gkbazalo

A friend loaned me this film and I'm glad he did. I am not knowledgeable on either the history of Simon Bolivar or current day Columbia, but this was not a barrier to enjoying the story. The protagonist is a lead in a very popular historical soap opera in which he plays Simon Bolivar. It is clear that the TV show is not going for historical accuracy, but is content to focus on Bolivar's love affairs. The script calls for Bolivar to be shot before a firing squad. Our protagonist begins to identify strongly with the character, especially the latter's dreams of a unified Columbia. He bolts from the set just before he is shot and visits the current president of Columbia who is a fan and invites him attend a political rally, where he feels he can benefit from the actor's popularity. A series of adventures ensue in which the lead character fluctuates between his own identity and that of Bolivar, moving more toward the latter as the film progresses. The humorous situations that follow are able to show how Bolivar's dream of a united Columbia have been thwarted by selfish politicians on both the right and left. This type of film often unravels about half way through, but "Bolivar Is Me" manages to reach the ending with flying colors. Very enjoyable on several levels. 7 of 10.

Vladimir Bortko's Idiot is a faithful translation of Dostoyevsky's novel. I had read the novel again just recently before watching this 10 part, nearly 10 hour miniseries and I don't think that any of the key characters or events are left out, which is quite a feat in itself. All the characters are true to the novel. I found that parts, especially in the second half, were slow, but I found the novel to be slow in those parts as well.

As an American with no knowledge of Russian, I had to rely on the translation, which varied from very good (at least grammatically correct) to nearly incomprehensible. It was as if the translator went occasionally crazy and then recovered. However, it was good enough in all parts to follow although I found myself hitting the pause button to read some of the longer captions. The DVD, as far as I know, is available in the US only at www.rbcmp3.com.

I found myself comparing this version to Kurosawa's. I think the two Russian male leads (Prince M. and Rogozhin) were as good as their Japanese counterparts, which is saying a lot, since Masayuki Mori and Toshiro Mifune were great in those parts. Mironov and Mashkov both capture the essence of their characters, the Prince's innocence and Rogozhin's violent love--hate relationship with Nastassya. I don't think the two female leads were as good as their Japanese counterparts, but it's difficult to beat the great Setsuko Hara. Kurosawa's film, cut down to 166 minutes, could only present a fraction of the novel's events and characters, but did a great job in choosing the ones to include. Only the character of Lebedev was really missed in the Japanese version. Lebedev, by the way, is terrific in this version. The Russian version really lets you get acquainted with the more minor characters like Hippolite and Keller.

Inna Churikova is a standout as Lizaveta Epanchina, a key character in both the films and novel.

Definitely recommended for fans of the novel and anyone who likes to settle into a good ten hour drama.

These comments are directed to people who have not seen this film AND are not highly religious. Don't waste your time. It is exactly what you probably imagine it to be. A huge amount of blood and beating, no character development whatsoever, no dramatic arc or humor, nothing whatever to indicate why this person is being beaten so savagely. The Jews and Romans, with the exception of Pilate and Simon of Cyrene, are completely cartoonish and one-dimensional. The very limited amount of time spent on flashbacks that might give some context to Jesus's character is a waste of film. Yes, the devil is an interesting character, but isn't he (she) always?

This is a Christian pep rally, nothing more. And it certainly does not adhere to the Bible in its details. Where have you gone Max von Sydow?