L'Idiot (1946)
Directed by Georges Lampin

Film Review

An exceptional cast, an intelligent script and some impressive production values all go to make Georges Lampin's L'Idiot one of the most watchable screen adaptations of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's celebrated 1869 novel The Idiot.  Incredibly, this was Lampin's first film, although he had previously worked as an assistant director on several films, including Marcel L'Herbier's Le Parfum de la dame en noir (1931) and Wilhelm Thiele's Le Bal (1931).  A French director of Russian birth, Lampin made only a dozen films, the most famous of which is another Dostoyevsky adaptation, Crime et châtiment (1956), which starred Jean Gabin and Robert Hossein.

Lampin's L'Idiot manages to get away with a drastic compression of Dostoyevsky's novel, dispensing with virtually everything except the most interesting part, the tempestuous love quartet involving Muichkine, Aglaé, Nastasia and Rogogine.  The focus of the story is Nastasia, a passionate woman who is torn between the high-minded ideals of Muichkine and the baser instincts of Rogogine, the two men reflecting the two conflicting sides of her character.

In only his third film appearance, Gérard Philipe already has the unmistakable allure of a screen icon, and the part of Muychkine, a man who can see no bad in the world, is an ideal match to his strangely unworldly persona.  The magnificent Edwige Feuillère gives an arresting performance as Nastasia, and Lucien Coëdel brings a brooding intensity to his portrayal of the villainous Rogogine.

What is perhaps most striking about this film is its dreamlike chiaroscuro photography.  The shadowy interiors, redolent of classic film noir, have an oppressive character mirroring the dark world of human vice that Muichkine seems to be incapable of seeing. Meanwhile, the sun-drenched exteriors suggest man's better side, his compassion and nobility.  This contrast of styles effectively mirrors the opposite natures of Aglaé and Nastasia, between whom Muichkine, the childlike idealist who sees only good, is unable to choose.  Lampin's film makes an interesting contrast with Akira Kurosawa's The Idiot (1951), made just a few years later.

Film Synopsis

After a long stay in Switzerland, where he has been receiving treatment for epilepsy, a Russian prince, Muychkine, returns to Saint Petersburg.  Impoverished and alone, the only person he can turn to is his distant relative, General Epantchine.  The latter is presently preoccupied with his daughter Aglaé's imminent marriage to the wealthy Totsky - the main worry being that Totsky has a mistress, the beautiful Nastasia Philipovna.  The sensitive Muychkine is emotionally drawn to Aglaé but Nastasia provides an even greater fascination.  He offers to marry Nastasia, but she refuses, and decides to sell herself to the man who offers her the most money.  Her buyer is the uncouth and violent merchant, Rogogine...