There is nothing that I could say that hasn't already been said about this movie. It is certainly a masterpiece; everything about it is perfect.
I'm into Russian classics, and "The Idiot" has long been my favourite novel. I have read several translations, and seen all the adaptions. This one is, by far, the best.
I see that Lydia Velezheva's Nastasya Filipovna is criticized quite harshly, but, personally, I though her performance was astounding. As a matter of fact, she was my favourite character. I was, however, surprised that they chose to cast an actress that was physically very different from what I'd imagined Dostoevsky's (novel-based) Nastasya to look like. For one, she was supposed to be 25, wasn't she? The actress seemed to be at least 10 years older. Knyaz Myshkin looked much younger than her, too. But this could have been done on purpose, to portray the Knyaz's odd, unlikely obsession with someone, who is totally unsuitable / wrong for him.
Basically, the casting was perfect, except for two characters - the eldest of the Epanchin sisters (Alexandra). Same issue as with Nastasya - far too old for the role. Alexandra was supposed to be 25 as well. The actress appears to be over 40. Moreover, she just looks out of place in general. I don't know why, but this particular actress was a poor choice for this role in my opinion - she doesn't fit in with the rest of the cast for some reason. Then there's Yevgeny Pavlovich Radomsky (Aglaya's suitor) - he just doesn't "look" like Dostoevsky's Radomsky, and I didn't think his acting was on par with the others.
Having seen several Russian classics' adaptions, I couldn't help noticing that Russian actors (even those that aren't top notch) surpass the American / English ones by *miles* in their performance. I wonder why. Are they taught differently, is the selection process done differently, or is it in their nature? Also, in America, it seems that a good actor is defined by how comfortable they are in front of the camera, and their talent is measured by their personal charisma. Take Will Smith for instance. It is commonly agreed upon that he's one of the best American actors, but I am yet to see a movie where he is playing an actual character (in essence, he plays himself in every movie). Perhaps, that is the difference. The Russian actors I've seen *were* actual actors. My definition of a good actor is someone, who can *believably* portray a different character each time and capture the essence of that character, so the viewer only sees the character, and never the actor. Which, by the way, was masterfully done by each one of the actors involved in "The Idiot". Mironov was most impressive as Knyaz Myshkin, and so were all the other characters, even the minor ones.
I cannot even imagine who'd they cast if they ever decided to produce an English version of the movie. There aren't any actors around that could portray Dostoevsky's characters half as well as the cast of Bortko's "The Idiot" did. Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, and Haley Joel Osment are, perhaps, the three actors that I'd say could possibly pull it off, but no-one else comes to mind really...
Anyway, it goes without saying that this is my favourite movie. I never get tired of it. I just wish they would translate the movie properly, which would provide a greater exposure to the English-speaking world, as it deserves to be seen by a wider audience.
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