Crime and Punishment: Ranking 24 Films Inspired by Dostoevsky's Novel
This is a ranking of the movies I've reviewed based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment." I enjoyed doing this sort of adaptation study and list making so much for classics of English-language Gothic literature (see my Dorian Gray, Dracula and Frankenstein lists) that I'm branching out to choosing to read other literary mainstays for the purpose of, then, seeking out cinematic interpretations.
In this pursuit, one common misapprehension regarding adaptation has become clear to me, which is the supposed importance of fidelity to story. I even decided to skip at least three TV versions this time because boob-tube movies and mini-series tend to falter in this regard, while also lacking the production, technical and other values of their theatrically-released counterparts. I've seen enough poor cinema; I don't care to punish myself with yet another BBC (or whatever) presentation that drags out the slavish devotion to story particulars while blundering the more compelling and potentially-cinematic aspects of the source. For instance, in this case, the novel has proved promising material to explore dreams and hallucinations, duality, cinematic and literary reflexivity, as well as different philosophical, political and religious ideologies, and has provided for some interesting cases of national cinema and genre adaptations.
Thus, this ranking does include movies that update the story to modern times, relocate it to different places, rework it to the point of not even crediting Dostoevsky, and some films that are, at most, strongly inspired by the book, as well as more-straightforward adaptations. For a Russian novel from the 19th century set in Saint Petersburg, it's also notable that the 24 films listed here span over 100 years, from 1914 to 2015, and from 12 different countries: from Australia, Brazil, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Russia/USSR, USA, to Woody Allen (and I would still like to track down subtitled versions from Peru, Portugal and Sweden someday).
List now also at and open to comments at letterboxd: https://boxd.it/3ZYda
My average rating of ranked movies: 5.7 stars.
In this pursuit, one common misapprehension regarding adaptation has become clear to me, which is the supposed importance of fidelity to story. I even decided to skip at least three TV versions this time because boob-tube movies and mini-series tend to falter in this regard, while also lacking the production, technical and other values of their theatrically-released counterparts. I've seen enough poor cinema; I don't care to punish myself with yet another BBC (or whatever) presentation that drags out the slavish devotion to story particulars while blundering the more compelling and potentially-cinematic aspects of the source. For instance, in this case, the novel has proved promising material to explore dreams and hallucinations, duality, cinematic and literary reflexivity, as well as different philosophical, political and religious ideologies, and has provided for some interesting cases of national cinema and genre adaptations.
Thus, this ranking does include movies that update the story to modern times, relocate it to different places, rework it to the point of not even crediting Dostoevsky, and some films that are, at most, strongly inspired by the book, as well as more-straightforward adaptations. For a Russian novel from the 19th century set in Saint Petersburg, it's also notable that the 24 films listed here span over 100 years, from 1914 to 2015, and from 12 different countries: from Australia, Brazil, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Russia/USSR, USA, to Woody Allen (and I would still like to track down subtitled versions from Peru, Portugal and Sweden someday).
List now also at and open to comments at letterboxd: https://boxd.it/3ZYda
My average rating of ranked movies: 5.7 stars.
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- DirectorRobert BressonStarsMartin LaSalleMarika GreenJean PélégriMichel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel's ailing mother.Case in point, the film topping my ranking doesn't credit Dostoevsky at all--even though it's conspicuously a loose reworking of "Crime and Punishment" transported to contemporary Paris. Like the pickpocket (instead of a murderer) of the film, however, French New Wave filmmaker Robert Bresson steals the credit. The framing device of the pickpocket writing the story, coupled with his voiceover narration, neatly reflects the subjectivity of the book, and non-standard continuity editing supports its subversive subject--until a subtly brilliant ending offers redemption.
My Full Review - DirectorWoody AllenStarsMartin LandauWoody AllenBill BernsteinAn ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.The best of four Woody Allen films on this list, it's also the best of both the worlds of Allen's clever comedy and his darker philosophical musings, which are the atheistic antithesis of Dostoevsky's religiosity. It's one of his most interesting cinematically self-reflexive works, too, including a famous ending and Allen playing a filmmaker to Martin Landau's doctor of viewing.
