Der Mörder Dimitri Karamasoff (1931)

The tsarist lieutenant Dimitri Karamasoff wants to marry his fiancée, Katja. To do so, he must deposit the large sum of 3,000 rubles with his regiment in Moscow. Dimitri does not have that much money, so he travels to his father to ask him to give him the sum. His father, who supposedly owes his son money, is unwilling to help. He neither wants to give him the money nor has any time for him at all. The old man’s thoughts currently revolve solely around the pretty Gruschenka, who was turned into a prostitute by a former lover and has turned old Karamasoff’s head. Dimitri visits the young woman at her establishment to persuade her to leave his father alone. But she only makes fun of him. During a heated argument that grows increasingly charged with erotic tension, however, the two grow closer. Gruschenka does not initially return Dimitri’s feelings and toys with him, while Dimitri falls passionately in love with her. Meanwhile, Katja has not been idle; she has obtained the required 3,000 rubles. When she learns that her prospective bridegroom is having an affair with another woman, she is upset but still wants to marry him. She arrives at the station for their planned departure together, but waits in vain for Dimitri. And so Katja leaves alone. That same evening, Dimitri’s father is found beaten to death in his apartment. Dimitri is suspected of murdering the old man. Jealousy is thought to be the motive, since the two were now competing for Gruschenka’s affections. Ivan Karamasoff, the younger brother, tries to prove Dimitri’s innocence. Dimitri is found guilty at trial and sent into exile in Siberia, where he has to perform forced labor. Gruschenka accompanies him. The real culprit, the servant Smerdjakoff, evades prosecution and conviction. He hangs himself after Ivan Karamasoff has wrung a confession from him and intends to bring him before the court.