Feature Movie Description... continued.
The Gambler - 1997
Inspired both by the Dostoevsky novel THE GAMBLER and the events that inspired it, Karoly Makk's THE GAMBLER is a fascinating blend of fact and fiction that illuminates the gray area between the artist and his art. Michael Gambon stars as Dostoevsky, a passionate man whose addiction to gambling has left him penniless. When his publisher agrees to take on his debts, Dostoevsky signs a contract stating that he will produce a new novel within 27 days or he will turn over the rights to all his future work. Desperate to make the deadline, Dostoevsky hires a young stenographer, Anna, to take dictation for him. As he feverishly dictates the account of a gambler and his stormy love life, the film inter cuts both the fictional scenes being dictated as well as events from Dostoevsky's and Anna's lives that closely parallel the events of the novel. THE GAMBLER is both a riveting blend of Dostoevsky's real and imagined lives, bolstered by a star turn from Mr. Gambon as well as Luise Rainer's first screen appearance in 55 years.