My Full Review - DirectorRobert WieneStarsGregori ChmaraElisabeta SkulskajaAlla TarasovaStudent Raskolnikow, who has written an article about laws and crime, proposing the thesis, that un-ordinary people can commit crimes if their actions are necessary for the benefit of mankind, murders an old woman, who operates a crooked loaning house, as well as her sister, who made the mistake of visiting her at the wrong time. He is suspected of the crime, but somebody else confesses to the murder. Meanwhile, he has fallen in love with Sonja, the street-walking daughter of an ex-official who was fired because of drinking. Raskolnikow's sister is engaged with an arrogant official, who dislikes him, because Raskolnikow gave Sonja 25 Rubel for her father's funeral. When Raskolnikow tells him his opinion of his behaviour against the poor, he tries to show he's a good guy also to the public and showing that Sonja is also a thief at the same time by framing her of a theft of 100 Rubels. But after this, Raskolnikow finds out that Sonja was a very close friend of his second victim.One of the two films from the silent era on this list and the one that's a mostly straightforward adaptation, the distinguishing feature of this piece of Weimar cinema is its Expressionist sets. From the director, Robert Wiene, of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920), the architecture this time is dimensional and textured rather than the overtly-theatrical settings of "Caligari." Moreover, the Expressionism effectively reflects the subjective experience of Raskolnikov onto the objective world--an ingenious solution for a silent film that couldn't resort to the voiceover tactics employed by some of the talkies on this list.
My Full Review - DirectorPiotr DumalaAn animated short film, this one features a painting style that's reflective of the cutting, destructive and, ultimately, creative subject matter of the novel. Most of the narrative is axed in favor of focusing on Raskolnikov's confession to Sonya, and the plot is presented in a non-linear, dream-like construction. An intriguing curiosity for those familiar with the book, while for those who aren't, at least it's brief and looks wonderful.
My Full Review - DirectorYevgeny BauerStarsElena P. SmirnovaNina KosljaninowaMichael SalarowSeamstress Mary dreams of a better life in luxury instead of her badly-paying sweatshop grind. Her dreams come true when she draws the attention of Victor, a bourgeoisie, who invites her to dinner and makes her a lady. But about a year later, she has become tired of him, and thanks to her his money is almost gone. When he asks that they settle down outside the big city, where his money should be enough for a modest living, she breaks with him and picks up a new lover. Victor is trying to shoot her, then himself, but finally gives up. A year later, he is living in a shabby, cold room under the roof, still trying to meet her again, a thing she definitely refuses, and showing him her feelings towards him, by ordering that he should get three Rubels when he leaves the stairs to her house. This has predictable results.Although little known today, Yevgeni Bauer is arguably the greatest filmmaker of the 1910s. With this early effort (and the earliest film on this list and only example of pre-Soviet Russian cinema), he slyly reworked parts of Dostoevsky's novel and other 19th-century literary tropes into a modern, self-reflexive cinematic piece of art. It's an especially well-composed picture for 1914, with the final scene, of a vamp type character stepping over the idealist man she ruined, being a standout.
My Full Review - DirectorBrad AndersonStarsChristian BaleJennifer Jason LeighAitana Sánchez-GijónAn industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.Perhaps best known for star Christian Bale's dangerous devotion to transforming his body to fit his role (and to think, after losing so much weight, he had to bulk up to play Batman only a few months later), this is otherwise a puzzle, or mind-game film. One of its puzzles involves its intersections with three Dostoevsky novels: "The Double," "The Idiot" and, most significantly, "Crime and Punishment."
My Full Review - DirectorHeitor DhaliaStarsGuta StresserMyrian MunizJuliana GaldinoPsychological thriller larded with manga-like animations about the young, poor comic strip illustrator Nina, living with her mean landlady. She sinks further and further into a violent fantasy world.From Brazil, this updated reworking's Raskolnikov is the eponymous young goth woman Nina, whose grasp on reality is increasingly tenuous. Few of the films on this list handle this conflict between reality and illusion, or the mise-en-abyme of art-within-art (Nina draws, whereas Raskolnikov wrote), or in adapting the novel's dreams as well as this. That the rest of the narrative has its flaws seems unimportant by comparison.
