CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Rikos ja Rangaistus

Director Aki Kaurismäki / 1984 / Finland

Another screen version of Dostocvsky's novel, and one of the best Finnish films of recent years. Raskolnikov here is Rahikainen, a former law student, who now works in a slaughterhouse in Helsinki. One day, Rahikainen goes to the house of a man who, while drunk, three years ago had killed his fiancee in an accident; he shoots the man without offering any explanation.

Still in the house, he is confronted by a young woman and confesses to her what he has done, even gives her his name. She does not give him away to the police; instead she takes a fancy to the young murderer—which incites the jealousy of her lecherous employer. With extremely strong acting from the leading players, "Crime and Punishment" makes first rate entertainment, fine photography and interesting locations around Helsinki add to the viewer's delight—the city itself becoming a character in the film.

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