PIERRE BEZUKHOV
Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk • 1967 • Soviet Union
At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet film industry set out to prove it could outdo Hollywood with a production that would dazzle the world: a titanic, awe-inspiring adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic tome in which the fates of three souls—the blundering, good-hearted Pierre; the heroically tragic Prince Andrei; and the radiant, tempestuous Natasha—collide amid the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars. Employing a cast of thousands and an array of innovative camera techniques, director Sergei Bondarchuk conjures a sweeping vision of grand balls that glitter with rococo beauty and breathtaking battles that overwhelm with their expressionistic power. As a statement of Soviet cinema’s might, WAR AND PEACE succeeded wildly, garnering the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and setting a new standard for epic moviemaking.
Up Next in War and Peace
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Woina i mir
This black-and-white German documentary, made by Thomas Schamoni in 1966, details the production of WAR AND PEACE and features an interview with director Sergei Bondarchuk.
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Anatoly Petritsky on WAR AND PEACE
This 2019 interview with cinematographer Anatoly Petritsky focuses on the challenges of photographing WAR AND PEACE.
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Fedor Bondarchuk on WAR AND PEACE
In this interview, conducted in 2019, filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk discusses the work of his father, Sergei Bondarchuk, including WAR AND PEACE.
