War and Peace (1966)
For personal entertainment, I wouldn't quite rank this with my all time favorite movies, but to rate it any lower, I feel would be an injustice. This was quite simply the most impressive thing I've ever seen put on film.
It's the most challenging movie I've seen for sure. For one thing, it's over 7 hours long, but it never once dragged for me, and I was never bored. It may have helped that I watched it in multiple sittings, but still, if something doesn't interest you, it doesn't take that long to start watching the clock. Another obstacle is that it's a Russian movie. Now I've been watching and enjoying a lot of foreign films lately, but it's still always easier in your native language, I don't care what anyone else says. There were times when the subtitles were a little difficult to read, either because they were small, or sometimes even a little blurry. Occasionally, I wasn't even sure which character was speaking. This can make the story and characters a little harder to follow. It didn't matter, because even if I started to lose track a little, I was still able to fully enjoy what was happening in the moment. Another thing for me is that I'm not always a big fan of period pieces. I'm not into all those types of costumes and classical music. Again, it didn't matter. The costumes and music were amazing.
I rarely comment on such things, but I loved the lighting in this movie. Some movies seem so bright, even during night time scenes or scenes filmed in a dark room. This movie had a dark tint that I quickly noticed, and it really helped my enjoyment of the film.
The lead actor in this, Sergey Bondarchuk, is also the director, and I really don't know how he did it. When you first see him, he doesn't stand out in any way. However, he has a wonderful way of looking as if he's holding in a great deal of emotion, and when he does let it out, it's all the more powerful for it. The next most important character is Natasha(Lyudmila Saveleva). She's very important in adding the dimension of a love story. This actress is superb, and also conveys emotion very effectively. There's not one single misstep by the entire cast.
Just to watch this movie is awe inspiring. Whether it's a scene inside a mansion, a ballroom, a field, or anywhere else, each shot is full of incredible detail that makes it beautiful to watch. The battle scenes are extremely impressive with their scope; sometimes it seems as though there are thousands of characters onscreen. Yet, there are still the many personal touches inside the battle. There's a scene in the last quarter of the movie set in a burning down Moscow that's just incredible to watch.*
As impressive and beautiful as the film looks, it still contains a lot of emotion and power. These scenes occur all through the movie in relation to the different storylines involving the war, love, and family.
I am flabbergasted that this movie even got made. I've never seen anything of this scope with all of the actors, details, costumes, horses-just everything. I can't imagine a film like this ever being made again.
I don't know anything about the book, or the history portrayed in the film, so I have no idea of it's *accuracy. Either way, I do think the historical factor adds another nice dimension. I would certainly recommend this movie to anyone to at least try, and I actually look forward to watching this monster epic again.*
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