The Brothers Karamazov

This rarely screened but famous adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novel (1931, 93 min.), more commonly known as The Murder of Dmitri Karamazov, was one of the favorite films of English critic Raymond Durgnat. It’s rightly celebrated for its atmosphere, mobile camera, inventive editing, and musical score by Karol Rathaus (which Bernard Herrmann cited with admiration), and it’s one of those transitional films that combine the most expressive aspects of silent cinema and early talkies. The cast, which includes Fritz Kortner (Pandora’s Box) as Dmitri and Anna Sten as Gruschenka, is notable as well. Directed by Fyodor Otsep, a Russian, and Erich Engels, a German, and shot in Germany. In German with subtitles. (JR)

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