Demons: Day 3
Now we’re in the thick of it so I’ll keep this short. There’s something absolutely hysterical and riveting about Demons—they all seem to be deluding themselves. Have to rush back to the Nikolai-Liza-Dasha thrown at Stepan situation.
There are a number of excellent American films inspired by the works of Dostoevsky. They’re not exactly adaptations, but the influence just punches you in the face.
Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver is loosely based on Notes From Underground.
Scorsese’s Life Lessons in the trilogy New York Stories was inspired by The Gambler.
James Gray’s Two Lovers is sort of adapted from the short story White Nights.
These films all feature killer performances by the male leads.
The loose adaptations fared much better than the outright adaptations such as The Brothers Karamazov with William Shatner. The very idea!
Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket owes a debt to Crime and Punishment, and Akira Kurosawa has a film of The Idiot. White Nights was filmed by Luchino Visconti starring Marcello Mastroianni. Andrzej Wajda made a movie of The Possessed in 1988, has anyone seen it? A big fan of The Possessed: Albert Camus, who adapted it for the stage.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
February 6th, 2010 at 00:36
I’m still in the Introductory. Just met Shatov and Virginsky. Work just keeps getting in the way. And The Secret Speech. Anyway, this is my favorite description of Stepan: “Stepan Trofimovitch, like every witty man, needed a listener, and besides that, he needed the consciousness that he was fulfilling the lofty duty of disseminating ideas.” Haha. Btw, Jessica, you might want to check this out: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/05/archbishop-canterbury-blair-iraq-dostoyevsky.
February 6th, 2010 at 05:28
Just finished Part One. Now it gets more interesting. On top of Stepan Trofimovich’s arranged marriage to Dasha, Nikolai Vselodovich comes back to town and seems to have gotten himself involved with a certain Captain Lebyadkin and his lame sister, Marya Timofeevna. The situation between Nikolai-Dasha-Liza and now Marya is starting to get a little confusing. Up to now, I’m stil trying to decipher Dasha’s role in that situation. She proclaims that Nikolai Vselodovich entrusted her to deliver money to Captain Lebyadkin for the care of his sister. I suspect that there is something more than that.