Sergei Bondarchuk-Voyna i mir (1968)

This gigantic motion picture epic, based on the novel of the same name by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, has won worldwide critical acclaim. For the shooting of the film’s battle scenes, such as the Battle of Borodino or the 1812 Moscow fire, a regular army was mustered into service, as well as a specially created cavalry regiment. Over 120, 000 soldiers participated as extras in the crowd scenes. More than 35, 000 costumes were made for the production. The details of 19th-century Russia’s everyday life, the period costumes, society and its traditions, the psychological characteristics and the heroism of the people, the glory of Russian arms – all this attracts the viewer not less than the love story of the delightful Natasha Rostova and the Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.

RUSCICO




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. One is the love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov, who is unhappy in his marriage. Another is the "Great Patriotic War" of 1812 against the invading Napoleon's Armies. The people of Russia from all classes of society stand up united against the enemy. Both armies suffer tremendous losses during the war, and Russian society is left irrevocably changed. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0063794/plotsummary)




War and Peace is a portrait of Russia and her people, caught up in the swirling and irresistible tides of history during the Napoleonic Era. Director Sergei Bondarchuk's Oscar-winner flawlessly re-creates Tolstoy's epic masterpiece, capturing not only the most minute historical details, but also the emotion, essence, and atmosphere of the classic novel. Hailed as the definitive marriage between literature and film, it took five years to complete. (–Jeff Shannon - Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com)




Like Tolstoy's novel, this epic-length War and Peace is rough going, but worth the effort. Winner of the 1969 Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film and widely considered the most faithful adaptation of Tolstoy's classic, (–Jeff Shannon - Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com)




Sergei Bondarchuk's massive Soviet-Italian coproduction was seven years in the making, at a record-setting cost of $100 million. Bondarchuk himself plays the central role of Pierre Bezukhov, buffeted by fate during Russia's tumultuous Napoleonic Wars, serving as pawn and philosopher through some of the most astonishing set pieces ever filmed. (–Jeff Shannon - Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com)




Bondarchuk is a problematic director: interior monologues provide awkward counterpoint to intimate dramas, weaving together the many classes and characters whose lives are permanently affected by war. Infusions of '60s-styled imagery clash with the film's period detail; it's an anomalous experiment that doesn't really work. Undeniably, however, the epic battle scenes remain breathtakingly unique; to experience the sheer scale of this film is to realize that such cinematic extravagance will never be seen again. (–Jeff Shannon - Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com)




A moral victory which compels the enemy to recognize the moral superiority of his opponent and his own impotence was won by the Russians at Borodino. The direct consequence of the Battle of Borodino was Napoleon's flight from Moscow, the destruction of the invading army of 500,000 men, and the destruction of Napoleonic France, on which was laid for the first time, at Borodino, the hand of an adversary stronger in spirit! (http://imdb.com/title/tt0063794/quotes)




Adjusted for inflation, this film cost over $560 million to make, and is thus the most expensive film ever made. This film was made with the complete cooperation of the Soviet Army which is how they managed to get as many extras into the war scenes as they did. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0063794/trivia)




Original Russian cut runs 445 minutes. Part1= 148 min, Part2= 101 min, Part3= 85 min, Part4= 101 min. The director's cut with additional scenes runs about 500 min. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0063794/trivia)