My Full Review - DirectorPierre ChenalStarsHarry BaurPierre BlancharMadeleine OzerayRaskolnikov is a Russian man who follows an unusual moral code. A combination of vigilantism and hubris fuels his decision to aid a hapless prostitute by removing her antagonist, a local merchant. Raskolnikov is locked up for the murder, and while he does not deny committing the crime, he tries to persuade the police that he should not be charged.Two relatively-straightforward, studio-bound adaptations were released, across the Atlantic from each other, in 1935. This French one--supposedly part of the trend of "poetic realism"--is superior in basically every way. It's decently plotted, occasionally well photographed, and the acting is good.
My Full Review - DirectorAlfred ZeislerStarsPeter CooksonWarren WilliamAnne GwynneIn this Americanized retelling of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, a medical student--broke, hungry and desperate for money--murders a loan shark to whom he owes money. After the killing, he's tormented by guilt over what he's done. A police captain, who's convinced the student committed the crime but can't prove it for lack of evidence, plays on the young man's guilt in order to get him to confess to the crime.A bonkers low-budget film noir and an otherwise loose and uncredited updating of the novel, what it lacks in comprehending the source text it makes up for in cinematic reference. It's essentially a superior remake of the 1935 American version, which adds parts from Fritz Lang's "M" (1931) and "The Woman in the Window" (1944), for some brisk and unusual fun. Judging by its low 5.7 IMDb score as of this writing, it's the most underrated film on this list.
My Full Review - DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonGeorges AdetIn czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.Although a parody of 19th-century Russian literature in general, as mostly framed through Tolstoy's "War and Peace," there's enough of "Crime and Punishment" here for me to include this rewarding detour in frivolity on this list. Diane Keaton plays a character named "Sonja," a self-described "half saint, half whore," and Woody Allen has an entire conversation at one point entirely comprised of characters and titles from Dostoevsky's novels.
My Full Review - DirectorWoody AllenStarsScarlett JohanssonJonathan Rhys MeyersEmily MortimerAt a turning point in his life, a former tennis pro falls for an actress who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law.The second of Woody Allen's three rebuttals of the novel, this one includes a copy of the book within the picture, as the protagonist turns to Dostoevsky for inspiration in dealing with his upset mistress (played by Scarlett Johansson). Besides being similar to Allen's two other "Crime and Punishment" movies, this one takes a cue from the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
My Full Review - DirectorLev KulidzhanovStarsGeorgiy TaratorkinInnokentiy SmoktunovskiyTatyana BedovaRaskolnikov, an impoverished ex-law student, kills an old pawnbroker and her sister, perhaps for money, perhaps to prove a theory about being above the law. He comes to police attention through normal procedures (he was the victim's client), but his outbursts make him the prime suspect of the clever Porfiry. Meanwhile, life swirls around Raskolnikov: his mother and sister come to the city followed by two older men seeking his sister's hand; he meets a drunken clerk who is then killed in a traffic accident, and he falls in love with the man's daughter, Sonia, a young prostitute. She urges him to confess, promising to follow him to Siberia. Will he accept responsibility?Representing the USSR on this list, this exercise in Soviet realism clocking in at nearly 4 hours may be the most "faithful" adaptation on this list, but it's also a dreary reflection of the totalitarian police state in which it was made.
My Full Review - DirectorDenis SandersStarsGeorge HamiltonMary MurphyFrank SilveraA Californian law student murders a pawnbroker, then matches wits with the detective on the case.A low-budget Hollywood production that introduced George Hamilton in the role of a Beatnik version of Raskolnikov. He even plays on a bongo drum.
My Full Review - DirectorGeorges LampinStarsJean GabinMarina VladyUlla JacobssonModern update of Dostoievski's novel Crime and Punishment.Another updated version that transports the story to the country where it was made, this is the second and less-interesting of the two film-noir treatments of the story I've seen, and it ranks even lower among three French adaptations.
