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…
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 25 films listed here span over 100 years, from 1914 to 2023, 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).
