{"id":2429000,"date":"2019-06-12T11:15:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T18:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/?p=2429000"},"modified":"2019-06-16T10:48:24","modified_gmt":"2019-06-16T17:48:24","slug":"danjmarcus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/danjmarcus\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTHE GRAND INQUISITOR\u201d RECONSIDERED"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dostoevsky<\/strong>. The name alone conjures up a cascade of words: Mystery. Morality. Russia. Faith. Doubt. Goodness. Corruption. Murder. Redemption. His writings offer many rewards, many treasures, but to discover them the uninitiated must often pass through a shroud of darkness.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the two feature films written and directed by Vitaly Sumin<\/a> present such a fascinating counterpoint. We find Dostoyevsky\u2019s nineteenth century tales reimagined, transported to present-day Los Angeles, and drenched in California sunshine. We literally come to see Dostoevsky in a new light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"5-2019<\/a><\/td>\n\"The<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

These films, Shades of Day<\/em><\/a> <\/strong>and Notes from the New World<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, are original works, drawn from Dostoevsky but never intended to supplant him\u2014who would ever want to? And while they\u2019re inspired by Dostoevsky, they in turn inspire us to seek him out. With that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at what many critics and scholars consider to be Dostoevsky\u2019s greatest novel, The Brothers Karamazov<\/em>. And because Russian masterpieces are often long and time is always short, let\u2019s focus on a single chapter in that book, titled \u201cThe Grand Inquisitor.\u201d\u00a0 It is without question the most famous chapter in all of Dostoevsky\u2019s work. And, according to Manuel Komroff\u2014who wrote the foreword to the 1957 edition of \u201cKaramazov\u201d\u2014it\u2019s the most famous chapter in all of literature.
\n\"G.I-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What, then, is so great about this chapter? Or better yet, what\u2019s unique about it?\u00a0 Let\u2019s start with the author\u2019s technique. Dostoevsky, literary sleight-of-hand artist that he is, manages to convey profound philosophical insights in the form of a story within a story. But it\u2019s anything but a typical narrative\u2014it consists almost entirely of one character haranguing another.<\/p>\n

Now the guy doing the haranguing happens to be the title character. It may not say \u201cGrand Inquisitor\u201d on his business card, but that\u2019s what he is. More specifically, he\u2019s one of the cardinals of the Catholic Church in charge of the Spanish Inquisition. Not exactly Mr. Congeniality.<\/p>\n

And what might be the identity of the poor soul on the receiving end of his harangue, who\u2014talk about adding injury to insult\u2014is scheduled to be promptly burned at the stake? Would you believe . . . Jesus Christ. As the chapter begins, Jesus simply shows up in the town square one day and starts doing what he does best\u2014healing people, offering comfort, and so on and so forth. The cardinal, in turn, does what he does best\u2014he has the newcomer thrown in jail. \"G.I.-2\"<\/a>Later he pays a visit to his cell. The first questions put by the Grand Inquisitor to his captive audience of one set the tone for what follows. Essentially, he asks, \u201cWhat are you\u00a0doing here? Why did you come back to\u00a0 interfere with our work?<\/p>\n

Jesus, for his part, plays it like a master poker player. He never utters a single word\u2014which deliciously drives the Inquisitor crazy.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the chapter has been viewed as a meditation on the nature of good and evil, fate and free will. And Dostoevsky, God bless him\u2014I believe that\u2019s appropriate\u2014doesn\u2019t go drifting off into a cloud bank of abstract philosophical thought. Instead, he brings ideals and ideas down to earth, to be either hardened or consumed in the flames of human passion.<\/p>\n

When the Grand Inquisitor speaks, he reveals a cold cynicism. We see how the clerical class keeps the faithful in line by employing a religious version of Imperial Rome\u2019s \u201cbread and circuses.\u201d People are permitted to sin so the Church can rush in afterwards to provide redemption\u2014always good for the collection plate and gaining new customers.
\n\"G.I-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But here, as usual, Dostoevsky escapes the trap of predictability. While it can\u2019t be denied that the Grand Inquisitor has committed evil deeds in the name of Christianity, his critique of the Lord Jesus is not without validity.\u00a0 The underlying theme of the Inquisitor\u2019s rant is this: what good is a morality that cannot or will not be practiced by the great mass of humanity?\u00a0 Platitudes are a poor substitute for bread . . . and miracles. Why, for instance, did Jesus not wow the multitude by using his powers to, say, come down from the cross? Why make people rely on faith when he could have proven his divinity beyond a shadow of a doubt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Red<\/a><\/td>\n\"Red<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Bottom line: the Inquisitor accuses his prisoner of being ineffective, a failure. His proof? The fifteen centuries that have elapsed since the Savior\u2019s first appearance in the world. This is where the Church was needed\u2014to correct Jesus\u2019s mistakes. Talk about food for thought\u2026Dostoevsky provides us with an entire restaurant chain.
\n\"G.I.-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So that about covers it, right? Not so fast. We\u2019re talking Dostoevsky here. The great writer has one more trick up his sleeve. Without giving it away, let\u2019s just say that Jesus does something unexpected, something which will ultimately determine whether he lives or dies. If you haven\u2019t read The Brothers Karamazov<\/em>, I would encourage you to get the book and find out.<\/p>\n

Or, if you prefer, you can wait for VM Production<\/a>s\u2019 movie version. But be forewarned\u2014you may be waiting for a while. At least two films are ahead of it on the production schedule, namely Dostoyevsky Reimagined: The Making of Notes from the New World<\/em> <\/a>and Crime and Punishment, LA.<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a fair bet that Vitaly Sumin <\/a>will ultimately produce a movie inspired by The Brothers Karamazov\u2014<\/em>how could he not? And when he does, it\u2019s bound to include\u2014in some way, shape, or form\u2014the compelling encounter between Jesus Christ and the Grand Inquisitor.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Want to know about VM Productions<\/a>‘ Dostoyevsky-Los Angeles Project<\/em> and about the films we make? Want to participate in our projects? Sign up to get tickets to the premiere of our movie (currently in post production), Dostoyevsky Reimagined-BTS<\/em> and grab our\u00a0 FREE e-books !<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"method-without-title\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n\"Hurley<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\"signupnow-ribbon-orange\"<\/a>Follow us through our social media on<\/p>\n

\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Google+<\/a>,\u00a0Pinterest<\/a>,\u00a0Tumblr<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Goodreads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Visual Material (fair use) by VM Productions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dostoevsky. The name alone conjures up a cascade of words: Mystery. Morality. Russia. Faith. Doubt. Goodness. Corruption. Murder. Redemption. His writings offer many rewards, many treasures, but to discover them the uninitiated must often pass through a shroud of darkness. That\u2019s why the two feature films written and directed by Vitaly Sumin present such a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2429056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[61,1],"tags":[51,301,87,18,13,568,567,571,17,305,7,570,270,202],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2429000"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2483088,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429000\/revisions\/2483088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2429056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2429000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2429000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2429000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}