Voyna i mir (1967)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Sergei Bondarchuk

Writers:

Sergei Bondarchuk (writer)
Vasili Solovyov (writer)

Release Date:

28 April 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Plot:

War and Peace (1968) is an eight-hour epic film based on the eponymous book by Leo Tolstoy. Two main story-lines are complex and intertwined...

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Battle | Love | Russian Army | Peace

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Sergei Bondarchuk	...	Pierre Bezukhov
Lyudmila Savelyeva	...	Natasha Rostova
Vyacheslav Tikhonov	...	Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Boris Zakhava	...	Field Marshal Kutuzov
Anatoli Ktorov	...	Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky
Anastasiya Vertinskaya	...	Pricess Lisa Bolkonskaya
Antonina Shuranova	...	Princess Maria Bolkonskaya
Oleg Tabakov	...	Nikolai Rostov
Viktor Stanitsyn	...	Ilya Andreyevich Rostov
Irina Skobtseva	...	Hélène Bezukhova
Boris Smirnov	...	Prince Vasili Kuragin
Vasili Lanovoy	...	Anatol Kuragin
Kira Golovko	...	Countess Rostova
Irina Gubanova	...	Sonia Rostova
Aleksandr Borisov	...	Uncle Rostov

Also Known As:

Война и мир (Soviet Union: Russian title)
War and Peace (USA)

Runtime:

UK:401 min (video version) | USA:414 min (4 parts) | Soviet Union:427 min | Italy:263 min (2 parts) | Argentina:453 min (4 parts)

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian | German | French

Color:

Color (Sovcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (RCA Sound System) (35 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (Restored version)

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Arkhangelskoe, Moscow, Russia

Company:

Mosfilm

Trivia:

Sergei Bondarchuk created meticulous recreations of battles of the Napoleonic Wars. The Battle of Borodino against the Napoleon's invasion is the largest battle scene ever filmed.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The ships seen in the harbor at the beginning of the film are modern day tall ships and bear no resemblance to early 19th century ships.

Quotes:

[Prince Andrei is dying]
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky: Natasha... I love you too much. More than anything in the world.
Natasha Rostova: And I! But why too much?
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky: Why too much? Well, what do you think? What do you feel in your soul, deep in your soul? Shall I live? What do you think?
Natasha Rostova: I'm sure of it.
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky: How good that would be.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Voyna i mir IV: Pierre Bezukhov (1967)

Soundtrack:

Prologue

the very best!

The best film ever made, ESPECIALLY when taking into account all the logistics - the Soviet Government as a film studio?? (sort of makes sense, after you picture Leonid Brezhnev as Louis B. Mayer), and the world's most infamous LONG novel turned into a megamotion picture.

It probably hasn't been seen in the US on a broad scale since ABC had the good sense to run it as a four part late-night special in early 1973 (anyone else remember)?

Not even subtitles - for those of us who are not true foreign film buffs, I mean - can hurt this film. Bondarchuk's amazing direction, as well as his acting, is breathtaking. The Russian people have been celebrated as lovers of great writing and the subject at hand, "War and Peace", becomes a poem at the conclusion.

Truly magnificent from every level - as a period piece, a psychological drama, a war movie, a love story, a history...Tolstoy would be universally acclaimed ahead of Shakespeare if he (Tolstoy) had the good sense to be from England...

Don't miss it. How the Soviet Government, at the height of the Cold War, could finance and produce a masterpiece like this is one of the great mysteries of the 20th century. Give Bondarchuk the credit.