Dostoïevski

A notable Russian production of an 8-Part miniseries on the great Russian writer, "Dostoevsky" (Dostoevskiy) captures the heights and tragedy of artistic greatness amidst the pageantry and poverty of 19th Century Russia and Europe. A leading stage and film actor in his native Russia, Evgeniy Mironov delivers a memorable performance as Dostoevsky in all his complexity: intense, troubled, caring, generous, passionate, foolish and above all, brilliant. The episodes provide a panoramic sweep of the man's life from his politically-inclined younger years that led to facing a firing squad to his sombre but no less turbulent final years as a highly respected man of letters. Throughout one is witness to his complicated relationships with friends, enemies, family, rivals and his personal issues involving art, politics, gambling, health and God. The consistent direction and acting and fine script together with the colorful and evocative costumes and scenery bring to life the Victorian Era in aesthetic display.

The series suffers from the common flaw of non-American flicks with a considerable slow pace. Lacking the zip and zap of the pulsive verve that gets the best films going each episode seems to go on longer than it's near hour mark. Dostoyevsky's works are touched on but pretty much sacrificed for the drama of his life; watching this multiple series one wouldn't get an idea on what made him so great. The weaknesses are magnified by the unfortunately all too abrupt ending which misses out on key highlights at the end of Dostoevsky's storied life. This show could have definitely used an added episode or two.

A watchable and well-made tribute to arguably the greatest novelist, "Dostoevsky" highlights the triumphs and sufferings among the greatest of men and the wisdom, substance and soul won with perseverance and the belief in God. Warm and subtle like silence in the most profound of solitudes, this is one history and literary enthusiasts and admirers of the man will appreciate.

Good production and sets but I found this quite frustrating. Started well with his time his harrowing close call with firing squad and his time in detention camp But the last few episodes there was too much focus on his love life. Was there really any need to focus on Paulina or the two sisters? Added nothing to the story. Yes he had a gambling problem but this went overboard showing him repeatedly gambling.

Where was the focus on the release of his last great five novels? In particular Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamazov. Crime was released in parts and created enormous excitement but this showed nothing, just an after thought. Nothing re Grand Inquisitor or Dostoevsky's famous tribute speech to Pushkin. When they focused on his views it excelled but unfortunately that was too far and few between.

Solid biographical series from Russia.

No review so far, time to give this production some credit. I enjoyed it very much. A retrospective of the life of Dostojewski, the well known Russian literary man, struggling with the life apart wealth and social security. Yes, I even read one or two of his books. Historically adequately accurate, as far as i can judge, without exaggerated creative scripting liberties. Evgeniy Mironov playing Dostojewski does an excellent, convincing job, as does Chulpan Khamatova as Maria Issaïeva, his first wife. Settings are well done and epoch-adequate, but without the excessive over-tidy lab-cleanliness as IMO you can see often in westerner epoch/costume dramas etc., so it delivers a quite realistic impression without being overdone. No violence, few nudity, no "sensations", and still perfectly able to catch you. It delivers also some background on the Russian reception of the European revolutionary movement around 1848.

Promising is that it is an entirely Russian production, somewhat a refreshing counterpart of the US/UK/Nordic domination in good series and mini-series, also with IMO a somewhat different acting style. I watched the series in the German synchronization, I hope it's available also in English.

Well done. Hope to see more of this kind from Russia, as they have a rich historical fund at disposition.

Respectable series with good acting and solid portrayal of 19th-century Russia (as far as I can judge). I wish I had seen a production like that 30 or 40 years ago before reading Dostoyevsky's novels. Growing up in Poland I learned Russian at school and at some point decided to improve it, especially that I had a couple of close Russian friends and now live very close to the Eastern frontier of EU. Though I have not become an expert Russian speaker, I learned enough to read many books of Russian literature in the original language, including almost all novels by Dostoevsky. I was fascinated by works like "Crime and Punishment", "The brothers Karamazov", "The Gambler" which I think are general and timeless enough to be understood by everyone. Some of Dostoevsky's novels are straightforward but weak (like "Poor folk" or "The Village of Stepanchikovo"). On the other hand, I had problems with a couple of well-known works like "The Idiot" or "The Devils". I found fragments of them fascinating, others boring, and some other fragments puzzling. The main problem was that I did not understand enough of the personality of Fyodor Dostoevsky. That knowledge would have helped me to judge those novels objectively. So this TV series was very helpful to me. I didn't realize how much Dostoevsky was preoccupied with some ideas about the special predestination of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian people, which is the key for understanding some of his characters, like prince Myshkin from "The Idiot". This topic is skillfully handled in "Dostoevskiy" by showing fragments of conversations of Dostoevsky with other members of Russian intelligentsia and his disputes with more open-minded and cosmopolitan Ivan Turgenev. So as far as I can judge, the director and writer did an excellent job in trying to portray Dostoyevsky in an honest and objective way, including his addiction to gambling. The acting was good, and all characters were credible. Nice glimpse into the atmosphere of Russia too. Sometimes you could feel the snow and frost almost physically, though it was not oppressive, and the charm of winter landscapes was shown. My appreciation and respect for all people taking part in this series. I would highly recommend it to anyone intending to read books by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The script, acting, directing, historically true, everything is great in this series.