War and Peace (1968 film)

Infobox_Film
name = War and Peace


caption = Original Russian film poster
director = Sergei Bondarchuk
writer = Leo Tolstoy (novel),
Sergei Bondarchuk,
Vasili Solovyov
starring = Lyudmila Savelyeva,
Vyacheslav Tikhonov,
Sergei Bondarchuk
music = Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov
producer = [http://www.mosfilm.ru Mosfilm studios] , Goskino USSR
distributor= Kultur International Films
Mosfilm
(Soviet Union)
budget = ~ $100,000,000 ($700,000,000 with inflation)
released = flagicon|USA 28 April 1968
runtime = 484 Min (4 parts)
Italy 263 Min
(2 parts)
UK:401 Min
(video version)
USA 390 Min
language = Russian, some French
amg_id = 1:53286
imdb_id = 0063794|

"War and Peace" ( _ru. Война и мир; "Voyna i mir") is a Soviet-produced film adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace". Sergei Bondarchuk directed the film, co-wrote the screenplay and starred in the role of Pierre.

The film took 7 years to produce and cost over $100 million. If inflation is taken into account, a film of this magnitude would cost over $700 million today, making "War and Peace" the most expensive film ever made [http://www.filmforum.org/films/warandpeace.html] .

Production

Pre-production started at Mosfilm in 1961, and filming commenced in 1963.

According to the "Guinness Book of Records", the Battle of Borodino scene included 120,000 soldiers, making it one of the largest battle scenes ever filmed. Many museums in the USSR contributed artifacts for the production design, making it one of the most elaborate films ever created.

"War and Peace" was one of the first films in the USSR to be shot and released in 70 mm. The process was called Sovscope 70 in the USA and Europe, and was the Soviet version of Todd-AO, a large camera/presentation format with 6-channel stereophonic sound. There are many hand held shots in the film, which are difficult to achieve with a 70 mm camera. However, a special lightweight camera was devised for this film (which can be seen on the bonus DVD of the RUSCICO release). The camera resembles a Bolex camera, and its magazine takes up most of the camera body.

Theatrical exhibition

In the USSR, the film was released in 4 parts, with a total running time of 484 minutes (8 hours); a longer running time of 511 minutes is a miscalculation based on longer length of 70 mm printsFact|date=February 2007:
* Part 1 - "Andrei Bolkonsky" and
* Part 2 - "Natasha Rostova", combined running time 255 minutes, released 1965
* Part 3 - "1812", running time 104 minutes, released 1966
* Part 4 - "Pierre Bezukhov", running time 125 minutes, released 1966.

For the US release, the film was shortened by more than an hour and shown in two parts: in some cities part one was shown for one week and part two the next. However, the US screenings retained the four part structure by dividing part one into two chapters (entitled 'Natasha and Andrei' and 'The Battle of Austerlitz'). Part two was similarly divided into chapters entitled 'Natasha and Pierre' and 'The Burning of Moscow'. The run time of part one was three and a half hours, and part two was three hours both of these include fifteen minute intermissions between the named chapters. The film was dubbed into English with a linking narration, both of which were decried by some reviewers.

Video releases

"War and Peace" was released initially on VHS in the truncated US cut, with dubbing and pan and scan. Recently it has been restored to its original length, original language, and original aspect ratio by Ruscico, a Russian/Belgian DVD company specializing in Russian cinema. This version is available from Image Entertainment in the US.

Part of the massive restoration effort undertaken by Mosfilm studios, the film was restored in 1988, from surviving studio 35mm reduction elements. The original 70mm film elements were unavailable at the time, stored somewhere in the Ukraine, their condition unknown due to feud over Bondarchuk's legacy between post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine.Fact|date=February 2007 As a result the film is only printable (and available on video) based on the 35mm restored version.

Awards

* 1969 - Academy Award - Best Foreign Language Film
* 1969 - Golden Globe - Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film
* 1969 - National Board of Review Award - Best Foreign Language Film
* 1968 - New York Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Foreign Language Film

ee also

* List of most expensive films
* "War and Peace" - book by Leo Tolstoy
* "War and Peace" - 1956 film directed by King Vidor
* "War and Peace" - 1972 BBC television adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins and Alan Dobie
* "War and Peace" - an opera composed by Sergei Prokofiev

External links

*imdb title|id=0063794|title=War and Peace
* [http://russart.com/?moviepictures&mid=570 Movie Screenshots]

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years=1968
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title=Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film
years=1969
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