We watch Crime and Punishment with the luxury of having both artists' complete work available to us. Peter Lorre and Josef von Sternberg carry an artistic resonance with them that through juxtaposition adds rich levels of meaning and aesthetic pleasure to this little seen film. For us, all of Lorre's character's, from M's Franz Becker to Mr. Moto to Joel Cairo and Ugarte, can be layered onto Raskolnikov to great effect, and, for me at least, it is impossible to watch this film without remembering the angry visual critique of Czarist Russian decadence found elsewhere in Sternberg's work. There is a larger-than-life grandeur and lyricism that may not be entirely in the film itself but washes in from the rest of Sternberg's oeuvre, and his grim world-view also informs our viewing. Their personalities and talents combine beautifully here to give us a neglected classic.
Senses of cinema
In summary, we can say that von Sternberg's Crime and Punishment concerns human emotions and passions, but it is not exclusively a romantic film, as had been the nature of many of his previous efforts. In fact it's something different, an existentialist film noir – and one of the quality early examples.
Filmsufi - blog
"Sternberg, with his well-wrought fatalism, was probably the Hollywood director best in tune with the material . . . . some moments are stunning in their cramped seediness, and Peter Lorre has one of his finest, fullest roles in the lead" (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader).
Von Sternberg turns Dostoevsky's novel into a work of his own, despite the relative bare-bones nature of the production, relishing in particular the subtle intellectual sparring between the young student murderer and the shrewd inspector who enlists his help for the investigation. Lorre is wonderful as the morally conflicted Raskolnikov, egomaniacal one moment, guilt-ridden the next; and Lucien Ballard's gloomy cinematography perfectly captures the subdued tone and suffocating sense of impending justice.
Cinèmatheque Ontario
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