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WAR AND PEACE (1968)
Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk.
Produced by Mosfilm.
Written by Sergei Bondarchuk, Vasili Solovyov, based on the book by Leo Tolstoy.
Director of Photography Anatoli Petritsky & Aleksandr Shelenkov.
Edited by Tatyana Likhachyova.
Music by Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov.
Released by Seagull Films.
Language: Russian & French with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: Soviet Union. 411 min. Not Rated.
With Ludmila Savelyeva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Irina Gubanova, Antonina Shuranova & Sergei Bondarchuk.

In the mid-1960s, 120,000 Russian soldiers exchanged their Kalashnikovs for sabers and canons as part of the colossal cast of extras for the Soviet adaptation of War and Peace. Adjusted for inflation, its budget of $100 million makes it the most expensive movie ever made. I guess that’s the upside of an autocratic government with a big ego: when it comes to celebrating a national icon like Leo Tolstoy, no expenses are spared.

As a warning to those hoping to shirk reading the infamously lengthy tome by watching the movie, director Sergei Bondarchuk patiently unfurls the plot of the literary masterpiece over seven exquisite hours. Sometimes exquisitely boring, mostly exquisitely beautiful, this epic proves that good things come to those who wait.

The film warms up in the dusky drawing rooms of the Russian aristocracy for a lingering introduction to the crowded cast. The conversations are hushed and the pace sluggish. But as history picks up speed, the viewer is rewarded with sweeping aerial tours of elaborate battles and swiftly unraveling storylines.

Pierre Bezukhov, the kind-hearted intellectual and Tolstoy’s alter-ego, is portrayed by the director himself, whose pensive and tender performance overshadows his being too old for the role. Pierre’s long and subtle metamorphosis from idle misfit to inspired war hero bent on taking Napoleon’s life underscores the weight of war and the scope of both the novel and film. Natasha Rostova is the beloved firecracker of Russian literary figures, and, as played by Ludmila Savelyeva, is also the answer to “What would Audrey Hepburn look like if she were actually a Russian ballerina?” In seven hours, she grows from ebullient child to plaintive woman – due as much to her versatility in acting as to the five years it took to make the film.

Bondarchuk maintained a steadfast loyalty to Tolstoy's words – translating the French with voiceover where the author used footnotes and splitting the screen when the author's thoughts diverged. He scored the roaring events with ceaselessly climaxing music and brought to life dizzying, sumptuous balls in the splendor of real Russian palaces. Paying tribute to Tolstoy, he created a cinematic epic magnificent in its own right. Yana Litovsky
October 19, 2007