War and Peace: Part I

Russian human nature in film robes. Ostentatious, affable, theatrical, loud, explosive, unpredictable and so on. I personally consider the biggest quality of the movie to be the fact that even though there are strangely approached (and boring) scenes from various banquets with the nobility and forced scene changes, I enjoyed it. I won’t deny that it’s mainly because of the breathtaking production design, the camerawork (all those views from bellow, fly-bys, POV scenes – yummy) and the omnipresent megalomania. In any case I hope that it’s just a kind of a prolog that Bondarchuk will develop into the “real" War and Peace. The second part and the Battle of the Three Emperors and the winter duel seem promising. Very promising. P.S.: I was right in the end, it really gets better with every next part, even though there are some hiccups. (09/28/2008)

When the Americans adapted Tolstoy's novel in 1956, some Russians might have seen it as sacrilege. To paraphrase the title of Episode 5 of Star Wars, the Soviet Empire struck back and ten years later, in a spectacular style unprecedented at the time, showed how they imagined Tolstoy's novel in film form. It is very rewarding to write about Bondarchuk's War and Peace, because there is something to write about, and it must be said that there is no need to spare superlatives. I'll start with the records: it's still the most expensive film of all time. It holds the the Guinness world record for the most outdoor filming locations, with 168. The shooting of the massive battles featured 120 thousand extras (yes, you’ve read that right). It took 7 years to shoot and the result is a breathtaking 7 hours of cinematic orgasm; whether it's monumental battles or the scene of a burning of Moscow, with the streets full of flying ash. Back in the day in the cinema on a 70mm panoramic picture it was a blast! The leading roles were played by the entire top talent of Soviet cinema, including the director in the title role. Unfortunately, even such a gargantuan work is not perfect. While Bondarchuk impresses as a director of mass scenes, he sometimes fails in the subtly conceived scenes in interiors. But that's just a small quibble, because his inventive direction erases even such shortcomings. Yeah, the Russians pulled it off and kicked the Americans ass, and the even got an Oscar for that! But the best news is that a remastered DVD version should be coming out at the end of this year, a sure buy for me. (09/27/2003)