A breathtaking crime story. Rodion Raskolnikov, a destitute student, is obsessed with the idea that "great" individuals are permitted to destroy "life unworthy of life" in order to preserve "life worth living." He commits a double murder of an old pawnbroker and her half-witted sister to finance his studies with the stolen money. However, his psyche cannot cope with the act. In a bitter process of self-awareness, he comes to understand punishment as atonement and experiences the redemptive power of love.