THE GAMBLER
What You Need To Know
Next to William Shakespeare (and not including the human authors of the Bible), the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky is the second most famous Christian writer who ever lived. Some have even proclaimed him the greatest novelist who ever wrote a book. That’s why it is a minor blessing that some British filmmakers have decided to make THE GAMBLER, a movie about an important incident in Dostoyevsky’s life.
THE GAMBLER tells how the 45-year-old Dostoyevsky met his second wife, a young stenographer named Anna Snitkina. In St. Petersburg in 1866, Anna’s family is teetering on the edge of poverty because of her father’s imminent death. So, Anna takes a job as secretary for Dostoyevsky. The problem is, Dostoyevsky himself is teetering on the edge of poverty for various reasons. Dostoyevsky must deliver a 160,000 word novel in 27 days, or else he will have to give up the rights for all his future work to a wealthy publisher. With Anna’s help, he starts writing an autobiographical novel based on his experiences in the gambling halls of Western Europe. The movie cuts back and forth between scenes from that novel (THE GAMBLER) and scenes showing the respect and affection that grows between the elder Fyodor and 20-year-old Anna. Suddenly, the two stories seem to merge when one of the female characters from the novel shows up at Fyodor’s house.
The movie THE GAMBLER seems fairly accurate as it gives the audience a biographical glimpse of this famous Christian author’s life. At one point in the movie, Dostoyevsky prays with Anna to God for the salvation of Russia and “the common people” and in gratitude for “the sacrifice of your Son.” Also, Dostoyevsky did indeed marry his young secretary, Anna, in 1867. Two years before that, a woman he met in Europe, Polina Suslova, turned down his proposal of marriage. Her first name is very similar to the character of Paulina who steps out of the novel Dostoyevsky is dictating to Anna.
What is confusing, however, is that the actor who plays the older Dostoyevsky in the movie, Michael Gambon, looks 10 to 15 years older than his age is really supposed to be. The age problem perhaps can be explained by the harsh circumstances of Dostoyevsky’s earlier life, when he spent four years confined to Siberia, but it doesn’t really jibe with actual photos of Dostoyevsky. Thus, the movie seems to contain a slight historical revisionism that confuses the timelines depicted, especially when the character of Paulina appears at Dostoyevsky’s doorstep. When Paulina shows up, she looks as young as she does in the scenes from the novel being written. This is additionally confusing because Dostoyevsky’s alter-ego in the novel, Alexei, appears quite young himself. More explanation and better editing could have helped here.
Furthermore, despite the wonderful prayer Dostoyevsky speaks in the movie, THE GAMBLER does not deal with the author’s faith in an in-depth manner, which also gives the movie a slight historical revisionist edge. The life of Dostoyevsky cries out for a talented Christian filmmaker who can bring out the spiritual aspects of that life more. Instead, THE GAMBLER seems to take a mildly romantic view about life, love and the work of an artist. Thus, emotion takes precedence over reason, even though Dostoyevsky acknowledges during the movie, “In the grip of obsession, reason is suspended.”
Finely crafted as it is, THE GAMBLER also includes an objectionable, disturbing scene of depicted fornication, including female nudity, and another gratuitous scene with upper female nudity. If not for these scenes, the movie would have been relatively pure. In fact, it contains only a few instances of mild foul language. This is a double shame, because THE GAMBLER brings out of retirement two-time Oscar winning actress Luise Rainer (THE GOOD EARTH, 1935). She plays an elderly dowager who finds the gaming tables as infectious as Dostoyevsky’s alter-ego, Alexei. Her scenes with Alexei are among the most entertaining ones in the whole movie. All the other actors are excellent as well, especially Gambon as Dostoyevsky (despite his age) and Jodhi May as Anna.
