The Karamazovs

This thoroughly intellectual film asks the same question as the Dostoyevsky novel on which it's based: If people no longer believe in God, is everything permitted? A theater troupe based in Prague has come to a nearly deserted Polish steel factory to rehearse a play based on “The Brothers Karamazov.” Part of an alternative festival, the performance will take place in the rusty, godforsaken mill itself. The play is shown in its near entirety, and, as the story unfolds, we observe the real world fates of cast members and factory workers becoming intertwined with it. THE KARAMAZOVS deals with four very different brothers– some religious, some atheists– who are all in some way responsible for the murder of their father. For Dostoyevsky, and for writer-director Petr Zalenka, the tragedy of patricide represents a reversal of the natural order, precipitated by a loss of faith. This film, richly executed by actors from the Dejvicke Theater, is a spiritual drama rooted in moral struggles. Dostoyevsky's questions of doubt, reason, and free will are, of course, timeless– as relevant now as when he wrote them. (In Czech and Polish with English subtitles) – B.B.