Akira Kurosawa and Dostoevsky : The strategy of Kurosawa in cinematization of the novel idiot

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Other Title
  • 黒澤明とドストエフスキイ : 映画『白痴』の戦略
  • クロサワメイ ト ドストエフスキイ : エイガ 『 ハクチ 』 ノ センリャク

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Abstract

The film of Dostoevsky's novel Idiot cinematized by Akira Kurosawa has been highly appreciated by Russians and has been considered as a very remarkable evidence of Japanese assimilation to the understanding of this Russian author. The novel Idiot is such a complicated psychological novel that it is almost impossible to cinematize. It is said that the art of cinematography is inadequate to fully express the deep human psychology. But the passionate love of Kurosawa to this novel, particularly of the hero Prince Myshkin, challenged Kurosawa to this difficult task. What was his strategy? He simplified the plot and adapted the novel into a Japanese modern love tragedy located in Sapporo. His strategy consisted not only of metaphorically use of various images in this novel which highly impressed Kurosawa, but also the expressionist recreation of Kurosawa's bald original images. This adaptation surpassed a simple Japanization of Idiot and succeeded in attaining a condensed, fresh and universal reproduction of Dostoevsky's world.

Journal

  • Comparatio

    Comparatio 15 125-143, 2011-12-28

    Society of Comparative Cultural Studies, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University

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