My Full Review - DirectorRob SchmidtStarsMonica KeenaEllen BarkinMichael IronsideA darkly romantic story of murder and redemption, set against an eerily familiar American landscape.A loose teen-movie updating of the novel set in the American suburbs. A younger version of Pete Campbell from "Mad Men" plays an amateur photographer and stalker.
My Full Review - DirectorFernando de FuentesStarsRoberto CañedoLilia PradoCarlos López MoctezumaAn adaptation of Fiodor's Dostoievsky novel Crime and Punishment set in the XX Century Mexico. Ramón Bernal is a poor student in Mexico City that has abandoned his career when he receives a letter informing him that his sister will marry a rich man. Thinking she will marry for money instead of love and feeling guilty about this he murders an old usurer to steal her money. With feelings of guilt he gets severely ill while his friend and family don't suspect he got anything to do with the murder, but as the murder investigation moves along inspector Porfirio Marín suspects about the student. Ramón also meets Sonia, a prostitute, and fells in love with her, the girl will teach her about regret and atonement.From one of the premiere directors of Mexico's so-called "golden age of cinema," this one is devoutly Hollywood in its studio production values, and although the story is updated and transported to Mexico City, it's otherwise straightforward.
My Full Review - DirectorMenahem GolanStarsCrispin GloverVanessa RedgraveJohn HurtA modern day adaptation of Dostoyevsky's classic novel about a young student who is forever haunted by the murder he has committed.Originally made shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, this international production starring Marty McFly's dad is critical of totalitarianism, but, ironically, it wasn't released until during the rise of Putin.
My Full Review - DirectorDarezhan OmirbayevStarsErmek AhmetovErkebulan AlmanovAmangeldy AytalyA roughly faithful adaptation of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment," set in Almaty by Kazakh filmmaker Darezhan Omirbayev A stark, Bressonian tale of a young man who commits an almost random act of murder.A piece of arthouse national cinema from Kazakhstan, it lectures on the merits of the country's modern capitalism v. its past with socialism.
My Full Review - DirectorWoody AllenStarsJoaquin PhoenixEmma StoneParker PoseyA tormented philosophy professor finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.Allen's third and latest atheistic rebuttal to Dostoevsky's religiosity, this is decidedly his most muddled, pretentious and arguably sexist entry despite a strong cast and a narrative that's closer to the novel than his other movies.
My Full Review - DirectorAndrew O'KeefeStarsLee MasonAnna SamsonChristopher BunworthWhen reason fails, the devil helps.An independent movie from Australia, it updates the story to some vague dystopia, but otherwise struggles to distinguish itself in a field of fairly straightforward adaptations. There's some good production design, though.
My Full Review - DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsMarkku ToikkaAino SeppoEsko NikkariA slaughterhouse worker and former law student, takes vengeance on the man who killed his fiancée in a hit and run accident.The debut of celebrated Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, this is an amateurish effort that fails to translate anything intelligent from Dostoevsky to the screen or to come up with anything compelling on its own.
My Full Review - DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEdward ArnoldPeter LorreMarian MarshMan is haunted by a murder he's committed.The worse of the two studio-bound 1935 adaptations, this classical Hollywood version had my hopes up due to its director by Josef von Sternberg and its starring Peter Lorre, but they both phoned this one in.
My Full Review - DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsAleksandr CherednikElizaveta KorolevaSergey BarkovskiyA hungry, homeless, socially isolated and socially alienated young man living on the streets of an anonymous Russian big city in the 19th Century is looking for answers about himself.From the director of "Russian Ark," this is an obtusely artsy affair, to be sure. A few highlights of the novel are interspersed with naval-gazing visual-effects experimentation and obscure symbolism, including, basically, a sex scene with a statue.
My Full Review - DirectorLav DiazStarsSid LuceroAngeli BayaniArchie AlemaniaAn embittered law student commits a brutal double murder; a family man takes the fall and is forced into a harsh prison sentence; a mother and her two children wander the countryside looking for some kind of redemption.Another loose reworking of the book, this Filipino example of self-described "slow cinema" rejects continuity editing and entertainment values in favor of hours and hours of static long takes from distance perspectives; in turn, I reject it.
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