I was fortunate enough to see Bondarchuk’s “War and Peace” on the big screen at an early 20th century movie palace in downtown Hamilton, Ontario back in 1968. The film was shown in two halves, each half being granted its own two-week run. I was in high school at the time, where my lifelong interest in the Napoleonic Wars had first been sparked by the special edition LIFE magazine issue of June 18, 1965—which I still have—commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. It was a wonderful experience to see such a memorable film as “War and Peace” on the silver screen in a large cinema equipped with a theatre sound system. The battle scenes—especially the spectacular helicopter shots—were totally overwhelming and like nothing that I’ve seen in a movie before or since, not even Bondarchuk’s 1970 film of “Waterloo”.
It was precisely because the Soviet actors were pretty well unknown in the west that their performances were so believable. I found Vyacheslav Tikhonov especially effective as Prince Bolkonsky, and I appreciated the effort made to find actors to portray Czar Alexander, Marshal Kutusov, and Prince Bagration who actually resembled their historical counterparts.
In terms of costumes, uniforms, and hair styles, the film makers did an excellent job of making their handiwork appear true to the period, more so than in any other Napoleonic movie that I've seen (except perhaps for "Master and Commander" if you overlook Russell Crowe's attempt at a naval bicorne).
My own favourite scene is the lengthy sequence (which you include above) beginning with Natasha preparing for her first grand Moscow ball, her agonizing period standing as a mere spectator, culminating in Prince Andrei finally asking her to dance with him. I’ve read “War and Peace” three times over the years, including Tolstoy’s original version that ends with Andrei surviving his Borodino wound, and giving his blessing to Natasha and Pierre’s wedding, recognizing that he and Natasha were never well-matched to begin with.
If anyone is interested, Bondarchuk’s “War and Peace” is available for free viewing on YouTube, in a four-part, high resolution, digitally restored print. It's in the original Russian with English subtitles.
thank you so much for this wonderful comment. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to watch this in the theatre. You definitely identify one of my favorite scenes as well. I always feel compelled to rewatch the moment when Prince Bolkonsky walks across the entire ballroom to ask Natasha to dance with him.
I love history most when it refuses to let us hover safely above the map. The bird’s-eye view helps me understand why nations move, but the human view keeps me from forgetting who pays for those decisions.
I like the way you phrase this! I am forgetting which battle scene this was (either Austerlitz or Borodino), but on your "why nations move" statement there is a camera shot in this movie, from high above, that shows cavalrymen riding in circles, which is very much how I feel about war....and the why of it all
oh, this is the one with Audrey Hepburn? I remember watching it awhile ago and I definitely think this 1967 version is a lot better. Let me know what you think when you get around to watching this!
I was fortunate enough to see Bondarchuk’s “War and Peace” on the big screen at an early 20th century movie palace in downtown Hamilton, Ontario back in 1968. The film was shown in two halves, each half being granted its own two-week run. I was in high school at the time, where my lifelong interest in the Napoleonic Wars had first been sparked by the special edition LIFE magazine issue of June 18, 1965—which I still have—commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. It was a wonderful experience to see such a memorable film as “War and Peace” on the silver screen in a large cinema equipped with a theatre sound system. The battle scenes—especially the spectacular helicopter shots—were totally overwhelming and like nothing that I’ve seen in a movie before or since, not even Bondarchuk’s 1970 film of “Waterloo”.
It was precisely because the Soviet actors were pretty well unknown in the west that their performances were so believable. I found Vyacheslav Tikhonov especially effective as Prince Bolkonsky, and I appreciated the effort made to find actors to portray Czar Alexander, Marshal Kutusov, and Prince Bagration who actually resembled their historical counterparts.
In terms of costumes, uniforms, and hair styles, the film makers did an excellent job of making their handiwork appear true to the period, more so than in any other Napoleonic movie that I've seen (except perhaps for "Master and Commander" if you overlook Russell Crowe's attempt at a naval bicorne).
My own favourite scene is the lengthy sequence (which you include above) beginning with Natasha preparing for her first grand Moscow ball, her agonizing period standing as a mere spectator, culminating in Prince Andrei finally asking her to dance with him. I’ve read “War and Peace” three times over the years, including Tolstoy’s original version that ends with Andrei surviving his Borodino wound, and giving his blessing to Natasha and Pierre’s wedding, recognizing that he and Natasha were never well-matched to begin with.
If anyone is interested, Bondarchuk’s “War and Peace” is available for free viewing on YouTube, in a four-part, high resolution, digitally restored print. It's in the original Russian with English subtitles.
thank you so much for this wonderful comment. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to watch this in the theatre. You definitely identify one of my favorite scenes as well. I always feel compelled to rewatch the moment when Prince Bolkonsky walks across the entire ballroom to ask Natasha to dance with him.
I love history most when it refuses to let us hover safely above the map. The bird’s-eye view helps me understand why nations move, but the human view keeps me from forgetting who pays for those decisions.
I like the way you phrase this! I am forgetting which battle scene this was (either Austerlitz or Borodino), but on your "why nations move" statement there is a camera shot in this movie, from high above, that shows cavalrymen riding in circles, which is very much how I feel about war....and the why of it all
Need to check this out. I started to watch the Henry Fonda version and couldn’t take more than 10 minutes of it.
oh, this is the one with Audrey Hepburn? I remember watching it awhile ago and I definitely think this 1967 version is a lot better. Let me know what you think when you get around to watching this!