Karamazovi, SIFF 2009, 9/10
In the early 1990s, an experimental ‘alternate drama’ festival bringing actors performance artists and their audiences close to real situations, has the Czech Dejvicke Theater troupe engaged to put on Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (as adapted by Evald Schorm) for the workers at a Polish steel mill. The troupe runs through the play by using various portions of the mill as stage and prop, adding a rather interesting industrial atmosphere to the play.
The Brothers Karamazov is about Fyodor Karamazov (Ivan Trojan) being resurrected from the dead to hold his sons accountable for their roles in his death. On a deeper level, its about the amorality of an increasingly atheist Russia.
Eldest son Dmitri (David Novotny) is almost a carbon copy of his father, both boozing and debauchery being favorite pastimes; culminating in fighting over the same woman (Lenka Krobotova) just before Fyodor’s death. Alyosha (Martin Mysicka) is the youngest and is only a half-brother, but very close to Dmitri. Ivan (Igor Chmela) is an atheist who is feared by both Dmitri and Fyodor. Smerdyakov (Radek Holub) is possibly Fyodor’s illegitimate son, and confesses to being his murderer even though its probably just a scheme.
The troupe’s run-through at a Polish steelworks showcases the extraordinary power of this particular adaptation, adding a secondary storyline showing the actors offstage as they interact with one another and factory workers. One such worker is a maintenance man (Andrezej Mastalerz) whose son has suffered a recent bad accident. They also see the other performances that were brought in by the stage manager, a dance duo and a hand puppeteer who channels Dostoyevsky during a radio interview. And for good measure, one of the actors is needed back in Prague to finish a movie, but to do so is to miss critical performances.
I did not see a better movie at SIFF this year. The happenings of stage and “real life” were so well interleaved that it sometimes wasn’t obvious to the transition. The text of the scenes that were played out had parallel themes in the off stage conversations that it was eerie in its execution. The movie expertly avoids being a movie version of a stage play so well by offering up unique camera angles as it moves from one scene to the next and the strong acting put on by Trojan.
Tags: SIFF
