The Idiot is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
On this page you can find all of the available online "IDIOT" adaptations, the novel, plot summary and analysis of the adaptations.
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THE IDIOT BY F. DOSTOEVSKY | |
File Size: | 548 kb |
File Type: | epub |
SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL
(spoilers)
Philosophical novel “The Idiot” was written by the famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky in the 19th century. The main character, “The Idiot”, Prince Lyov Myshkin is a young man who returns to Russia from the Swiss mental institution after spending there several years trying to treat his epilepsy. Back in Russia he meets a lot of different people from high Russian Society like dark and mysterious Rogozhin, Rogozhin’s love - beautiful Nastasia Filipovna, greedy Ganya, General Epanchin, his wife Elizaveta Prokofyeva and three daughters - Alexandra, Aglaya and Adelaida and others. Prince Myshkin is an extraordinary kind and open-hearted man and that confuses all of the characters who surround him and makes them think of Myshkin as an “Idiot”, a man with a lack of intelligence. A six hundred pages novel mostly focuses on the Myshkin’s love towards Nastasia Filipovna, who is in love with Myshkin too, but thinks that she does not deserve to be with someone like him. Myshkin is also affectionate towards Aglaya Epanchin, General Epanchin daughter, who cannot make up her mind and likes and dislikes Myshkin at the same time. Nastasia Filipovna is the only one who can see Myshkin’s kindness as it is and that makes her think that he deserves someone better than her, especially because of her complicated past. She thinks that even If they were together, she would ruin his life. Nastasia Filipovna herself lives with Rogozhin who occasionally beats her and she runs off and goes back to him over and over. After a scandal between Nastasia Filipovna and Aglaya, Myshkin finally convinces Nastasia Filipovna to marry him, however right before the wedding Nastasia Filipovna still runs off with Rogozhin, who is her “path to the suicide”, and dies the same day of Rogozhin’s hand. By the end of novel Myshkin ends up back at the Swiss mental institution. The novel is filled with dialogues about life, moral and politics as well as a lot of drama among the characters. To fully understand the novel and the topics that are being discussed it is important to know at least a little bit about Russian culture. The novel has been critically acclaimed and called “the most original of Dostoevsky's great novels, and certainly the most artistically uneven of them all” by a writer and Dostoevsky’s expert Joseph Frank.
Akira Kurosawa - Hakuchi (1951)
Hakuchi (1951) is a black and white 166 minutes movie directed by Akira Kurosawa and based on Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot”. The movie was intended to be a longer two-parts version, but was edited and cropped against Kurosawa's will. Because the movie was so severely edited, the beginning of it is very awkward and somewhat confusing, with voiceovers explaining what is actually going on. Kurasawa said that he wanted to make this movie because Dostoevsky is his favorite writer and his stories would make a wonderful movie, since he writes most honestly about human existence. Kurosawa’s Hakuchi is set in post World War II (1950s) Japan instead of Russia. The Idiot, Kinji Kameda (Masayuki Mori) is even weaker and tenderer character than that of the Dostoevsky’s Idiot. He cries a lot and tells everyone the story of how he was saved from the execution. There were no changes done to the plot, except for the time period, location, names, etc.
In my personal opinion, Kurosawa’s adaptation of The Idiot is not an example of a successful adaptation for the general public. Without reading the book it seems almost impossible to understand what is happening to the characters, who are the characters, what is their motivation to do what they do and so on. Even for me, who read the book and analyzed it, following the plot line was a struggle. The voiceover that appears in the beginning, but disappears towards the middle of the movie, exposes the lack of director’s touch and control. Because the country of the original piece was changed, all of the religious talk, symbols, and meaning were excluded, which made some of the characters’ behavior unreasonable and confusing. Neither is the cast, even though not the worst, a strong side of the adaptation.
While watching the Hakuchi, viewer can see that a lot of effort was put in it by Kurosawa. He tried different filming techniques to enhance the experience and aimed to carry Dostoevsky’s theme of Myshkin’s kindness in such a cruel world. In a certain way, it worked, because the actor who performed Kameda really makes an audience feel bad for himself. Unfortunately, because the film was cut to 166 minutes from the original 4 hours, and the original version was never found, we will never be able to find out what the original film was like. Hakuchi was neither a financial nor a critical success (Smolyak, Kevin. "Kurosawa in Review." : The Idiot (1951). /, 2 Sept. 2014. Web. 2 Sept.) . Kurosawa wanted this movie to be available for the general public and that is why he staged it in post WWII Japan, but because of the unsuccessful editing, the film turned out to be very confusing and tedious.
VERDICT -Kurosawa tried his best to make a good adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Idiot and to make it available for everyone (changing the set of the story, illuminating religion, etc), however because of the unsuccessful editing and screenplay, the adaptation became unclear and unsuitable for general public.
