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By PAUL BRENNER
One of the great films (and
almost one of the great lost films), Sergei
Bondarchuk's mammoth six-hour plus version of Leo
Tolstoy's "War and Peace," has been released on
DVD in a five-disc set from Ruscico and Image
Entertainment. Bondarchuk began pre-production of
the film in 1961 and the film was released in the
USSR. in four installments -- "Andrei Bolkonsky,"
"Natasha Rostova," "1812," "Pierre Bezukhov" --
between 1965 and 1967. The film played in the
United States in 1968 in one six-hour showing with
an intermission between the two halves in which
coffee and donuts were served. The film ended up
winning an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. After
that, the film seemed to fall off the face of the
earth, except for Woody Allen's malicious parody
of it in his 1975 film "Love and Death."
Watching Bondarchuk's passionate rendition of
Tolstoy is jaw dropping. The film is magnificent;
from the smallest character gestures to the
mounting of battle scenes utilized 20,000 Soviet
troops as extras, Bondarchuk is in total command.
"War and Peace" is rabidly cinematic and the
cinematic techniques Bondarchuk unfurls like a
banner are staggering: the battle scenes are shot
in multiple fields of depth and Bondarchuk's
camera muscles its way through crowds and then
soars aloft; the sumptuous grand ball sequence
unfolds like a virtual silent film; dissolves are
utilized not only for time lapses but also for
shifts in mood; interior monologues are used to
convey the characters' thoughts; split screens
show simultaneous actions; afterimages reflect the
perfect image of two lovers kissing. Bondarchuk
even evokes Abel Gance in multi image widescreen
tapestries. As cinematographer Anatoly Petritski
remarks in an interview, "War and Peace" was a
film that could "only be done in Russia, when
orders were given and whole armies worked for the
cinema." "War and Peace" is also a film dinosaur
-- its breadth, scope, intensity, and its use of
thousands of actors in full-scale sets will never
be seen again.
The film itself was almost never seen again. In
the 1990s, the film was discovered to be
deteriorating and, after the fall of the Soviet
Union, the original negatives were scattered
throughout the Russian states. So Mosfilm must be
praised to the heavens for tracking down the
remaining original film sources and restoring the
film to its present state on this DVD. Flaws
remain but at least now the film is can be seen in
the closest Mosfilm could get to an impression of
the original 70mm production.
The DVDs overflow with extra features. The first
four discs will give you the background to qualify
for a Master's degree in Russian studies. Aside
from filmographies of the cast and crew, there are
essays on the National Liberation Movement in
Russia, amusements and celebrations in the
country, a biography of Russian commander Mikhail
Kutusov, Russian classicism, and the Empire style.
The discs also feature a collection of set
sketches. The fifth disc features more special
features -- interviews with the filmmakers, an
interview with Karen Shakhnazarov of Mosfilm, a
short on Sergei Bondarchuk, promo features on the
making of "War and Peace," a clip about Tolstoy,
Tolstoy and "War and Peace," "Leo Tolstoy,
Chronicle" with fascinating newsreel footage of
Tolstoy, and a photo album of production stills.
On the first four discs, the film is available in
Russian, English, and French 5.1 and subtitled in
Russian, English, French, Japanese, Hebrew,
Swedish, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, German,
Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Greek. The fifth
bonus disc only has subtitles available in
English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and
Japanese. Phew! |
