RU-I006-1951

THE IDIOT -- LOCATED IN I.A.S. OFFICE

Video

VHS

International Studies

No

Available

The story of the holy fool Prince Myshkin was Dostoevski's favorite of his own novels; Akira Kurosawa has often stated that Dostoevski is his favorite author. The confrontation of these two dynamic artistic spirits in Kurosawa's stupendous version of THE IDIOT represents an ideal cross-fertilization of two centuries, two cultures and two media. Transposing Dostoevski's tale of madness and jealousy to post-war Japan, and setting it among raging blizzards and claustrophobic, madly lit interiors, Kurosawa fashions an expressionistic vision of passion -- and, by the end, a heartbreaking plea for simplicity and goodness. Director: Akira Kurosawa. Actors: Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Setsuko Hara, Yoshiko Kuga . Black and White. Subtitled. (I.A.S. now located in Old McMillan 254.)