At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet film industry set out to prove it could outdo Hollywood with a production that would dazzle the world: a monumental, awe-inspiring adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic tome in which the fates of three souls—the blundering, good-hearted Pierre; the heroically tragic Prince Andrei; and the radiant, tempestuous Natasha—collide amid the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars. Employing a cast of thousands and an array of innovative camera techniques, director Sergei Bondarchuk conjures a sweeping vision of grand balls that glitter with rococo beauty and breathtaking battles that overwhelm with their expressionistic power. As a statement of Soviet cinema’s might, WAR AND PEACE succeeded wildly, garnering the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and setting a new standard for epic moviemaking. (1966, in Russian and French with English subtitles, 422 min, DCP 'Scope)
All times approximate:
Part 1 @ 1:30 [10 min break] Part 2 @ 4:10
[30 min intermission]
Part 3 @ 6:30 [10 min break] Part 4 @ 8:00
Exit @ 9:45
"You are never, ever, going to see anything to equal it ... as spectacular as a movie can possibly be."
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Above all, WAR AND PEACE is an orgy of cinematic opulence—dizzying tracking shots, trompe-l'oeil matte paintings, split-screens, superimpositions—made by a triple-threat filmmaker (actor/writer/director) in full command of the medium. To see it is to not quite believe it." - Scott Foundas, foundasonfilm