Guilt and Atonement (1935, France)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Crime and Punishment |
| Original title | Crime et Châtiment |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1935 |
| length | 107 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Pierre Chenal |
| script |
Marcel Aymé Pierre Chenal Christian Stengel Wladimir Strijewski based on the novel of the same name (1866) by Fyodor Dostoevsky |
| production | Christian Stengel Michel Kagansky |
| music | Arthur Honegger |
| camera | Joseph-Louis Mundwiller |
| cut | André Galitzine |
| occupation | |
| |
Guilt and Atonement is a French feature film from 1935 based on the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky . Directed by Pierre Chenal , Pierre Blanchar as Raskolnikow and Harry Baur and Madeleine Ozeray starred .
action
Radion Raskolnikow is a young law student of 23 who had to interrupt his studies because he ran out of finances. The pawnbroker Aljona Ivanovna, from whom he has to borrow money again and again, is a usurer and, as he says, tightens Rodion's air to breathe. So Raskolnikov comes up with the plan to murder the old woman. He kills Aljona with an ax. In order to give his bloody act a philosophical foundation, the intellectual Raskolnikov tries to define the murder as an act of liberation from humanitarian sentimentalism, especially since he felt the old woman as a bloodsucker. When the dead woman's half-sister, Katharina Ivanovna, arrives, he uses the same ax to split the skull of the disliked witness.
Raskolnikov must recognize, however, that there is a huge difference between the theory of murder, which he sees as justified by definition by his personal ideology, and the feeling of guilt that he has carried within himself since the crime was committed. He is not the man without a conscience he thought he was; after the double murder he falls into a feverish twilight state for several days. In the meantime the examining magistrate Porfirij has started his work and is looking for the perpetrator. The experienced lawyer’s intuition soon makes him guilty of Raskolnikov, and yet he cannot prove anything to the young Rodion. Young Sonja, with whom Raskolnikow fell in love and who prostituted herself out of bitter poverty in order to be able to support her family, advises Rodion to face himself, since he will not be able to live with this guilt in the long term. Raskolnikov listens to their advice and makes atonement for the act committed. He has to go to a penal camp in Siberia for eight years.
Production notes
Chenal's Guilt and Atonement was created almost at the same time as the Hollywood version of the same name by star director Josef von Sternberg . The French film opened on May 15, 1935. The film could also be seen in the Netherlands and the USA that same year. While Schuld und Atonement never ran in Germany, the strip could be examined for the first time in Austria on January 31, 1947.
Aimé Bazin designed the film structures . Catherine Hessling , temporarily the wife of Jean Renoir, gave her farewell performance in front of the film camera in the small role of Elisabeth and then withdrew into private life.
Raskolnikov interpreter Pierre Blanchar received the Volpi Cup for best leading actor at the Venice Film Festival .
criticism
"There's a real film hidden in this Dostoevsky book, and the French have proven it."
“This artistic and commercial success makes Pierre Chenal one of the best directors in the world. With his example he shows us that French cinema has first-class technicians and artists. "
Paimann's film lists summed up: “Psychologically supported criminal study. This time, even if at the expense of the dramatic streamlining, it was developed even more detailed and deeply and realistically presented without concession using stage means under the predominance of the, acceptably subtitled, dialogue. Strongly rhythmic music, often used suddenly, presentation that does justice to the milieu (Russia in the 1970s). "
"Concise, well-played French version."
Individual evidence
- ↑ In the original: "Ce succès artistique et commercial class Pierre Chenal parmi les meilleurs metteurs en scène du monde. Par son example, il nous prouve que le cinéma français a des techniciens et des artistes de premier ordre. »
- ↑ Guilt and atonement in Paimann's film lists
Web links
- Crime and Punishment in the Internet Movie Database (English)