''Raskolnikow'' is a 1923 German silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Robert Wiene Robert Wiene (; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a film director of the silent era of German cinema. He is particularly known for directing the German silent film ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' and a succession of other German Expressionism, ...

. The film is an adaptation of the 1866 novel ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

'' by

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

. The film is characterised by Jason Buchanan of

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

as a

German expressionist German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

view of the story: a "nightmarish" avant-garde or experimental psychological drama. It premiered at the Mozartsaal in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

.Uli & Schatzberg p.100

Cast

Gregori Chmara Gregori Mikhailovich Chmara (Ukrainian: Григорій Михайлович Хмара, Russian: Григорий Михайлович Хмара; 29 July 1878 – 3 February 1970) was a Ukrainian-born stage and film actor whose career spanned ...

as Rodion Raskolnikow *

Elisabeta Skulskaja Elisabeta is a Romanian female name, equivalent to Elizabeth (given name), and may refer to: *Elisabeta Abrudeanu *Elisabeta Anghel *Elisabeta Bǎbeanu *Elisabeta Bostan *Elisabeta Ionescu *Elisabeta Lazăr *Elisabeta Lipă *Elisabeta Movilă *Elis ...

as Mother of Rodion Raskolnikow *

Alla Tarasova Alla Konstantinovna Tarasova (russian: А́лла Константи́новна Тара́сова; – 5 April 1973) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress and pedagogue. She was a leading actress of Konstantin Stanislavski's Moscow ...

as Sister of Rodion Raskolnikow *

Andrei Zhilinsky Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/ Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman * A ...

as Rasumichin * Mikhail Tarkhanov as Marmeladow * Mariya Germanova as Wife of Marmeladow * Maria Kryshanovskaya as Sonja, daughter of Marmeladow * Pavel Pavlov as (investigating judge) * Toma as Alona Iwanowa, (the usurer) *

Petr Sharov Petr is a Czech given name for males and a Czech surname. Petr is the Czech form of ''Peter''. For information on Petr as a first name, see Peter (given name). Given name * Petr Aven (born 1955), Russian billionaire banker, economist and polit ...

as Swidrigailow *

Ivan Bersenev Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

as (a member of the

petite bourgeoisie ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, literally 'small bourgeoisie'; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a French term that refers to a social class composed of semi-autonomous peasants and small-scale merchants whose politico-economic ideological st ...

)

Reception

In a retrospective review by Tim Pulleine in the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' that the film was "a conventional prestige opus of the day." Pulleine opined that the dramatisation of the novel was "tolerably effective, barring a few lapses into excessive histrionics (Marmeladov's expiatory confession of alcoholism might have looked extreme in a temperance melodrama)." Pulleine also found that the "most basic problem ..is that the set designs create a rebarbative dichotomy within the film, since-apart perhaps from the sequences taking place on the stairway leading up to a pawnbroker's flat-the performers are not spatially integrated into the settings but remain obstinately on a separate plane of stylisation."

References

Bibliography

* Jung, Uli & Schatzberg, Walter. ''Beyond Caligari: The Films of Robert Wiene''. Berghahn Books, 1999.

External links

* * Films of the Weimar Republic 1923 films 1923 drama films German black-and-white films German silent feature films Films directed by Robert Wiene German Expressionist films Films based on Crime and Punishment German drama films Silent drama films 1920s German films {{Germany-silent-film-stub