Crime & Punishment – Dostoyevsky – 1998 film (Dir. Joseph Sargent)The film focus is on Rodya, a young atheist student who mixes social idealism (a theological given) with delusions of grandeur. He perceives that morality is an absolute, yet entertains the idea that it is purely social and that he himself is above the moral law "like Napoleon". At one stage he risks his life to save two unknown children; late he murders two known women (intentionally, evil Alena, & unintentionally, her good sister, Elizaveta) in his anger against injustice & desperation to get Alena's ill-gotten gold to save his sister (Dounia) from an economic marriage he fears.To a large extent the story follows the aftermath of his murders. It never successfully comes to a point where he repents of murdering the old parasitical crone Alena, although her dying has haunted him. He slides into paranoia and away from his former idealism, though still acts as benefactor to the Marmeladov family. His self-belief (supermen don't get caught) has been shaken, and the police chief (Porfiry) investigating the sisters' murders perturbs him. (I felt it unclear whether Porfiry wishes Rodya an unalloyed "get it off your chest" wellness, or also has a greedy eye for stolen gold. Indeed I felt a number of loose ends were left. This encourages one to read the book!)Spiritually drowning, "a monster", Rodya asks Sonia Marmeladova to help him resurface through a Lazarus' experience (cf. John ch.11). She, earlier forced into prostitution to feed her family, has had a Bible given by Elizaveta, and believes that God alone, or at least Faith alone, can save Rodya, whom she is deeply gratefully to, and probably would marry for love. She says that repentance leading to confession of his crime, inviting civil punishment, is the key to saving his soul. If he will dare this road, she will walk with him "to the ends of the earth" – they end up in a Siberian prison camp, he a prisoner, she a nurse.In the camp a chaplain raises the cry, "Christ is risen". Russian Orthodoxy was a key element in Russian society, yet it is probably true to say that Rodya's salvation is merely of the soul (psyche), not quite of the spirit. Still a movement in the right direction. Human loves can reflect (the Sonia factor), and thus point to, transcendent love, though in themselves become demonic as the murders show (the Alena factor).Issues such as class divides, the problem of pain within theism, and morality as transcendent vs mere convenience, are hinted at but not fully explored. The acting is good, though a message rather than story is the focus. There are interesting subplots & characters: Dounia's former co-employer (Arkady) is besotted by her simple beauty, and while prepared to betray his wife is not prepared to rape, ending his own life in his despair in failing to win her love which he imagined would give his life meaning – Dounia lovingly marries Dimitri (aka 'Reason'), her brother's best friend and a nephew to Porfiry.

Some scenes are ridiculous - the timing is all wrong and the director deserves an axe-treatment for screwing this book up. The Disney version would probably be better. The original story has many layers but they tried to make it into a shakespeare play or sumthin, but worse.. Shame on you. Ben Kingsley is good though, and I liked the genuine feel to the surroundings, but that doesn´t help this empty shell of a movie. If you read the book u might get inspired to read it again. If u have not - leave this crap alone. I bet the reason Kingsley (the police) looks angry at times is because he´s starting to realize the movie will suck.

Between the bad accents, the horrible directing, and the predominantly bad acting, it couldn't be any worse. Even poor Richard Bremmer didn't look good trying to act while using that rotten Russian accent. Skip this one.

I have to admit that for a TV movie, I wasn't expecting much out of Crime and Punishment. However, as an avid reader of Dostoevsky, I felt I had to give it a chance. I read Crime and Punishment three years ago, and I loved it and welcomed the chance to see it acted out. I was pleasantly surprised! This was a wonderful adaptation of the novel. It stayed true to the wonderful storyline most of the time, and it was superbly acted. I don't know much about Russia in the nineteenth century, but this film really captured the time and really made me feel like I was there. It is certainly a great work, and anyone who loves Dostoevsky should see it.