The Idiot - Adaptations and Tributes

Adaptations and Tributes

• Several filmmakers have produced adaptations of the novel, among them L'idiot (Georges Lampin; 1946), a 1951 version by Akira Kurosawa, a 1958 version by Russian director Ivan Pyryev, the Bengali film Aparichito (Salil Dutta; 1969), and a 1992 Hindi version by Mani Kaul.
• Truman Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1957) —also later a popular film (1961)— is a loose adaptation of the novel, featuring a struggling New York writer whose affections are torn between a wealthy patron and the beautiful and slightly batty waif downstairs.
• In 2001, Down House, a tongue-in-cheek modern adaptation/parody of the novel, was filmed by Russian director Roman Kachanov, using the late 1990s Moscow underworld of mafia and drug addicts as the setting; it featured Fyodor Bondarchuk as the Prince and the co-writer of the script, Ivan Okhlobystin as Rogozhin.
• Christian Bale's character in The Machinist is seen reading The Idiot at various points throughout the film.
• Iggy Pop's 1977 album The Idiot is titled in reference to James Osterberg, Tony Visconti and David Bowie's love of the book.
• In 2003, Russian State Television produced a 10-part, 8-hour mini-series of the work, directed by Vladimir Bortko for Russia 1, which is available with English subtitles.
• In 1999, the Tabakov Theatre produced an adaptation of the novel, adapted and directed by Alexandre Marine with the show later airing on the Kultura television as TV-play.
• In 1999, Czech director Saša Gedeon produced a modern cinematic reinterpretation of The Idiot entitled The Return of the Idiot (Návrat idiota).
• The Polish director Andrzej Wajda adapted the last chapter of The Idiot as the feature film Nastasja in 1994.
• The Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky planned an opera on The Idiot during World War I but did not complete it.
• The Harlan Ellison short story Prince Myshkin and Hold the Relish features a friendly debate on Dostoyevsky and The Idiot between the narrator and a vendor at Pink's Hot Dogs in Los Angeles.
• In 2008, the theatre director Katie Mitchell premiered "...some trace of her", a multimedia exploration of the novel's central themes.
• The famous Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky planned an adaptation after The Idiot, but had died before it was realized.
• The German novelist Hermann Hesse wrote in 1919 a short piece about the book called Thoughts on The Idiot of Dostoevsky, later released in a compilation of essays called My Belief: Essays on Life and Art.
• In Act 1, Scene 2 of Mel Brooks' musical The Producers, Max Bialystock jokingly addresses Leo Bloom as "Prince Miskin." This also occurs in the original film.
• In the 1998 pilot episode of T.V. show "Seven Days", Frank Parker (played by Jonathan LaPaglia) has a copy of The Idiot on his desk inside the insane asylum.
• In 2009, Lithuanian theatre director Eimuntas Nekrošius directed "Idiotas", performance in 4 parts.
• In 1985, Polish director Andrzej Zulawski directed the feature film "L'Amour Braque" (Limpet Love), as a homage to Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot". Its end credits state that "The film is inspired by Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" and intended as a homage to the great writer". It stars Sophie Marceau as what most likely is the part of Nastasja Philipovna.
• BBC Radio 7 broadcast a 4-episode adaptation of "The Idiot" entitled "Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot," in June 2010. It starred Paul Rhys as Prince Myshkin.
• Simon Gray's stage adaptation was produced by the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic Theatre, London in 1970, starring Derek Jacobi.
• In June 2011, Russian Director Victor Sobchak adapted this story into a short two-hour play at The Theatre Collection in Camden, above The Lord Stanley Arms pub. London born, Indian actor Ajay Nayyar played the role of Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin
• In October 2011, Australian Director and Sound Designer Max Lyandvert adapted the show into a Three Act play performed by National Institute of Dramatic Art students at Bay 20, CarriageWorks in Sydney, Australia. Harry Greenwood played the role of Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin.
• In October 2011, Estonian director Rainer Sarnet adapted the book to a feature film The Idiot, starring Risto Kübar as Prince Myshkin.