Aleksandr Petrov: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1992)
Eugène Delacroix, Tasso in the Madhouse, 1839, private collection(http://www.backtoclassics.com/images/pics/eugenedelacroix/eugenedelacroix_tassointhemadhouse.jpg)
What is the point of doing the good? Is there any evidence of a sense in life? Then, is it not doing the good as senseless as being a villain? Dostoevsky takes this question and discusses it in his passionate way in a short story: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. You should read it. If you don't know Russian, there is an excellent English rendering at http://www.kiosek.com/dostoevsky/library/ridiculousman.txt . The translation is done by Constance Garnett: she rendered in English the works of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov.
The story of Dostoevsky walk us through reality and dream, up to the point where reality and dream become two equally possible universes. I would say even three potentially real words, as the dream comes in two successive versions: humanity before and after the fall. And the answer of Dostoevsky is, if I understood it correctly, that the sense is given by our capacity of choice: we choose to do the good or not, and it is our choice that gives sense to our life.
Aleksandr Petrov adapted the story of Dostoevsky and made it a 20 minute animation. Petrov found here in full blow the religious dimension he seems to be particularly interested in. On the other side, telling in images the story of the ridiculous man is challenging, as it is highly symbolical. Petrov proceeded straightforward, so to speak: he simply followed the text and left the interpretation for us.
(Aleksandr Petrov)
Labels: Aleksandr Petrov
posted by Pierre Radulescu at
11:48 AM
1 Comments:
You mention Dostoevsky. If you want something or find out more about Dostoevsky, you are on this page will fare well: http://dostojewski.npage.de/
With a click, they can also translate page into English.
By
Jatman, at 1:53 AM
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