Crime and Punishment (1970)

Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-law student, kills an old pawnbroker and her sister, perhaps for money, perhaps to prove a theory about being above the law. He comes to police attention ... See full summary »

Director:

Lev Kulidzhanov (as L. Kulidzhanov)

Writers:

Fyodor Dostoevsky (novel) (as Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevskiy), Nikolai Figurovsky (screenplay) (as N. Figurovsky)

Stars:

Georgiy Taratorkin, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Tatyana Bedova

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Georgiy Taratorkin	...	Raskolnikov
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy	...	Porfiriy Petrovich
Tatyana Bedova	...	Sonya Marmeladova
Viktoriya Fyodorova	...	Avdotya Romanovna
Yefim Kopelyan	...	Svidrigaylov
Evgeniy Lebedev	...	Marmeladov (as Yevgeniy Lebedev)
Mayya Bulgakova	...	Yekaterina Ivanovna
Irina Gosheva	...	Pulkheriya Aleksandrovna
Vladimir Basov	...	Pyotr Luzhin (as V. Basov)
Aleksandr Pavlov	...	Dmitriy Razumikhin (as A. Pavlov)
Yelizaveta Yevstratova	...	Alyona Ivanovna (as Ye.Yevstratovna)
Lyubov Sokolova	...	Yelizaveta Ivanovna (as L. Sokolova)
Inna Makarova	...	Nastasya (as I. Makarova)
Valeriy Nosik	...	Zametov (as V. Nosik)
Yuriy Medvedev	...	Lebezyatnikov (as Yu. Medvedev)

Storyline

Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-law student, kills an old pawnbroker and her sister, perhaps for money, perhaps to prove a theory about being above the law. He comes to police attention through normal procedures (he was the victim's client), but his outbursts make him the prime suspect of the clever Porfiry. Meanwhile, life swirls around Raskolnikov: his mother and sister come to the city followed by two older men seeking his sister's hand; he meets a drunken clerk who is then killed in a traffic accident, and he falls in love with the man's daughter, Sonia, a young prostitute. She urges him to confess, promising to follow him to Siberia. Will he accept responsibility?

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Plot Keywords:

russia | murder | remake | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Crime & Punishment, USA (1959)

User Reviews

Great movie and even greater book!

Crime & Punishment being one of my favorite books, I've been trying to find a film adaptation that does the book justice. This is it! Prior to this version, I'd attempted to watch a couple American versions, which were loosely based on the novel but, of the few I found, I couldn't get through the first five minutes. This Russian adaptation, on the other hand, sucked me in immediately. Georgi Taratorkin was near perfection as the paranoid intellectual, Raskolnikov. On all accounts, the roles were well cast, the book's characters coming alive in three dimension on the screen. The screenplay also translated well from Dostoevsky's original, which is rare. And the film editing, though dated and in black-and-white, I would argue reflected the book's dark storyline. Great movie, and even greater book!

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

28 September 1970 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

Crime and Punishment

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kinostudiya imeni M. Gorkogo, Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

221 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1