Spoilers
As Dostoevskij isn't on Letterboxd (reasonable considering its status as technically a mini-series and not a film), I'm forced to write my review for the piece here.
The short of this near-five-hour experience is psuedo-noir/True Detective descent into madness and obsession, as is typical of the investigative crime genre. And though the piece borrows its title from one of Russia's most famous writers, Fyodor Dostoevsky is not necessarily the best lens to view the mini-series.
There are, of course, parallels to Crime and Punishment, the mounting cat-and-mouse game between detective and criminal, and the unique philosophical pathology of both the investigator and the killer à la Raskolnikov, though I don't believe there is enough of a connexion aside from the general struggles of human experience.
Instead, Dostoevskij focuses on the erosion of supposed morals, not in the way of Raskolnikov where there is a natural superiority or personal philosophy, but in the way the darkness of the world can slowly corrupt, whether personally or institutionally. Near the end of the piece, chief investigator Bonomolo comments that all the cops have dirt and they have to get dirty while cleaning. On the surface, it's a throw-away noir remark, pulled straight from Chandler, but upon closer inspexion, it reveals the true meaning of story.
Our lead, Enzo, is not only corrupted on a personal level--he struggles with paedophilia and drug addition and family estrangement, but in a way, this is a systemic set of issues. Or, in another way, Enzo can be seen in contrast to the killer Dostoevskij, who was almost entirely the product of systemic neglect, mistreatment, and transformation. In that manner, these characters could be seen as foils for reaching the same inevitable end, Enzo personally, and Dostoevskij societally.
This piece is dark. Dark to the level of its influences (Se7en, True Detective). Unlike those pieces, which aim to give us some semblance of hope and closure by the end, Dostoevskij dives fully into the prevalent nihilism of the era, choosing the darkest route possible.
The sexion which stood out to me was, what I have to assume to be (being unsure because I saw the whole thing in one screening), the last episode. In this, Enzo finally located Dostoevskij by finding a connecting arms dealer.
Suspense. Maximum. Would be the only description for this sequence. It begins with Enzo arrive at the arms dealer's house and hiding, waiting for him to come home. Once he does, there is a tense hide-and-seek game which ends in an explosion of violence. Next, a neighbour arrives at an inopportune time for a classic setup, only for him to be caught as a pawn by Dostoevskij who fully assaults the house in a spray of bullets. Finally, there is what amounts to a car chase and tense scene between Enzo and Dostoevskij.
During this whole time, the episode has been cross cutting to Bonomolo making his way to Enzo, but being forced to stop time again. The first iteration of this feels ripped directly from No Country at the gas stop, only we know Bonomolo to be one of our 'good guys' giving the whole seen an unhinged energy that is almost comedic, this is amplified by the instant message conversation with his wife. After this, he almost reaches Enzo in time to stop what is unfolding, but has to check on the now bloodied Bonocore, ultimately leading to the nihilistic conclusion.
The brilliance of this final episode is in how it constantly builds more and more tension on top of its already absurd situations. I didn't even mention the jogger Enzo encounters the next morning. The entire series up to this point has had moments of extreme unease and tension, but this final episode showcases the power of this story and characters in a way mostly unjustified previously. It's a capstone which solidifies the craft of the piece as well as its dark world/message.
Though it may be hard to journey through five hours of pain and depravity, I think the former runtime (though often bloated by needless digressions) justifies itself through this final 40 minute sequence.
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