''The Murderer Dimitri Karamazov'' () is a 1931 German

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Erich Engels Erich Engels (23 May 1889 – 25 April 1971) was a German screenwriter, film producer, producer and film director.Bock & Bergfelder p.112 Selected filmography * ''Dear Homeland'' (1929) * ''Rooms to Let'' (1930) * ''The Murderer Dimitri Karamazo ...

and

Fedor Ozep Fedor Ozep or Fyodor Otsep (, ''Fyodor Aleksandrovich Otsep''; February 9, 1895 – June 20, 1949) was a Russian-American film director and screenwriter, born in Moscow. An important early writer on film and film theory, he served as dramaturge f ...

, starring

Fritz Kortner Fritz Kortner (born Fritz Nathan Kohn, 12 May 1892 – 22 July 1970) was an Austrian stage and film actor and theatre director. Life and career Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn into a Jews, Jewish family. He studied at the Vien ...

and Anna Sten. It tells the story of a lieutenant who is suspected of having murdered his father. The film is based on motifs from

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

's novel ''

The Brothers Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' ( rus, Братья Карамазовы, Brat'ya Karamazovy, ˈbratʲjə kərɐˈmazəvɨ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly ...

''. A French version ''

'' was produced separately.

Cast

as Dimitri Karamasoff * Anna Sten as Gruschenka *

Fritz Rasp Fritz Heinrich Rasp (13 May 1891 – 30 November 1976) was a German film actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1916 and 1976. His obituary in ''Der Spiegel'' described Rasp as "the German film villain in service, for over 60 years." ...

as Smerdjakoff *

Bernhard Minetti Bernhard Theodor Henry Minetti (26 January 1905 – 12 October 1998) was a German actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1931 and 1996 but is mostly known for his distinguished stage career. Selected filmography *'' The Murderer Dimitri Karamaz ...

as Iwan Karamasoff *

Max Pohl Max Pohl (10 December 1855 – 7 April 1935) was an Austrian stage and film actor.Gadberry p.155 Selected filmography * '' The Black Tulip Festival'' (1920) * '' The Marquise of Armiani'' (1920) * '' The Fear of Women'' (1921) * '' The Oath of St ...

as Fedor Karamasoff *

Hanna Waag Hanna Waag (1904–1995) was a German film actress.Prawer p.213 Amongst her performances were playing Queen Victoria in the 1933 film '' Waltz War'' and the title role in ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' in 1935. Of Jewish heritage, in 1937 she went int ...

as Katja *

Fritz Alberti Fritz Alberti (born Friedrich Wilhelm Alberti; 22 October 1877 – 15 September 1954) was a German actor. Selected filmography * ''People in Ecstasy'' (1921) * ''The Other Woman (1924 film), The Other Woman'' (1924) * ''The Blackguard'' (1925) * ...

as Gerichtspräsident * Werner Hollmann as Der Pole *

Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel (5 April 1900 – 24 December 1994) was an Austrian actress who started her career in Germany during the 1920s. Under the Nazi regime she emigrated to the United States, where she appeared on the Broadway and in a few H ...

as Fenja

Production

The film was produced by

Terra Film Terra Film was a Berlin-based film production company. Founded in 1919, it became one of Germany's largest film production companies in the 1930s under the Nazi regime. Corporate history The company was founded at end of 1919, initially as a limi ...

and shot at the company's Marienfelde Studios in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Filming took place from 22 October to 24 November 1930. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Heinrich Richter Heinrich Richter (1884–1981) was a German painter and art director.Soister p.122 He designed the sets for more than a hundred films during his career. Selected filmography * '' The Confessions of the Green Mask'' (1916) * '' The Sensational Tr ...

and

Victor Trivas Victor Trivas (July 9, 1896 – April 12, 1970) was a Russian-JewishSiegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), p. 211 screenwriter and film director. He was no ...

Reception

The British film critic

Raymond Durgnat Raymond Durgnat (1 September 1932 – 19 May 2002) was a British film critic, who was born in London to Swiss parents. During his life he wrote for virtually every major English language film publication. In 1965 he published the first maj ...

wrote in a 1993 article about Ozep for ''Film Dope'': "The Karamazov film is a ''tour de force'' of stylistic eclecticism:

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

acting (Kortner), dynamic angles, Russian editing, marathon tracking shots. It's a real showpiece of formalism geared to psycho-lyrical ends, exactly as Eisenstein intended, except that Dostoievskian soul-torments replace

Leninist Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

collectivism to which the 'official' montage-masters tuned their lyres."

References

External links

* 1931 drama films 1931 films Films based on The Brothers Karamazov Films directed by Fedor Ozep Films directed by Erich Engels Films of the Weimar Republic German drama films 1930s German-language films German multilingual films Terra Film films German black-and-white films 1930s German films Films shot at Terra Studios Films scored by Karol Rathaus Films scored by Kurt Schröder {{1930s-Germany-film-stub