Acting : Mironov is simply sublime, Mashkin is outstanding, the characters of Lebyedev, generals Ivolgin and Yepanchin, Ganya, most of minor cast, from Hippolit and Kolya to Adelaida Yepanchina are all excellent.
But the main female leads are less so. Nastasya, while stunning, is one-dimensional and a bit too old for the part. Aglaya is wooden and - importantly for the sake of the novel - just too plain. Keller is totally miscast. The acting (again apart from Mironov, Mashkin and Ilin) often lacks humor integral to the novel; and at times seems staged and/or rushed. The only brief smile by Elizaveta is at the poignant end.
Directing : The tête-à-tête scenes (Myshkin visit to Rogozhyn's house, the intro meeting on the train, the final) are excellent; however some crucial group ones : Nastasya's birthday party, the scene at the Pavlovsk concert, are rather poorly designed and edited. Most group scenes lack well-though-out mise-en-scene to give the adaptation the breadth it deserved.
Score is just god-awful.
Having said all that (and I've seen probably all the adaptations, including Pyryev's, Kurosawa's and Lampin's), it is by far the best effort, with good balance of material left from the novel.
A little more care and effort would've made it gold-standard masterpiece.
But the main female leads are less so. Nastasya, while stunning, is one-dimensional and a bit too old for the part. Aglaya is wooden and - importantly for the sake of the novel - just too plain. Keller is totally miscast. The acting (again apart from Mironov, Mashkin and Ilin) often lacks humor integral to the novel; and at times seems staged and/or rushed. The only brief smile by Elizaveta is at the poignant end.
Directing : The tête-à-tête scenes (Myshkin visit to Rogozhyn's house, the intro meeting on the train, the final) are excellent; however some crucial group ones : Nastasya's birthday party, the scene at the Pavlovsk concert, are rather poorly designed and edited. Most group scenes lack well-though-out mise-en-scene to give the adaptation the breadth it deserved.
Score is just god-awful.
Having said all that (and I've seen probably all the adaptations, including Pyryev's, Kurosawa's and Lampin's), it is by far the best effort, with good balance of material left from the novel.
A little more care and effort would've made it gold-standard masterpiece.