War and Peace (1956)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Leo Tolstoy (novel)
Bridget Boland (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 August 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

The Greatest Novel Ever Written ... Now Magnificently Alive On The Screen!

Plot:

Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia including his disastrous 1812 invasion serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Inheritance | 19th Century | Love | Opening Monologue

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Audrey Hepburn	...	Natasha Rostova
Henry Fonda	...	Pierre Bezukhov
Mel Ferrer	...	Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Vittorio Gassman	...	Anatol Kuragin
Herbert Lom	...	Napoleon
Oskar Homolka	...	Field Marshal Kutuzov (as Oscar Homolka)
Anita Ekberg	...	Helene Kuragina
Helmut Dantine	...	Dolokhov
Tullio Carminati	...	Prince Vasili Kuragin
Barry Jones	...	Prince Mikhail Andreevich Rostov
Milly Vitale	...	Lisa Bolkonskaya
Lea Seidl	...	Countess Rostov
Anna-Maria Ferrero	...	Maria Bolkonskaya (as Anna Maria Ferrero)
Wilfrid Lawson	...	Prince Bolkonsky (as Wilfred Lawson)
May Britt	...	Sonia Rostova

Also Known As:

Guerra e pace (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated PG for violence.

Runtime:

208 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English | Italian | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) | Perspecta Stereo

Certification:

Italy:T | Brazil:Livre | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:16 | Australia:G | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Spain:18 | USA:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In the scene where the Rostovs invite Prince Andrei to go hunting with them, Jeremy Brett is the only actor never on a mechanical horse: in all his shots he is clearly on a live horse. Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Barry Jones and May Britt are all clearly on mechanical horses in their close shots.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first battle, Prince Andrei dismounts to take the flag of the shot soldier who is holding it. Then the wounded soldier kneels twice.

Quotes:

Dolokhov: [about French prisoners] Take them away! You know what to do with them!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Rec: Sensou to heiwa (#1.7)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Die Rose von Nowgorod

Gorgeous to look at / Dreadful to hear

As another IMDb'er has mentioned, this film is one spectacular visual moment after another, but unfortunately with really terrible sound. The reason for the bad sound is that the film was produced at Cinecitta studios in Rome and at that time, all films there were shot without live sound. Everything was dubbed later: dialogue, music and all ambient sounds. In addition, recording facilities in Italy were primitive (this was only 11 years after the catastrophe of WWII), resulting in the canned quality of most of the dialogue. (One of the reasons Antonioni's films were such a breakthrough in the following decade was his use of live sound recording and location shooting).

Anyway, War and Peace is a most worthwhile film experience for Vidor and Cardiff's Technicolor Vistavision visuals, for the screenplay which is often quite beautifully written, and for many fine performances from some exceedingly charismatic film actors, especially the astonishing Audrey Hepburn. There are close-ups of her that will make your heart stop.