BBCs Crime & Punishment

[lorenzo]

A bit off topic admittedly but Band of Brothers was discussed here so I'll run with it.

Did anyone see it and what did you think? I was truly impressed and will certainly be looking out for it on DVD in the future. I think John Simm is a superb actor and was great for his role.

I have asked for the book for b'day as i am ashamed to admit I have never read the story. I just loved the plot and, for what i thought of it, the sentiment of the film. Saw lots of little parts of myself, past and present, in it and that always touches a nerve. In a way I guess it had a not too disimilar affect on me to Eyes Wide Shut which we discussed here recently.

Any ideas as to where it was filmed? Couldn't work out if it was England.

[crofter]

It was filmed where the book was set - St Petersburg, which in turn is an integral part of the story. I agree with you that this was a superb piece of television in the best BBC 'classic serial' traditions and will also be looking out for the dvd release.(hopefully!)

[GK]

Probably the greatest piece of European literature, the best British writer in television today, astounding cast (if you're put off Simm by his 'laddish' roles, see Wonderland) and a stirring visual approach, to say the least. Part one ? Fabulous. Part two ? Currently too busy trashing my 'unreliable' VCR to think too much about missing it ... :mad:

[Cap'n Al]

It was a noble but flawed attempt at adapting a fairly unfilmable novel for TV; I thought Ian McDiarmid was absolutely stunning as Porfiry (a revelation, perhaps, for those who had only known him from his <i>Star Wars</i> work), but the dialogue frequently felt flat and 'translated', and several key aspects of the book (such as Raskolnikov's love for Sonya) didn't entirely translate.

Still, it makes a change to see something vaguely intelligent on TV for once...

[Michael Brooke]

For once I pretty much agree with the Cap’n – it certainly had its moments (the opening was flat-out stunning), and rather more than most BBC costume dramas offer (I particularly liked the St Petersburg locations, as I’m spending my honeymoon there) – but it didn’t quite work for me.

Virtually all the novel takes place in Raskolnikov’s head – and while it was a brave decision not to use voice-over, I didn’t feel that they came up with an especially convincing cinematic alternative. And I thought some bits were very overdone – Porfiry’s obsession with his tea-drinking, for instance.

Not bad, but not a patch on the novel. Still, it’ll be interesting to compare it with a version of <I>Crime and Punishment</I> that the Russian Cinema Council will be sending me at some point over the next couple of years!

[lorenzo]

Well I'm glad it stimulated a response and that it worked for some of the less literary amongst us ;). As I said above I am not a big reader but will go out of my way to get this and read it as soon as I can and if television inspires more of us to do that then surely that is a positive effect. Afterall how many films are better or indeed equal to their literary source - very few I believe.

Indeed I was thinking of this on the way to work today listening to a bit of Vivaldi (the wife had it on so I can't claim to be personally responsible for my recent journey into the world of arts ;)). The pice (Winter from the 4 seasons) was so moving that I asked myself why I don't sit and listen to operas, ballets and so on more or why I don't switch the TV / projector off more frequently and read novels. I'm sure some of you do, some think of it as I do and rarely or never act on it and others aren't too concerned either way. Don't get me wrong, I am all for the cinematic experience (which is why I spend so much money on the hobby :rolleyes:) and truely appreciate the value and artistic merits of film but as with books and music you do have to be very particular in your choice.

Maybe I will try to make the effort to read books associated with films that I like or give a certain day up to music and another to literature leaving just the 5 for DVDs :clap:. How will I cope though, I am still to watch a commentary or any extras on any DVd I have so far bought and as you can see from my collection that's a fair few now :nuts:

St Petersburg indeed! Interesting. Have a good honeymoon Michael and see if you can find the jewelry!!

[Michael Brooke]

<B>Afterall how many films are better or indeed equal to their literary source - very few I believe.</B>

More than you’d think – purely off the top of my head I’d certainly argue that <I>Jaws, The Godfather, Don’t Look Now, Once Upon a Time in America, The Commitments, The Graduate, Psycho, The Man Who Fell To Earth, Shaft, Strangers on a Train</I>, and <I>Dr Strangelove</I> are superior to the novels that inspired them, and I can also think of plenty that are at least as good (<I>A Room with a View, The Butcher Boy, The Talented Mr Ripley</I>). And there are also adaptations that are so radically different from the original that they have to be considered as separate works of art in their own right: Jan Svankmajer’s <I>Alice</I> and <I>Faust</I>, Kurosawa’s <I>Throne of Blood</I>, Welles’ <I>Chimes at Midnight</I>.

But what I think those adaptations all have in common is that they all throw something new into the mix, something that compensates for the inevitable loss of key elements of the original novel. The worst adaptations are those that simply film the book page by page with no attempt at finding an appropriate cinematic language – quite a few television costume dramas are guilty of this, so at least <I>Crime and Punishment</I> deserves credit for trying something new.

[Cap'n Al]

If a book is adapted by an intelligent, literate director, the end result is likely to be an intelligent, literate film. Thus, I'd always watch a literary adaptation by the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Minghella, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Neil Jordan or Alfred Hitchcock, as the results might well be as good as <i>A Clockwork Orange, The English Patient, Blade Runner, Last Temptation of Christ, End of the Affair</i> or <i>Psycho</i>, to name but a few, as their work can be guaranteed to get to grips with the book. Although I wasn't wildly impressed by <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, I'd happily concede that it's hard to imagine any director doing a better job of adapting the book than Peter Jackson did.

If the book is lazily adapted by some hack writer, and then given the obligatory happy ending, it is obviously going to fail; a more serious problem is where the book clearly doesn't lend itself to being adapted in the first place, as <i>Crime and Punishment</i> didn't, and where it takes the efforts of a great writer and a talented cast to make it not only watchable, but quite interesting as well. However, I have to confess I'm surprised by the hyperbole expressed earlier in the thread; the book is excellent, but to call it 'the greatest piece of European literature' is going a bit far...

[wabznasm]

Originally posted by Michael Brooke
The worst adaptations are those that simply film the book page by page with no attempt at finding an appropriate cinematic language.

Step forward Chris Columbus.