War and Peace (1966)

Best movie of this year hands down!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Who ever mentions Sergei Bondarchuk when it comes to talking and writing about great movie directors? and so we should realize he only happens to have directed the best film epic ever made and he also co-adapted the massive Tolstoy novel its based upon as well as performing in the leading role...This colossal Russian version of War and Peace also happens to be the single greatest achievement in the history of motion pictures and in my opinion no other film compares to this incredible masterpiece that is most certainly not to be missed by anyone...I have read several hundred favorite movie lists and this film is more or less never included in any of them and its also more or less never mentioned within any of the many great and famous movie books that I have read either and the only reasons I can think of as to why this fantastic Russian version of War and Peace is so sadly and obviously underrated is because there still exists remnants of cold war paranoia and extreme jealousy from a Hollywood that has never been able to equal or surpass this monumental Russian movie and not even with their usual and almost total dependence upon CGI has Hollywood duplicated or exceeded its majesty and grandeur and there is no CGI used within this Russian version of War and Peace and just imagine how there is no other type of computer aid within this movie whatsoever...Its really difficult trying to find words that are able to accurately describe to someone who has never seen it just how awesome and visually stunning this supreme motion picture actually is and it contains so many intimate and panoramic scenes filled with sights and sounds and colors never seen before or since within any other movie,as well as containing the most vast and amazingly realistic battle scenes ever filmed and I've seen thousands of movies and just about every epic film ever made and none of them can touch this sense staggering Russian motion picture...I clearly remember how the very first time I ever saw this film was by accident late one night on television many years ago and I was stunned and amazed and during my still awakening state I thought I was watching footage taken by someone who went back in time and actually filmed real history taking place during the early 1800s and in all seriousness,that is really no exaggeration at all,because this film is that well made and its that realistic and its all the more intense and incredible of an accomplishment for being a film that was made back in the 1960s...And so do not miss this brilliant Russian version of War and Peace and be sure to watch it digitally re-mastered in its original wide screen format and once you've seen it you'll never be able to forget it...

I don't see how anyone who has read War and Peace could enjoy this film, no matter how worthy it is. It completely misses the mark in every respect except for "costume drama" and "epic". Tolstoy's writing is so natural, so beautiful, so descriptive, and so illuminating that this adaptation seems sullen and superficial in every respect. The impressions that Tolstoy's writing creates are timeless - completely accessible to modern minds. But this production is weighted down in costumery and baroque frumpery. It starts badly, with a quotation from the epilogue that is meaningless out of its context, and it doesn't get any better from there. The early scenes are anemic representations of Tolstoy's magnificent scene-setting. Even the intimate little scenes, like the Rostov children in the garden, are completely wasted, barely providing any impression of that most impressionistic scene. I just couldn't stand watching this, scene by scene tarnishing every precious jewel that Tolstoy polished to perfection and left to posterity.

After one finishes viewing it, and only afterward, one realizes that this movie cannot be made. This movie was there all the time, always. It only requested a camera, like some smoke lamp that visualizes an invisible laser beam. It is like carving away chunks of darkness to reveal the light inside. And after all the efforts to come to terms with the reality one realizes that this movie cannot be seen: too deep, too wide, too high, too vast, too beautiful, too painful. In the end, it strikes you with the most hard and harsh of them all questions that cannot be asked, but only answered: the deepest sense of joy of life comes from the simplest acknowledgment of the joy of being in life. This, and only this can explain why sheer opulence replaces the ascetic simple beauty in Andrei Rublev.

This film, made in the 60, is one of the greatest triumphs of Russian cinema. The budget was enormous, but when you watch this film, you have the feeling that it was all spend in a good way.The first part opens with a lineup of nature scenes followed by an introduction of the main characters. There are the three main characters: Andrei, Pierre and Natasha, and many many smaller roles, but you'll get plenty of time of to get to know them.The first thing that makes this movie stand out, is the size of the production. The sets are huge, the clothing looks very real and you'll see no empty air between the extras in the crowd scenes.But the directing is what makes this movie so special. First of all, you hear the thoughts of the characters as a voice over. This might take some seconds to get used too, but works great. You can see that the actors understand their characters, or at least do they know how much these persons know about themselves.The feeling is incredible. When you are outside, you can almost smell the air and feel the cold (or the warmth of the sun). The indoor scenes vary from claustophobic to cozy. The estates are full of life when there are guests, but after they leave and the sun goes down, the halls become cold and dark.The battles have great atmosphere. They don't really focus on the battle itself, but more on the madness of them. So there are some structural battle shots missing (the approaching armies, building tense music and the way the soldiers come closer are only shown in the first battle) and mostly you'll be placed right in the action. And the battles aren't shown as something glorious. The main focus is on the madness of the fighting itself. When the first cannonballs fly trough the air, some soldiers become insane bloodthirsty killers that don't care for their allies, while other become mad with fear. All this bloodshed is shown with a shaky camera covered with dirt and dust, a technique later used by many modern directors like Spielberg for Saving Private Ryan. And all this spectacle is done with thousands of extras, hundreds of horses and canons and under giant pillars of gun smoke.But when there is not battle going on, the surrealism never leaves the characters. They dream and imagine things in a colorful way. There is a great scene where two people are sitting in a room with dripping water. They don't know what to say to each other and all you really hear is the water. This makes it a very nervous scene, but it's exactly how these people feel at that time.The 4 parts are pretty balanced. The first part is the most open part, with a little of all (spectacle, drama, surrealism). Part 2 has the most personal drama, and 3 a lot of spectacle. Part 4 is a grande finale that will knock you out of chair, help you back in and knock you out again.The acting is not the best I have ever seen, but it's better than most Russian films. The main characters act very well, but there are some smaller parts that seem a little over acted. The music is not beautiful, but that was never it's intention I think. There is no real main melody and no particular theme that comes back, but the choirs and orchestra are there when they can be used. This film doesn't need a soundtrack that carries it, and that was understood by the composer. The music is not dominating and you cannot whistle with it, but when it's there you might just experience one of the most complete movie moments of your life.8 hours long, Russian with subtitles (no problem for me, but I understand people that have English as their first language are not used to them), drama and philosophy. Don't watch this film for it's battle scenes alone, but enjoy every scene. It might take a while, but when the last credits are rolling off the screen, you'll have no idea that 8 hours can be so easy to kill.A great movie, near perfect. If you like directors like Eisenstein of David Lean, this might just be your new favorite film. Give it even a second viewing a couple of months after the first one.10/10