{"id":2957245,"date":"2020-07-30T08:13:08","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T15:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/?p=2957245"},"modified":"2020-07-30T08:15:04","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T15:15:04","slug":"dostoevskys-influence-existential-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/dostoevskys-influence-existential-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Dostoyevsky’s Influence on Existential Films"},"content":{"rendered":"

While not considered an existentialist himself, Fyodor Dostoevsky is widely regarded as a founder of the movement. His notable existential works and writings inspired a new way of thinking and style of storytelling that changed the literary world and all its influences. Looking through a film lens, it is clear to see how Dostoevsky\u2019s existential philosophy of acting properly by being authentic to oneself has had a great impact on the works of some of the most prominent filmmakers. One-Hundred and Fifty Four years after Dostoevsky\u2019s first groundbreaking novella <\/span>Notes From The Underground<\/span><\/i> was first released, it is easy and enthralling to examine how Dostoevsky\u2019s ideas have influenced what are known as existential films. Examining prominent existential films through different cinematic movements and decades showcases Dostoevsky\u2019s effect and how the great Russian author\u2019s influence is still alive and well in the modern-day.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Razor’s Edge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dostoevsky\u2019s influence has spread throughout the world, even in some of the most traditional of places. There is no greater traditional cinematic landscape than classical Hollywood itself and Dostoevsky\u2019s existential themes managed to have a major impact. Edmund Goulding\u2019s Dostoevsky inspired film <\/span>The Razor\u2019s Edge<\/span><\/i>(1946) is the strongest example of Dostoevsky\u2019s influence in this time period of American cinema. <\/span>The Razor\u2019s Edge <\/span><\/i>is based on W. Somerset Maugham\u2019s novel and tells the story of a man traumatized from the horrors of World War One, who searches for the meaning of life. In his journey of discovery, the protagonist leaves a life of wealth, to live a simpler life working in a coal mine in Paris. Eventually, he goes to India to learn from a mystic man and finds enlightenment by finding happiness within himself, as opposed to materialistic luxuriousness around him. The film\u2019s plot and themes are heavily influenced by Dostoevsky\u2019s own personal experience and his famous writing inspired by his own experience, <\/span>The Idiot<\/span><\/i>. Dostoevsky who came face to face with death in his earlier years via firing squad had his own revelation about living through the authentic self. <\/span>The Idiot<\/span><\/i> tells a similar story of a man living simply and authentically in a life of bliss while being judged and deemed an idiot by others, even though they themselves do not live as free. This again is comparable to <\/span>The Razor\u2019s Edge <\/span><\/i>as the main character’s enlightenment of feeling as one with God, allows him to live happy as his authentic self, while those around him suffer as a result of their materialism obsessions.<\/span><\/p>\n