless cruelty, but not the full flavor of it, which is riviting in the book. And despite what another reviewer has said, I find the production humorless--and this tragic story is often hilariously funny as written. It's wonderful to see really good actors in the roles. Inna Churikova's Mme Epanchin is so good she steals the show. But for all his efforts, Vladimir Ilyin playing Lebedev does not capture for me the astoundingness of that man. He seems too much a bag full of tics and tricks. Mirinov's Prince Myshkin is excellent in certain respects, but he becomes too dour, too constantly tormented, too enervated. (One exception is the magnificent charisma he exhibits when he tells the Epanchin women, on first meeting them, about his experiences Switzerland. Here I thought I was getting something that couldn't be had in the book.) Another reviewer mentions the perhaps forgivable weakness of the actress playing Nastasya Filipovna. For me this is a disastrous weakness. In no way is this actress up to this critical role. Katherine Zita-Jones would have done better. Finally, I agree with the complaints about the subtitles. Still, still... you get a great period production, one that takes the book seriously, that's intelligent, with substantial actors in even the smallest parts, a rare 8-hour production of a great novel, and the incomparable performance of Inna Churikova as Mme Epanchin.As it turns out, I was listening to an audiobook of The Idiot narrated by Robert Whitfield at the same time that I was gradually working through this TV production. Whitfield has some problems with the female voices, especially Nastasya Filipovna, and the translation is Constance Garnet, which might not be the best, but this audio experience for me was more powerful.Follow-up, after finishing all 4 DVDs:The production is even better than I gave it credit for, and I've raised my rating from 4 stars to 5. Mironov shines as Prince Myshkin. I will never forget his amazing arrival at the party at the Epanchins. He is a great actor. Lebedev and, especially, Nastasya Filipovna remain unfortunate weaknesses, as is the lack of humor, but nothing is perfect. For those who are approaching "The Idiot" for the first time, I would agree that reading it first is a great advantage. Especially given the inadequacy of the subtitles. (The translation job seems to have been given to a high school student.) Also, I would suggest watching these DVDs with remote in hand. Despite my familiarity with the text, I hit the pause buttom repeatedly so that I would have time to read what the characters are saying. For, unlike most subtitles, these are not shaved down for quick apprehension. Pausing is a drag, but you get used to it. And the benefit is that you get the full quote rather than a shaved-down version.

Exactly as advertised, prompt delivery, received in perfect condition.

Yes, it is a great movie, the actors are great (did you see Mironov in "Metamorphosis" (by Kafka)- he is an impressive actor there as well as in Idiot). However, I watched this not using subtitles and my friend who did, agreed with many other reviewers - she called the subtitles "rudimentary", just that she knows the novel too well, so it did not kill the pleasure... Because of that I give four stars, not five - for ability to share the joy of viewing is also a factor and translation is a part of the finished product as it is sold in here...

When I found out that they had made a TV movie out of my favorite Novel and my favorite writer I knew I had to buy and watch it no matter what. I'm glad I did. It is the cloesest translation from book to movie and the best. The Characters I saw in my imagination where almost exactly like the actual actors. The acting was great. I loved it.The only thing I didn't like was how quickly the subtitles went by and that some subtitles didn't fit on the whole screen, but that was rare. This didn't stop me from enjoying this greatly.

Incredibly faithful to the book. The video is low quality and the subtitles at times are pretty awful, but the characters and story are so true to the book that I'll swallow those flaws to be able to watch this masterpiece.

The cast and production are splendid. The subtitles are an abomination. They often make no sense whatsoever. How the director could have allowed his excellent work to be marred in this way is beyond me. With proper subtitles, this should be a best seller.

It is a masterpiece. On big minus is that the English subtitles appears very late and disappear shorty after . So a lot of the video you either do not understand- unless you understand Russian language -or you have to replay again and again.

The set of dvds arrived on the condition expected.

Über vier Stunden irrsinniger Quatsch - anders lässt sich das Gesehene nicht bezeichnen. Von Dostojewski blieb nichts übrig. Die Verlegung der Handlung von der zweiten Hälfte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts in die Gegenwart mit Texten, die sprachlich aus beiden Epochen vermischt wurden, muss wegen der unzähligen ordinären und vulgären Entgleisungen als völlig gescheitert angesehen werden. Die Zuordnung der Charaktere zu verschiedenen Gesellschaftsschichten wurde bis zur Unkenntlichkeit aufgehoben. Die Charaktere haben mit denen des Romans keine Ähnlichkeit mehr. Die Figur des Fürsten Myschkin wurde so demoliert, dass nicht mehr erkennbar bleibt, was Dostojewski ursprünglich mit ihr zeigen wollte. Die Degradierung der Filippowna vom Opfer extremen sexuellen Missbrauchs zu einer billigen Hure, die sich jedem hingab, der ihr über den Weg lief, ist eine unverzeihliche Verfälschung der ursprünglichen Anlage ihres Charakters. Ihre ausgeprägte Sensibilität und hoch entwickelte Intelligenz wurden zu plattem Mittelmaß planiert. Auch die edle, ein wenig exzentrische Aglaja wurde bis zur Unkenntlichkeit verfälscht, wenngleich die Wege mit ihrem schönen Wuchs noch der erfreulichste Anblick in einem Stück desolater Hässlichkeit bleibt. Lebedjew ist nicht wiederzuerkennen. Die Rois spielt schlicht eine andere Figur als die der Lisaweta Prokowjewna. Reste des genialen Kunstwerks der Weltliteratur scheinen durch manche Monologe noch durch, doch wurde die komplexe Anlage des Romans zerfasert und zerstückelt, so dass die Monologe nur noch unzusammenhängende Fetzen bilden, die im Übrigen oft nur eine monotone Geräuschkulisse abgeben, der man nicht mehr zuzuhören vermag. Es wurden Personengruppierungen und Szenen entwickelt, die im Roman gar nicht vorkommen. Dies vor allem bei den völlig unzeitgemäßen Sexszenen. Die ständigen Wiederholungen von exaltierten Gefühlsausbrüchen, die sich in irre Raserei steigern, sagen nur etwas über Castorfs geistigen Zuschnitt aus, den er hier projiziert hat. Er hat mit seinem Modernisierungswahn nicht mehr alle Tassen im Schrank. Ich halte es für ein künstlerisches Verbrechen, ein großartiges Werk Dostojewskis derart in Grund und Boden zu verinszenieren, dass es nur noch nach Kloake stinkt.