War and Peace (1968)
War and Peace (1968) ***1/2
Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk
Written by Sergei Bondarchuk and Vasili Solovyov, based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy
Starring:
Lyudmila Savelyeva as Natasha Rostova
Vyacheslav Tikhonov as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Irina Gubanova as Soniya
Antonina Shuranova as Princess Mariya
Sergei Bondarchuk as Pierre Bezukhov
Vasili Lanovoy as Anatol
Vladislav Strzhelchika as Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
Angelina Stepanova as Anna Pavlovna
Viktor Stanitsyn as Ilya Andreyevich Rostov
Oleg Yefremov as Dolokhov
420 Minutes(Not Rated)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was with a minor amount of hesitation, and a strong amount of curiosity that made me trudge out to New York's Film Forum on a rainy afternoon to sit through the seven hour 1968 Russian film "War and Peace." Seven hours is a lot of time to devote to a film, and because the theatre wanted more money, I was forced to pay twice-once for the first part which is playing for four hours, followed by a two hour dinner break, and then a second admission for the last three hours of the film. Both parts are separated into two other parts, with an ten minute intermission in between, giving three breaks in the whole thing. The ten minute breaks are fine, but the two hour one I had a problem with. But it was important that I went on a Wednesday-one of three days, the other two being Saturday and Sunday, where you could see the whole film in one day. You can see the parts in whatever order whenever you want, but like two years ago when I saw the Italian masterpiece "The Best of Youth," there is something about continuing the spell of the film-trying to make the break in between as short as possible. I even sat in the same seat during the second part as I did the first to try and distance myself from the break at all.
And it was a long day-an entire day of my life went to Sergei Bondarchuk. And how was the money? Well, it was massive, and I don't use that word often. This film is probably the most massive and ambitious project that I have ever witnessed-and I was lucky to see it in all it's glory on the big screen-and I suggest that any person that calls themselves a fan of film will go out to Film Forum by next Thursday to see this. But there is a big difference between admiring a film and actually liking it, and in the end I think I felt the same way about Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo," which I recently saw on the big screen, as I do about Bondarchuk's "War and Peace." I can see the strong effort that went into it. I was able to see images on the screen that I have never, and will never, see anything equal to. But during this film I found it hard to really actually involve myself with the characters-the long term three characters, not the countless relatives and friends and associates that we are introduced to throughout. Maybe the blame lays at the fact that no film can ever really translate the original. I have not read Tolstoy's novel, but I do have it laying on my bookshelf for that moment where I decide it's time to crack to open, but there are some movies that have a hard time translating a two hundred page novel, let along a fourteen hundred page novel. Despite that, this might just be the most massive epic I was ever treated to, and you certainly will never ever see anything like this again.
I really don't think that there is one long moral to this film-it's from such massive material that there is constantly things going on-scores and scores of characters are introduced by the second, and you really need paper to keep track. They all have different names deciding on who is talking to them-I had the same problem when I read "The Brothers Karamosov" or even "Crime and Punishment." But I think Bondarchuk did a good job dividing the film into its separate parts. Part One of the film is our introduction to the three main characters. The first is Pierre Bezukhov, played by our writer and director Sergei Bondarchuk. One of Pierre's jobs is taking care of and educating Natasha Rostova. Our first impression of her is that she is a rather irritating child, going through her scenes like a deranged dancer, her eyes wide with innocence, and hope-and maybe even a little insanity. We also meet Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. The first two and a half hours describes how these characters change, who they are, and events. The second part of the movie feature more of Natasha, and the young lady that she ends up becoming. We follow her as she worries that nobody will want to dance with her at her first ball. She is asked to dance by Prince Andrei, and the two of them fall in love. Eventually he asks her to marry him, but he does need to go away for a year first-and she can also use the time to decide if she does indeed love him. She eventually begins to fall in love with another man, and this part charts their doomed loved affair, including Pierre's confession that if he were a better man, he would ask her to love him. This part ends the segments between 1805 and 1812, and war soon begins. The third part tells of the Battle of Bolonov, and the fourth part Napolean's destruction of Moscow.
The first two parts really do rely more on character and plot, while the latter two parts ends up being one of the screens biggest spectacles ever. The first two parts, for the most part, take place during a time of peace, an irony as what is going on in the characters lives is far from peace. And every single shot in this movie is so extraordinarily well plotted-from an amazing ballroom dancing scene in part two, with thousands of extras seemingly dancing in unison, to a simple shot of a young girl-Natasha-emerging from a room for the first time-wide eyed and happy. The battle scenes during the over hour long battle in the third part is a complete wonder to behold, and Bondarchuk uses so much depth in showing the fight, that in addition to the massive explosions going on at the front of the screen, there are tiny smoke clouds and fires all in the background, dotted against the sky. I watched in a certain amazement, trying to imagine how hard it must have been to plan these shots-the actually be a part of what was happening. It's one of the great wonders of the world how they made this.
"War and Peace" ended up winning the Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards in 1968. Did it deserve it? Yes it did. This is a wonderfully made movie, but at the same time, with it being so massive, I really did have a hard time getting involved in the human elements of the movie-maybe there were so many characters in such a small period of time-and yes, with this type of material, seven hours is not a very long time-and the first part especially seemed to drag a bit. I just felt distant from the whole thing, and I have a feeling this will be argued. But the technical achievements are just so incredible that you sometimes just want to forget about plot and forget about following the story, and just put yourself right in the middle of the splendor of the image. I suggest all serious film fans try to get the chance to see this version of "War and Peace" on the big screen, as every shot is something special and beautiful-it's a wonder to behold.
More information at Film Forum.
Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk
Written by Sergei Bondarchuk and Vasili Solovyov, based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy
Starring:
Lyudmila Savelyeva as Natasha Rostova
Vyacheslav Tikhonov as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Irina Gubanova as Soniya
Antonina Shuranova as Princess Mariya
Sergei Bondarchuk as Pierre Bezukhov
Vasili Lanovoy as Anatol
Vladislav Strzhelchika as Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
Angelina Stepanova as Anna Pavlovna
Viktor Stanitsyn as Ilya Andreyevich Rostov
Oleg Yefremov as Dolokhov
420 Minutes(Not Rated)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was with a minor amount of hesitation, and a strong amount of curiosity that made me trudge out to New York's Film Forum on a rainy afternoon to sit through the seven hour 1968 Russian film "War and Peace." Seven hours is a lot of time to devote to a film, and because the theatre wanted more money, I was forced to pay twice-once for the first part which is playing for four hours, followed by a two hour dinner break, and then a second admission for the last three hours of the film. Both parts are separated into two other parts, with an ten minute intermission in between, giving three breaks in the whole thing. The ten minute breaks are fine, but the two hour one I had a problem with. But it was important that I went on a Wednesday-one of three days, the other two being Saturday and Sunday, where you could see the whole film in one day. You can see the parts in whatever order whenever you want, but like two years ago when I saw the Italian masterpiece "The Best of Youth," there is something about continuing the spell of the film-trying to make the break in between as short as possible. I even sat in the same seat during the second part as I did the first to try and distance myself from the break at all.
And it was a long day-an entire day of my life went to Sergei Bondarchuk. And how was the money? Well, it was massive, and I don't use that word often. This film is probably the most massive and ambitious project that I have ever witnessed-and I was lucky to see it in all it's glory on the big screen-and I suggest that any person that calls themselves a fan of film will go out to Film Forum by next Thursday to see this. But there is a big difference between admiring a film and actually liking it, and in the end I think I felt the same way about Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo," which I recently saw on the big screen, as I do about Bondarchuk's "War and Peace." I can see the strong effort that went into it. I was able to see images on the screen that I have never, and will never, see anything equal to. But during this film I found it hard to really actually involve myself with the characters-the long term three characters, not the countless relatives and friends and associates that we are introduced to throughout. Maybe the blame lays at the fact that no film can ever really translate the original. I have not read Tolstoy's novel, but I do have it laying on my bookshelf for that moment where I decide it's time to crack to open, but there are some movies that have a hard time translating a two hundred page novel, let along a fourteen hundred page novel. Despite that, this might just be the most massive epic I was ever treated to, and you certainly will never ever see anything like this again.
I really don't think that there is one long moral to this film-it's from such massive material that there is constantly things going on-scores and scores of characters are introduced by the second, and you really need paper to keep track. They all have different names deciding on who is talking to them-I had the same problem when I read "The Brothers Karamosov" or even "Crime and Punishment." But I think Bondarchuk did a good job dividing the film into its separate parts. Part One of the film is our introduction to the three main characters. The first is Pierre Bezukhov, played by our writer and director Sergei Bondarchuk. One of Pierre's jobs is taking care of and educating Natasha Rostova. Our first impression of her is that she is a rather irritating child, going through her scenes like a deranged dancer, her eyes wide with innocence, and hope-and maybe even a little insanity. We also meet Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. The first two and a half hours describes how these characters change, who they are, and events. The second part of the movie feature more of Natasha, and the young lady that she ends up becoming. We follow her as she worries that nobody will want to dance with her at her first ball. She is asked to dance by Prince Andrei, and the two of them fall in love. Eventually he asks her to marry him, but he does need to go away for a year first-and she can also use the time to decide if she does indeed love him. She eventually begins to fall in love with another man, and this part charts their doomed loved affair, including Pierre's confession that if he were a better man, he would ask her to love him. This part ends the segments between 1805 and 1812, and war soon begins. The third part tells of the Battle of Bolonov, and the fourth part Napolean's destruction of Moscow.
The first two parts really do rely more on character and plot, while the latter two parts ends up being one of the screens biggest spectacles ever. The first two parts, for the most part, take place during a time of peace, an irony as what is going on in the characters lives is far from peace. And every single shot in this movie is so extraordinarily well plotted-from an amazing ballroom dancing scene in part two, with thousands of extras seemingly dancing in unison, to a simple shot of a young girl-Natasha-emerging from a room for the first time-wide eyed and happy. The battle scenes during the over hour long battle in the third part is a complete wonder to behold, and Bondarchuk uses so much depth in showing the fight, that in addition to the massive explosions going on at the front of the screen, there are tiny smoke clouds and fires all in the background, dotted against the sky. I watched in a certain amazement, trying to imagine how hard it must have been to plan these shots-the actually be a part of what was happening. It's one of the great wonders of the world how they made this.
"War and Peace" ended up winning the Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards in 1968. Did it deserve it? Yes it did. This is a wonderfully made movie, but at the same time, with it being so massive, I really did have a hard time getting involved in the human elements of the movie-maybe there were so many characters in such a small period of time-and yes, with this type of material, seven hours is not a very long time-and the first part especially seemed to drag a bit. I just felt distant from the whole thing, and I have a feeling this will be argued. But the technical achievements are just so incredible that you sometimes just want to forget about plot and forget about following the story, and just put yourself right in the middle of the splendor of the image. I suggest all serious film fans try to get the chance to see this version of "War and Peace" on the big screen, as every shot is something special and beautiful-it's a wonder to behold.
More information at Film Forum.
posted by Eric at
12:53 AM
3 Comments:
I can't believe you watched the whole thing!
Ms. Pease
Honestly, I can't either.
You should have read the book, it is excellent.
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