Sergei Bondarchuk's WAR AND PEACE
SCREENING ON SAT: Chapter I (in 2 parts) 1:00, 6:30 Chapter II 4:00, 9:30
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)
"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