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.
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.
This 2019 interview with cinematographer Anatoly Petritsky focuses on the challenges of photographing WAR AND PEACE.
In this interview, conducted in 2019, filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk discusses the work of his father, Sergei Bondarchuk, including WAR AND PEACE.
