Nastazja is Andrzej Wajda's adaptation of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. Or to put it another way, it is a Polish director's filming of a Russian novel featuring two Japanese actors. It is the story of two friends, Myshkin and Rogozhin who are both in love with Nastazja, who seemingly cannot make up her mind between the two of them. The way Wajda adapted the source material is unusual to say the least. The movie can be divided into two parts. The first scene is filmed in what looks like a Russian church, where Nastazja is about to marry one of the two friends. Instead, she runs off with the other. The rest of the movie takes place entirely in Rogozhin's house, where the two friends talk about their history together and their infatuation with Nastazja. The movie requires close attention because the timeline jumps back and forth (and even between locations, even though the set never changes) with almost imperceptible cues marking the change of scenes. Another interesting choice is the casting of Nastazja. Tamasaburo Bando, the actor who plays Myshkin also plays her, a decision that seems to suggest a homoerotic attraction between the two friends. (In real life, Bando was an onnagata--a Kabuki actor who specializes in female roles.)
All in all, it is an interesting, if a little airless movie. The way it was filmed makes it seems like an adaptation of a play rather than a novel. It goes on a little too long but it is worth watching just for the performances of the two actors if nothing else.
All in all, it is an interesting, if a little airless movie. The way it was filmed makes it seems like an adaptation of a play rather than a novel. It goes on a little too long but it is worth watching just for the performances of the two actors if nothing else.
