The Idiot (Idioot) By Rainer Sarnet

Estonia (2011) - Tridends Baltic Film Competition

The Idiot (Idioot) directed by Rainer Sarnet is a story of a naive man, based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel of the same name. Despite of the simple synopsis, the story itself is full of hidden symbols. As there are many differences between writing and reading, reading and watching, there are also differences between watching and watching. Therefore if one hasn’t read The Idiot as a book, he needs not just to watch the film, but also to read it.

The Idiot got lots of critiques from Estonian media, including Eero Tammi’s words in Kinoleht La Strada (No 15, 2011): „Editing is loose, sometimes even erratic, without any rhythm or tempo.” I cannot agree, because for me it’s not the editing that has “holes”, it is the script. In cinematography, the gaps may not be erratic at all. Perhaps, it’s simply a cinematographic way to represent novels. There is also a possibility that those “holes” are for our own imagination – the same one we use strongly during reading.

Dostoyevsky as an author has a very common writing style, but in the film all those strong literature stories are translated into small visual details. Instead of writing pages about Myshkin’s love towards children in the beginning of the movie we see children passing through a dark street and the prince smiles. But don’t be carried away by his childlike sincerity, because his complex nature opens his motifs in a whole different range.

Some of the holes could have been filled by the voice of an actor, or a narrator. Dostoyevsky is one of the most sincere authors towards his own characters in entire history of literature. Not only he explains through inner monologues what they think, feel or plan, he also protects their intentions through a narrator. He uses sentences like „which is actually natural”, in between parentheses, while supporting character’s decisions. But in a Sarnet’s film characters are closed systems, so in order to understand how to emphasize with them; we need to be as good face-readers as Myshkin’s character.

Director Rainer Sarnet has confirmed that his first idea for the film came from listening Orthodox music. He had a thought to do a movie under the light from church that deals with subjects of soul, mysticism and religion. Dostoyevsky’s first intention was to create a perfect character, who would be the prettiest, the smartest, the funniest and the best. The final product was a novel called The Idiot, and the comparison of both intentions and outcome already hides a strong message.

As we finish reading Rainer Sarnet’s The Idiot, we notice the positions of the characters and the way it builds up a trinity. The way they are combined in order to tell a story also reminds of a religious painting. All symbols were well thought through, including Tracey Lemini’s work „You forgot to kiss my soul” and Nastassya’s fear of the knife. These cinematographic drawings are a proof that a film can adapt not only books, but also paintings.

By Kerli Adov