In my personal opinion, Kurosawa’s adaptation of The Idiot is not an example of a successful adaptation for the general public. Without reading the book it seems almost impossible to understand what is happening to the characters, who are the characters, what is their motivation to do what they do and so on. Even for me, who read the book and analyzed it, following the plot line was a struggle. The voiceover that appears in the beginning, but disappears towards the middle of the movie, exposes the lack of director’s touch and control. Because the country of the original piece was changed, all of the religious talk, symbols, and meaning were excluded, which made some of the characters’ behavior unreasonable and confusing. Neither is the cast, even though not the worst, a strong side of the adaptation.
While watching the Hakuchi, viewer can see that a lot of effort was put in it by Kurosawa. He tried different filming techniques to enhance the experience and aimed to carry Dostoevsky’s theme of Myshkin’s kindness in such a cruel world. In a certain way, it worked, because the actor who performed Kameda really makes an audience feel bad for himself. Unfortunately, because the film was cut to 166 minutes from the original 4 hours, and the original version was never found, we will never be able to find out what the original film was like. Hakuchi was neither a financial nor a critical success (Smolyak, Kevin. "Kurosawa in Review." : The Idiot (1951). /, 2 Sept. 2014. Web. 2 Sept.) . Kurosawa wanted this movie to be available for the general public and that is why he staged it in post WWII Japan, but because of the unsuccessful editing, the film turned out to be very confusing and tedious.
VERDICT -Kurosawa tried his best to make a good adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Idiot and to make it available for everyone (changing the set of the story, illuminating religion, etc), however because of the unsuccessful editing and screenplay, the adaptation became unclear and unsuitable for general public.
Ivan Pyryev , The Idiot (1958)
After watching the Kurosawa's version, I really wanted to see something from the same time period in order to contrast the two. Ivan Pyryev, a famous USSR director, made his own adaptation (1958) of the Idiot, but only the first part (he never filmed the second for some mysterious reasons). This adaptation has totally satisfied me. The first part is 1 hour 55 minutes long and is made in color. I enjoyed every second of the adaptations, because Pyryev managed to make something colorful and enchanting out of the originally dark Idiot. The characters are all very different and somewhat hysterical. Surprising, yet extremely satisfying was the fact that Prince Myshkin is presented as somewhat evil. Some of his phrases are changed around, which makes him appear rough, and due to the talented work of the main actor and the director, Myshkin is perceived differently. The actor who plays him (Yury Yakovlev) has the mysterious look in his eyes and definitely does not appear like an Idiot or a coward as he does in the Kurosawa’s version. Every actor in the Pyryev’s adaptation does an amazing job and literally drags the viewer into action, making him experience every single minute of the screen action. I also have to point out that there are basically no changes made to the plot, and the director, screenplay writer, and the actors did everything they could to create an incredibly talented adaptation and keep everything Dostoevsky meant to say. The costumes, the decorations, filming, editing, soundtrack - everything is very impressive. The only disappointment is the lack of a second part, that leaves the viewers unfulfilled and hungry for conclusion. One funny difference between Kurosawa’s and Pyryev’s adaptation is that Kurosawa focuses on Kameda’s tear jerking punishment story, while in the Pyryev’s version the story just does not exist because of the USSR censorship.
VERDICT - Pyryev’s adaptation, though has really little plot change, has an incredibly interesting point of view on Myshkin’s character as well as a brilliant cast and crew, however appear to be a little over-the-top for the general public because of its theatrical appearance and extreme drama.
VERDICT - Pyryev’s adaptation, though has really little plot change, has an incredibly interesting point of view on Myshkin’s character as well as a brilliant cast and crew, however appear to be a little over-the-top for the general public because of its theatrical appearance and extreme drama.
Aleksey Bortko, The Idiot (2002)
Another completely different adaptation is a 10 episode Television series filmed in 2002 by Aleksey Bortko. Each episode is 50 minutes long, which gives the screenplay writer and director an opportunity to be as detailed with Dostoevsky’s text as they wish. The fact that it begins with Nastasia Filipovna and the reason why she has to get married (which is reinforced by multiple explanations and additional fragments throughout the episodes) is a great supplement for a general public adaptation. The soundtrack is written by Igor Korneluk and is very dramatic and help the viewer develop the right emotion. The main actor (Yevgeny Mironov) is brilliant in embodying Myshkin. The viewer is not able to take her eyes off of him and his performance. It feels like Myshkin’s character was written specifically for him. Some actors, like Rogozhin, and General Ivolgin, and General Epanchin, and his wife, are also extremely professional. However the rest of the crew is disappointing. Director work is mostly unnoticeable, while photography and editing are horrific since the series is cheaply produced. For a general audience this adaptation was a great success because of the accessible screenplay and amazing work of Yevgeny Mironov. The show is still very interesting and enjoyable to watch, which makes it a successful adaptation.
VERDICT - Bortko’s adaptation is extremely successful mostly because of the incredibly satisfying protagonist (actor Yevgeny Mironov), well-written screenplay and thought-through changes, even though filming, editing, and directing are very far from acceptable.
VERDICT - Bortko’s adaptation is extremely successful mostly because of the incredibly satisfying protagonist (actor Yevgeny Mironov), well-written screenplay and thought-through changes, even though filming, editing, and directing are very far from acceptable.